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City Confidential - Old Hollywood: Silent Stars, Deadly Secrets
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List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $29.95
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: DVD
EAN: 0733961740073
Format: NTSC
Label: A&E Home Video
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
Publisher: A&E Home Video
Region Code: 0
Release Date: 2006-04-25
Studio: A&E Home Video
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Editorial Reviews:
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This feature-length program looks at one of Hollywood's most puzzling mysteries--the 1922 murder of director Desmond Taylor. The case remains officially unsolved, but evidence points to one suspect. Was it one of two girlfriends, one of the women's drug-dealing mothers, or movie executives who might have wanted to hush up Taylor's homosexual actiivites? This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Murder Mystery
Comment: A and E has released the exceptional documentary-DVD "City Confidential Old Hollywood: Silent Stars, Deadly Secrets", a detailed 100-minute review of three events: including the 1921 Fatty Arbuckle scandal, and the murder of William Desmond Taylor the following year. Using archival footage, old news-reels, and valuable interviews, "City Confidential" is a fascinating silent-movie exploration. "City Confidential" was first broadcast on A and E cable on March 19, 2000, and includes interviews with Charles Highham, mayor Johnny Grant, and actress Gloria Stuart. The DVD begins with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, a No. 1 movie comedian, who celebrated 1921's Labor Day at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Things didn't work out, and later, a young girl, Virginia Rappe, died of injuries from the party. Arbuckle was charged with murder, and two trials dragged-on for a year. The next section involves William Desmond Taylor(born William Cunningham Dean-Tanner). He was born in Ireland, but married in New York City in 1901. His daughter, Ethel Daisy, was born in 1903. William was well-liked and popular, but, in 1908, he went to lunch and never returned. He abandoned his family, and was seen mining in Colorado under the name William Desmond Taylor. In 1912, Taylor appeared at Inceville, the wild city of motion picture "sets" Thomas Ince built along the ocean near Santa Monica, California. Taylor acted in films in 1913. Eventually, he would direct movies for Paramount Studios. Sudden wealth brought him new-found fame and female interest. Actresses Mabel Normand and Mary Miles Minter were seen in his company. Among others, Taylor would direct Mary Pickford. But, on February 1, 1922, Paramount film director Taylor was shot to death in his bungalow, with a single bullet. Despite many suspects, his unsolved murder was a major Hollywood scandal. Taylor's funeral was a major event. A final DVD sequence looks at silent film stars who failed to transition to the "talkies" in 1929, with reference to actor John Gilbert. There are some errors In A and E's "City Confidential", such as the failure to mention Taylor's wife and daughter. The DVD says that Taylor's murder ruined the careers of Mabel Normand and Mary Miles Minter, but that's not true. Normand made films for five more years, and Minter made four more. The most valuable portion of "City Confidential" is the rare film clips, including one of Taylor's early acting history. The DVD has scenes from his 1914 film, "The Kiss". Only six films survive from the career of young Mary Miles Minter, and "City Confidential" includes rare clips from her 1920 "Nurse Marjorie". Major movie star John Gilbert's career declined with the coming of sound cinema. This DVD offers rare scenes from 1929's "His Glorious Night", directed by Lionel Barrymore. Gilbert's voice-tones were considered "too high", and his career faltered. Relying on alcohol, Gilbert declined, dying suddenly in 1936, at age 37.
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