Death in Hollywood (1990)

HOLLYWOOD. Tinseltown. Land of the stars. A city where an actor can reach the greatest heights overnight - and descend just as rapidly. What goes up must come down, and Hollywood's failing ... See full summary »

Director:

Nick Bougas

Writer:

F.B. Vincinzo

Stars:

Kip King, Nick Adams, Pier Angeli

Cast

Credited cast:
Kip King	...	Narrator (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nick Adams	...	Self (archive footage)
Pier Angeli	...	Self (archive footage)
Humphrey Bogart	...	Self (archive footage)
Charles Boyer	...	Self (archive footage)
Russ Columbo	...	Self (archive footage)
Sam Cooke	...	Self (archive footage)
Bob Crane	...	Self (archive footage)
James Dean	...	Self (archive footage)
Albert Dekker	...	Self (archive footage)
Pete Duel	...	Self (archive footage)
Marvin Gaye	...	Self (archive footage)
Jean Harlow	...	Self (archive footage)
Rock Hudson	...	Self (archive footage)
Thomas H. Ince	...	Self (archive footage)

Storyline

HOLLYWOOD. Tinseltown. Land of the stars. A city where an actor can reach the greatest heights overnight - and descend just as rapidly. What goes up must come down, and Hollywood's failing stars leave a legacy of sadness, pain and disappointment in their wake. Here, in graphic detail, are the shocking stories behind the deaths of the silver screen's most beloved celebrities, as well as it's lesser known players. Packed with stunning newsreel footage, and previously unrevealed facts, DEATH IN HOLLYWOOD documents many a celebrity's morbid demise due to suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, disease, and even murder. From the outrageous to the tragic, DEATH IN HOLLYWOOD leaves no tombstone unturned in it's quest to dig up the truth about Hollywood's dearly departed.

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Plot Keywords:

death | drugs | narration | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1990 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden West Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References East of Eden (1955)

User Reviews

It's all about the information. Morbid information. Interesting though.

Greatly informative for those who know little about the deaths of celebrities, of few "enjoyment" (can't find a better word) for those who know a lot about those, like me. "Death in Hollywood" presents a minor background of artists, why they were famous and their ultimate tragic deaths. Briefly analyzed in here are: James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Gig Young, Jean Harlow, Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood, Thomas H. Ince, Rock Hudson, Marvin Gaye, Ricky Nelson, Nick Adams, George Sanders, Charles Boyer, the Black Dahlia case, Ramon Novarro, Jayne Mansfield, Ernie Kovacs, Vic Morrow (yeah the footage is there, haunting), and a few lesser known like Thelma Todd, and of the film director whose death remained unsolved until years later when King Vidor revealed important facts about the victim and the case; or even some speculation like Steve McQueen. They left a lot of people out, but still managed to do a good job. An update with more names would be interesting now.

The narration work was fabulous, quite morbid and very suiting to the project. The clips presented were nostalgic, very fun to watch, a little bittersweet because it all ends in telling about those great artists demise but some of the clips shouldn't stay there for too long. You almost forget the purpose of what's been presented to you when they focus on a comedian doing his number, or one female artist entertaining the crowd. This is mostly about the way they're all gone and not a detailed account on their work. The only long clip which was brilliantly shown was a press conference with Marilyn Monroe and you can tell how exhausted, depressed and anxious to get out of there she was. I've never seen that before and it's such a powerful image that reveals a lot of Hollywood and the newspapers pressures and demands, wearing people with their photos and publicity's.

If inclined to morbid topics or have a fascination for those, this is perfect. The informative values are tremendous and that's the highest peak this can reach. 7/10