December 31, 2020: In response to an overwhelming lack of demand, I’m listing the five best books about old Hollywood that I read in 2020. They also happen to be the only books about old Hollywood that I read in 2020. They also happen to be books that I reviewed, so I’m providing links to the nice things that I wrote about them. Have I mentioned that the only thing I really want to read about is old Hollywood? Old Hollywood, old Hollywood, old Hollywood. Anyway, here’s the alphabetized list:

The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood–and America–Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb by Greg Mitchell (The New Press, July 2020)

Celeste Holm Syndrome: On Character Actors from Hollywood’s Golden Age by David Lazar (University of Nebraska Press, October 2020)

Hollywood Double Agent: The True Tale of Boris Morros, Film Producer Turned Cold War Spy by Jonathan Gill (Abrams, April 2020)

Lon Chaney Speaks by Pat Dorian (Pantheon, October 2020)

The Sun and Her Stars: Salka Viertel and Hitler’s Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood by Donna Rifkind (Other Press, January 2020)