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Born and raised in Brooklyn with a street fighter's instinct and sharp Jewish wit, Mickey Knox leaves the army for the bright lights of Hollywood. But when the rise of McCarthyism puts an abrupt end to his hopes of working in American films, Knox debarks to France and Italy to work in European cinema. It turns out to be the best move of his life. This book—where every major film actor and writer of the last century appears—is a wonderful, gossipy history of European cinema as seen through the observant eye of Knox. From arguing with John Wayne, teaching Anna Magnani to articulate English, to fending off Zsa Zsa Gabor's advances and getting lost in Italy with a hungry Orson Welles, Knox was in the midst of it all, watching with a dry smile and a witty comeback. Of the colorful cast of characters who have passed through his life—Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Anthony Quinn, Henry Fonda, Burt Reynolds, Sam Fuller, Elvis Presley, Gore Vidal—one lasting friendship runs throughout the text. That friend—Norman Mailer—writes a preface to "a rare warrior of that rarely heroic world of stage and screen." Black-and-white photographs are included.
Review:
"Having worked in the movie business for so long, Knox may have met everyone. Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Bo Derek, Sophia Loren, Laurence Olivier, James Dean, Al Pacino... the list goes on and on. Regrettably, that list is the basis for the book's structure, with almost every one of the more than 60 mini-chapters devoted to an anecdote about a particular celebrity. Born in Brooklyn in 1922, Knox began his career on the New York stage and, after serving in WWII, made a promising start as a contract actor in Hollywood — part of the stable containing Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But after several fairly successful B-movie roles, Knox was blacklisted, and his acting career was, with a few exceptions, over. But Knox is plucky, not given to bitterness or defeat. He started a second career as a dialogue coach and screenplay translator of European movies. The influence of so many years working with screenplays is obvious and unfortunate: the book is choppy; the scenes are too short, most often beginning with the entrance of the star ('Clark Gable! The King!'; 'The Italian icon: Marcello Mastroianni!'); and several chapters end with italicized epilogues ('fast forwards'). Only on the rare occasion — usually involving Mailer, who wrote the introduction for the book — do his celebrity anecdotes rise above name-dropping to achieve real meaning. It's a book of moments rather than stories. Knox clearly had a remarkable life; it's too bad it doesn't translate to the page. (May)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Synopsis:
Knox presents the adventures of an itinerant actor living the sweet life in Tinseltown, Paris and Rome.
Synopsis:
- Every major film actor and writer of the last century appears in the book -Will receive quotes from Gore Vidal, Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill
bruce kerner, August 2, 2009 (view all comments by bruce kerner)
Mickey Knox is clearly a survivor of the freelance actor / writer breed's hard knock life. Most don't, or did not, survive long enough to have the stories to tell that illustrate through personal adventure the international world of film production from the 50s through the 80's. This life was forced on Knox by the Hollywood Blacklist, but that is what brought him to Europe and then to work on some of the iconic films of the period. Reading The Good, The Bad, and The Dolce Vita one gets a feeling of what Mr. Knox was like, and is, as a human being as well as a feeling for the world in which he lived and worked. This is a man to be admired and a book to be enjoyed.
"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"Having worked in the movie business for so long, Knox may have met everyone. Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Bo Derek, Sophia Loren, Laurence Olivier, James Dean, Al Pacino... the list goes on and on. Regrettably, that list is the basis for the book's structure, with almost every one of the more than 60 mini-chapters devoted to an anecdote about a particular celebrity. Born in Brooklyn in 1922, Knox began his career on the New York stage and, after serving in WWII, made a promising start as a contract actor in Hollywood — part of the stable containing Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But after several fairly successful B-movie roles, Knox was blacklisted, and his acting career was, with a few exceptions, over. But Knox is plucky, not given to bitterness or defeat. He started a second career as a dialogue coach and screenplay translator of European movies. The influence of so many years working with screenplays is obvious and unfortunate: the book is choppy; the scenes are too short, most often beginning with the entrance of the star ('Clark Gable! The King!'; 'The Italian icon: Marcello Mastroianni!'); and several chapters end with italicized epilogues ('fast forwards'). Only on the rare occasion — usually involving Mailer, who wrote the introduction for the book — do his celebrity anecdotes rise above name-dropping to achieve real meaning. It's a book of moments rather than stories. Knox clearly had a remarkable life; it's too bad it doesn't translate to the page. (May)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Synopsis"
by Libri,
Knox presents the adventures of an itinerant actor living the sweet life in Tinseltown, Paris and Rome.
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
- Every major film actor and writer of the last century appears in the book -Will receive quotes from Gore Vidal, Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill
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