Fred E. Basten

This (apparently rare) hardcover book published in the 1990s covers the history of Max Factor make-up and wigs. While cosmetics don't interest me much, history and Hollywood do, and I did find a number of details that were relevant to my research needs. The book is loaded with color pictures, not only of famous actors and actresses, but of fascinating old make-up bottles and the original Max Factor facilities around Los Angeles. Max Factor himself was an interesting fellow. His exact age was not known, even to him, but he was from Poland and Jewish, and spent a number of years as essentially a prisoner of the Russian court. He kept a secret family on the outside that he could only visit once a week. Together, they fled to America in time for him to start exhibiting wares at the St. Louis World's Fair.

That said, as a book it is surprisingly poorly edited and disorganized. Little insets of information throughout use a backdrop that is very difficult to read, and one such factoid is repeated twice. The content is uneven, too. The earlier book was more interesting to me, since that is my area of need, but I think it's also be more appealing for many readers due to the curious Hollywood trivia; the end of the book devolves into talk about the structure of company administrators and who bought what division and it's incredibly dry and boring. It genuinely felt like they didn't have enough information to wrap up the company's recent history, so they culled from the Wall Street Journal.… (más)

In Life at the Marmont, Raymond Sarlot and Fred E. Basten gives us a dazzling array of Hollywood stories, city history, and film trivia. The Chateau Marmont was conceived as a home away from home for the Hollywood elite, a place to establish a residence where you wanted to escape the film lots. Marmont was built as one of Los Angeles’s first earthquake-proof buildings. This, as well as its signature posh look, attracted a full range of famous clientele. It served as the playground for the likes of Hedy Lamarr, Clark Gable, Ernest Borgnine, Dorothy Parker, Jean Harlow, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many more.

If you’re a lover of old-timey Hollywood figures, then this book will be a treasure trove of trivia and tabloid info. Nellita Choate Thomsen, writing for the Hearst newspapers as Pauline Payne, uncovered delicious details about chateau residents and her gossip columns form the basis for much of the early day-to-day history of the hotel. After that, the authors reconstruct the goings-on from check-in cards, employee scrapbooks, and personal recollections. He tracks the hotel’s history from its construction through the late 1980s.

In addition to all the celebrity glitz, they also makes a concerted effort to applaud the work and dedication of the employees of the Marmont. From the iron horse maid Frieda to the ageless manager Meemi Ferguson to the ever-rotating gaggle of boys parking classic cars in the garage, the author understands that without their tireless service and quasi-tight-lipped adoration, the Marmont would not have the mystique it has today. Even now, the Chateau is host to such celebrities as Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp, and Penelope Cruz.

There were just so many details, I couldn’t stop reading this one—I just gobbled it up. Granted, I found the bits about the Golden Age of Hollywood a bit more interesting, but seeing the hotel change and adapt to more modern problems was also charming. This book has an overwhelming gossipy feel to it, but sometimes that’s just what you need after a shelf-load of dry nonfiction. It’s fun to escape into a glamorous time for a while, and Life at the Marmont was just that—an escape.… (más)