Synopses & Reviews
Fall in love--Hollywood-style--with this wild guide to romance on the big screenIf you're still waiting for bells to ring and sparks to fly, for fireworks to explode and waves to crash upon the shore every time you kiss that special someone, don't hold your breath: you've been bitten--and brainwashed--by the Hollywood love bug! From start-up to breakup, only on the silver screen is romance so unreal, and in this exhaustive encyclopedia you'll find enough smooches and schmaltz to take you from here . . . to eternity.
From Gone with the Wind to Dirty Dancing, from Bonnie and Clyde to Risky Business, from Father of the Bride to Divorce, American Style, Hollywood historian James Robert Parish gives you all the steam from the screen as he explores Tinseltown's obsession with love, romance, and heartbreak. Inside you'll find:
- A guide to Hollywood's top tales of romance, from "Young Love" to "Marriages on the Rocks"
- Dozens of black-and-white photos of your favorite lovebirds
- Funny, fact-filled plot scenarios of hundreds of Hollywood's greatest love stories
- Steamy sidebars that reveal the reality behind the reel
- Behind-the-scenes peeks at the love-lives of Hollywood's biggest stars, from Mickey Rooney, Woody Allen, and Josh Hartnett to Lupe Velez, Lana Turner, and Madonna
Synopsis
An authoritative and humorous look at Hollywood's ever-changing take on love, romance, and marriage over the decadesFrom steamy silent classics like A Fool There Was to romantic musicals like Grease to epic schmaltz-fests like Titanic, Hollywood historian and bestselling author James Robert Parish provides a very personal (but quite factual) run-down on how the Hollywood dream factory has portrayed love, marriage, and divorce on the big screen. The Hollywood Book of Love reveals in an entertaining fashion how the attitudes and standards the audience absorbs from the movies influence their expectations in real-life relationships.
Writing with his trademark dry wit and rich knowledge of American movie history, Parish provides perceptive and amusing takes on 200 feature films and offers tantalizing sidebar factoids on everybody from Liz, Bette, and Bogie, to Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, and Nicole Kidman.
About the Author
James Robert Parish is a leading authority on show business and popular culture. He is a frequent guest on cable and network TV documentaries such as A&E's "Biography," E! Television's "Mysteries & Scandals," and the Discovery Channel's "Hollywood Bad Boys" special.