The Castle on Sunset

February 15, 2019
The history of Hollywood plays out in the corridors and bedrooms of an iconic hotel.In his latest, biographer Levy (Dolce Vita Confidential: Fellini, Loren, Pucci, Paparazzi, and the Swinging High Life of 1950s Rome, 2016, etc.) turns to an inanimate subject as colorful and outrageous as some of the living subjects he's covered--e.g., Paul Newman, Porfirio Rubirosa, and the Rat Pack. The author chronicles the history of the Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, suggesting that its story "parallels the story of Hollywood so thoroughly as to be inseparable from it." Levy's history is both staid and juicy. A lesser-known aspect of the history begins in 1926 when Fred Horowitz, a prominent attorney, envisioned an apartment building modeled on a French castle in the Loire Valley. Horowitz built an earthquake-proof structure of "pale stone, slate-gray gables, balconies, Gothic archways, and turrets." The denizens of Hollywood adored the place, making it, to this day, their own. Levy diligently details the effect on the hotel over the years of its different owners. Some nurtured the property while others saw it as part of a business deal. The place changed from an apartment to a hotel; it thrived, it turned seedy, and then, in the new millennium, morphed into a luxury hotel. What kept celebrities checking in was a staff that looked the other way. Leaning on previously published accounts, the author tells what went on at the discreet hideaway. Tony Perkins and Tab Hunter began a clandestine liaison at the hotel. Working on Rebel Without a Cause (one of many films developed on the premises), director Nicholas Ray had an affair with 16-year-old Natalie Wood. The most infamous event at the hotel occurred in 1982, when John Belushi died of a drug overdose in a hotel bungalow. The Marmont survived the scandal, and, in 2018, the tiniest room went for a price of $500 per night.A familiar but fun Hollywood tale.

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May 1, 2019

Chateau Marmont has a long history in Hollywood. Its original design as stand-alone apartments that were converted to a hotel and bungalows provided the ideal location for extended stays, and many celebrities came to value its privacy and low-key ambience. Former film critic Levy (Rat Pack Confidential) tells the history of the hotel in six significant parts, following it throughout the decades as it passed through the hands of both adoring and indifferent owners. Throughout Chateau Marmont's evolution, Sunset Boulevard below also underwent many changes, from a small strip in the 1920s surrounded by undeveloped hills to its current incarnation as a tourist destination. Levy shows how these changes in culture and clientele created a lasting impact and effectively describes the various imprints people left on the hotel, as movies were filmed and song were written there, and people chose to spend the last moments of their lives on the property. VERDICT Levy focuses on Chateau Marmont as a living entity, bringing it to life through its guests and the changes on the Sunset Strip. This will appeal most to Hollywood history buffs, but may also pique the interest of general readers with its yarns of various stars.--Stacy Shaw, Denver

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2019
In his latest foray into Hollywood history, Paul Newman's biographer explores one of Los Angeles' most famous landmarks, the Chateau Marmont hotel, which has served as a temporary home to some of the biggest names in the movie business since the late 1920s. The problem is, as Levy points out, not all of the stories about the Marmont are true; even some of the juiciest have been embellished over the years, and there are plenty of stories that have remained hidden away, until now. With extensive footnotes and a robust bibliography, Levy's account sorts fact from fiction in retelling the tales of John Belushi's death by drug overdose at the Marmont, Lindsay Lohan's rampages, and, going further back, the numerous lovers with whom Jean Harlow frolicked behind the hotel's closed doors. Naturally, this will appeal to anyone who has ever read a gossip magazine, but it also offers a genuinely fascinating look at how Hollywood supports its stars.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)