On the way to and from my recent rip to LA, I read a very entertaining novel, Hollywood and Sunset, by Luke Salisbury. Luke lives in Chelsea and I had gone to his book party where I got my copy. This trip seemed to be the ideal time to read it. The story is set in LA in a few days in 1916. It focuses on D. W. Griffith, whose Birth of a Nation, was a very innovative (in a cinematic sense) and controversial silent picture. The film featured racist depictions of blacks after the Civil War and the rise of the KKK as a saving grace, or as one of my older relatives used to say, the aftermath of the war of northern aggression from the prevailing perspective of some southerners.
The protagonist is Henry Harrison, an Eastern Establishment, Harvard man, who attacked Griffith for his racism in an article in the Atlantic. He is now out to interview Griffith in connection with completing a book. This quest serves as the background for the story. The foreground includes the breakup of Henry’s marriage, his despair and eventual – well now I do not want to spoil it for you. Everyone evolves during these few days. Even Griffiths character changes into someone more complex that the misguided son of a Confederate officer who produced the racism in Birth of a Nation.
There is a rich treatment of the early film industry including Lillian Gish, the virginal queen of the silent movies, and Griffith’s colleagues. There is a second rate British actor who dresses up as Jesus and drives around LA in a Model T picking up women. He acts as the tour guide and protector for Henry through part of the book. You see the building of the set of Babylon for Griffin’s monumental film, Intolerance. As Griffith remarks, in the old days people built monuments of stone and now they use light and illusion to achieve their egotistical glory. You read a bit about how early films were made and have some sense of the early development of LA in the process of following the characters.
Griffith wanted to take advantage of the unique qualities of film to speak through the media in new ways. He goes beyond reproducing theater to arrange for a monumental aerial view of thousands of Babylonians in what becomes the climax of the book.
I highly recommend the book as a fun and fast read but one with an intelligent message. The narrative moves you along and there are many surprises. It is especially good to read on the way to LA but there is no need to wait for that opportunity. Hollywood and Sunset is published by Shambling Gate Press and is available at their web site.
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