Murder in Hollywood: Solving a Silent Screen Mystery

by Charles Higham

Overview

    For more than eighty years, the famous unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor, the legendary bisexual film director, has generated debate and controversy.  Now, best-selling author Charles Higham has solved the crime.  Higham uncovers the corruption and intrigue of Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties—and the film industry moguls’ complete domination of the city’s authorities.
    When it was discovered that a famous star of the day had probably killed Taylor, a massive cover-up began—from the removal of crucial evidence to the naming of innocent people as killers—which has continued until now to protect the truth.  Murder in Hollywood goes beyond the killing to unearth unknown details about the life of Taylor before his arrival in Hollywood, as well as the stories and histories buried by the crooked authorities and criminals involved the case. The author’s exclusive interviews with the culpable star, his unique possession of long-vanished police records, and the support of the present-day Los Angeles county coroner—who examined the evidence as if the murder had taken place now—have ensured a hair-raising thriller.
    Charles Higham successfully presents the most plausible and convincing solution yet to the mystery.  In the process he paints a vivid portrait of Hollywood in the 1920s—from its major stars to its bisexual subculture. The result is a compelling answer to a long-standing mystery and a fascinating study of a place, and an industry that, as today, let people reinvent themselves. Murder in Hollywood is more extraordinary than any crime of fiction and more exciting than any action adventure movie.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780299203634
Publisher:	University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date:	11/15/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	242
Sales rank:	615,568
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Charles Higham, critically acclaimed writer, poet, critic, and playwright, is a literary and film detective. Among his many publications are The Duchess of Windsor and Kate, Bette, and Marlene, biographies of Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Marlene Dietrich, which have earned him high positions on bestseller lists and prestigious literary prizes. After holding the post of Regents Professor and writer in residence at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he was the Hollywood feature writer for the New York Times from 1970 to 1980. He is also the author of Howard Hughes: A Secret Life, which is a basis for the Martin Scorsese film The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Table of Contents

<table of contents, p. ix> Contents List of Illustrations 000 Acknowledgments 000 Prologue 000 1. Last Day 000 2. A Wandering Life 000 3. George and Mary 000 4. A Gay Association 000 5. Death and After 000 6. Mirrors of Deceit 000 7. False Leads and Red Herrings 000 8. What Happened to the Cast 000 9. Last Events 000 Acknowledgments 000 Source Notes 000 Index 000

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Murder Investigation California Los Angeles Case studies, Taylor, William Desmond, 1877-1922, Motion picture producers and directors California Los Angeles Biography

Editorial Reviews

Although the author, a veteran Hollywood biographer (Kate; Bette; Marlene), claims to have solved the murder of silent film director William Desmond Taylor (1872-1922), this overly melodramatic account of his life and death sheds little light on the mystery. In 1907, Taylor, an Irish immigrant, deserted his wife and daughter in New York City and turned up in Hollywood as a screen actor; later, he became a well-known director. Attractive and intelligent, Taylor had many affairs with both men and women, including actress Mabel Normand and his cook and houseman, Edward Sands, a thief and compulsive liar whom Taylor later fired. On the night of February 1, 1922, Taylor was shot and killed at his home. According to Higham, the murderer was actress Mary Miles Minter, who harbored an unrequited love for Taylor. He bases his theory on some police documents given to him by director King Vidor, Minter's lack of an alibi for the time of the murder, and some complicated political corruption, which, according to the author, motivated the district attorney to eliminate Minter from the list of suspects. Higham doesn't really overturn other hypotheses that implicate Normand, Sands and others or an unidentified man seen by a witness leaving the scene. There's more heat than light in this convoluted account. B&w photos. Agent, Dorris Halsey. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Perceptive Hollywood historian and biographer Higham (Howard Hughes, 1993, etc.) tackles one of Tinseltown's most notorious unsolved crimes. The murder of silent-film director William Desmond Taylor on February 1, 1922, has fascinated writers, film buffs, and journalists, Higham included, for decades. Many books, articles, and even a now-defunct publication called Taylorology have covered the story. One reason for the interest may be that none of the suspects, or the victim, could in any way be described as "usual." Nearly everyone in the case packs a revolver. Taylor, his film career peaking, led a double life as a closeted gay man (clues in his bathroom included a woman's nightgown) and the brief, indifferent lover of actress Mary Miles Minter. Did an obsessed Minter rub out Taylor after he eventually spurned her passionate declarations of love? Or did Minter's mother Charlotte, who makes Gypsy's Mama Rose look like a nun, shoot Taylor to keep him away from her daughter? Did Taylor's male lover do it out of jealousy over Minter and Taylor's tepid affair? Or was the culprit cagey Edward Sands, a cook who had already robbed Taylor? Drawing on unpublished documents compiled by director King Vidor, and making witty, insightful comments as he does, Higham cuts through a thicket of suspects, motives, and cover-ups to point the finger where it had rather clearly been pointing all along, arguing that for some years a hypocritical, moralistic press did its best to point the finger in other directions. More than the solution, what impresses here are Higham's portraits of Taylor, Minter, et al., as scarred souls who believed Hollywood would be their Lourdes on the Pacific. They were mistaken.Wide-angle vision places a colorful cast of characters in meaningful relief against nascent Hollywood, politically corrupt LA, and the dysfunctional American family.

Kirkus Reviews

“Charles Higham has written the most thoroughly researched and carefully considered of all the books on the legendary William Desmond Taylor murder case. Drawing on his immense knowledge of motion picture history, Higham makes "Murder in Hollywood" a compelling story of deceit, jealousy, greed, and—ultimately—insanity in the early days of moviemaking.”— James Curtis, author of "W. C. Fields: A Biography"

“Here is a detective biography on a grand scale, sparklingly written and brilliantly researched, which will capture and hold its readers’ fascination and attention throughout.”—Doyce B. Nunis Jr., Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, University of Southern California

"An amazing tale of police corruption and journalistic irresponsibility. Higham's thoroughness—the way he documents the cover-ups, the planting and removal of 'evidence, ' the innuendo, the collusion of the studios, the myriad odd events that led to no one ever being brought to trial for Taylor's murder—is impressive, as is the methodical way he deals with all previous explanations of what took place."—Todd McCarthy, "Variety"

"This is an excellent book and should attract considerable interest in film history circles as well as among readers who enjoy a good true-crime story well told." —John Baxter, "Kubrick: A Biography" and "Mythmaker: The Life and Work of George Lucas"

""Murder in Hollywood" is engrossing, as much for chronicling the murder as it is for capturing an era as rollicking as a Keystone Cops two-reeler. Higham presents a persuasive argument for his favored suspect, as did Kirkpatrick before him, and the evidence is compelling. But inevitably, it is the time-capsule quality of the storytelling, and a peek at 'hiding in plain sight' homosexuality, that makes the book so interesting."--"Lambda Book Report"


"["Murder in Hollywood"] provides a surreal celluloid landscape and colorfully populates it."--"The Virginian-Pilot"


"Drawing on unpublished documents compiled by director King Vidor, and making witty, insightful comments as he does, Higham cuts through a thicket of suspects, motives, and cover-ups to point the finger where it had rather clearly been pointing all along, arguing that for some years a hypocritical, moralistic press did its best to point the finger in other directions. More than the solution, what impresses here are Higham's portraits of Taylor, Minter, et al., as scarred souls who believed Hollywood would be their Lourdes on the Pacific. They were mistaken."--"Kirkus Reviews"


" ["Murder in Hollywood"] provides a surreal celluloid landscape and colorfully populates it." -- "The Virginian-Pilot"

From the Publisher