Why am I passionate about this?

My dad instilled in me a love of, and respect for, history and an avid interest in golden-era Hollywood. In my adult life as a professional writer, that paternal guidance has translated into eight books about various aspects of old Hollywood, with a growing focus on the intersection of Hollywood and World War II. My career to date was punctuated by the international success of Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II, which detailed the future star’s very hard life in the Netherlands under Nazi occupation. Dad didn’t live long enough to know I’d written anything, let alone a number of books he would have enjoyed reading. 


I wrote

Season of the Gods

By Robert Matzen,

Book cover of Season of the Gods

What is my book about?

This book takes the approach of a historical novel to tell the true story of how the immortal screen classic…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Autobiography of Errol Flynn

Robert Matzen Why did I love this book?

For those who don’t know, Errol Flynn was the “bad boy” of Hollywood’s golden era in addition to serving as the king of adventure pictures from 1935, when he appeared as Captain Blood, to 1953, when he made The Master of Ballantrae. In between, he starred in 40 other films, wrote two books, married three times, survived a spurious rape charge and trial, and debauched himself with booze and drugs.

Just a year before his death at age 50, Flynn sat down with a ghostwriter to create a memoir both candid and poignant. This book has gone on to sell millions of copies since its release in 1959 and remains in print today—a testament to the power of Flynn’s personal history and narrative.

Book cover of Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of Casablanca: Bogart, Bergman, and World War II

Robert Matzen Why did I love this book?

When a New York Times correspondent and Yale Fellow sits down to write a book about the making of Casablanca for its 50th anniversary, one expects quality, and Harmetz delivers by detailing the times and people who created and marketed the timeless classic.

This book served as a primary source during the writing of my book. The extensively researched and footnoted book was repackaged in 2002 as The Making of Casablanca: Bogart, Bergman, and World War II and remains in print more than 30 years after its initial release.

Ad

Book cover of American Flygirl

American Flygirl by Susan Tate Ankeny,

The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.

This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States…

Book cover of Starstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood

Robert Matzen Why did I love this book?

Leonard Maltin shot to prominence as a youth publishing the annual Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide, with each new edition becoming an instant New York Times bestseller. Maltin also served a long stint as an on-air correspondent for Entertainment Tonight, where he earned backstage access to generations of movie stars.

His recently published memoir details his early obsession with the movies and then his slow but steady rise as one of Hollywood’s leading historians. I love this book most for its insights into the old stars that Maltin met—stars who knew him from his books and TV work and opened up about their own histories, making this book a valuable resource for film scholars.

By Leonard Maltin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Starstruck as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hollywood historian and film reviewer Leonard Maltin invites readers to pull up a chair and listen as he tells stories, many of them hilarious, of 50+ years interacting with legendary movie stars, writers, directors, producers, and cartoonists. Maltin grew up in the first decade of television, immersing himself in TV programs and accessing 1930s and ‘40s movies hitting the small screen. His fan letters to admired performers led to unexpected correspondences, then to interviews and publication of his own fan magazine. Maltin’s career as a free-lance writer and New York Times-bestselling author as well as his 30-year run on Entertainment…


Book cover of Forbidden Hollywood: The Pre-Code Era (1930-1934): When Sin Ruled the Movies

Robert Matzen Why did I love this book?

The year before Errol Flynn blew into Hollywood, the “pre-Code” era ended. What was the “pre-Code” era? It was the period in the early 1930s when Hollywood rode the cliff, making movies about sensational topics like adultery, pay-for-play, drug use, and more. Many of the pictures included a scene or two with leading ladies scantily clad and even braless. Leading men were often scoundrels.

This book entertainingly details both the point of view of studios struggling to remain relevant in the depths of the Great Depression by creating salacious products and the outcry from alarmed parents who took their kids to the movies only to cover their eyes and rush them back out again.

The author backs up his narrative with eye-popping photos illustrating just what was so shocking about the pre-Code era. This interesting period of Hollywood history ended abruptly and, unfortunately, with the puritanical “Production Code” that ushered in 40 years of censorship in American motion pictures. This book helps us understand why.

Ad

Book cover of Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children

Ambidextrous by Felice Picano,

Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood.

Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs into…

Book cover of Those Crazy Wonderful Years When We Ran Warner Brothers

Robert Matzen Why did I love this book?

The author was one of a platoon of young, bicycle-riding male messengers that roamed the sprawling Warner Bros. studio in Burbank before World War II, delivering scripts and memos to directors, writers, and stars like Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, and yes, Errol Flynn (who got a big thumbs-up from the messenger boys).

Jerome pulls no punches on the stars he liked and those he detested and provides graphic details to back up his rankings. This book shows the stars as real people, for better or worse, while also providing an invaluable look at the inner workings of one of the most successful studios of old Hollywood.

By Stuart Jerome,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Those Crazy Wonderful Years When We Ran Warner Brothers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A successful screen writer describes his experiences working in the Warner Brothers mail room in 1938


Explore my book 😀

Season of the Gods

By Robert Matzen,

Book cover of Season of the Gods

What is my book about?

This book takes the approach of a historical novel to tell the true story of how the immortal screen classic Casablanca came to be. It features an all-real cast led by Irene Lee of Warner Bros., who found a stage play in the slush pile and championed it from purchase through production.

Set at the dawn of U.S. involvement in World War II and featuring a cast that includes producers, writers, and actors we all know, this book provides an authentic, inside view into the workings of one of Hollywood’s most dynamic studios as it created the most beloved film in history.

Book cover of My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Autobiography of Errol Flynn
Book cover of Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of Casablanca: Bogart, Bergman, and World War II
Book cover of Starstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

2,007

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 You might also like…

Book cover of Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink

Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink by Ethan Chorin,

Benghazi: A New History is a look back at the enigmatic 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, its long-tail causes, and devastating (and largely unexamined) consequences for US domestic politics and foreign policy. It contains information not found elsewhere, and is backed up by 40 pages of…

Book cover of The Pianist's Only Daughter: A Memoir

The Pianist's Only Daughter by Kathryn Betts Adams,

The Pianist's Only Daughter is a frank, humorous, and heartbreaking exploration of aging in an aging expert's own family.

Social worker and gerontologist Kathryn Betts Adams spent decades negotiating evolving family dynamics with her colorful and talented parents: her mother, an English scholar and poet, and her father, a pianist…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in film, movie stars, and presidential biography?

Film 245 books
Movie Stars 53 books