People Will Talk

We'd know a lot less about American movies if not for a few English movie buffs who crossed the pond to produce some of the best books on the topic. John Kobal was prominent in this group, having been smitten with American films early on. His vast collection of photos yielded several books on its own and is a standard source for illustrating Hollywood's past. "People Will Talk" is not a photo book. In its 700-plus pages appear 41 interviews Kobal collected between 1964 and the mid-l980's. The subjects are Hollywood veterans from various phases of the business. Appearing are directors such as Howard Hawks, dance directors such as Hermes Pan, writers (Anita Loos), photographers (e.g., John Engstead, Hurrell). And of course plenty of actresses - and Joel McCrea, the only actor appearing. When interviewed, most of the subjects were at the end of their movie careers, and this, plus Kobal's insightful questioning, resulted in objective, candid appraisals of their lives and the situations and people involved. While the interviewer was not so rude as to question his subjects' recollections during conversation, footnotes here and there in the text correct what may have been lapses of memory. Each interview is prefaced by a photo of the subject, plus Kobal's summary and evaluation of the subject's career. Although I've read every interview in this volume several times, writing this review was slowed considerably by my inability to stop reading them again and turn to the typewriter. This is just the book for movie fans who like to hear how it happened from the lips of those who made it happen.