Rating: 3 stars

John Barrymore, Errol Flynn, W.C. Fields, John Carradine... Names that live on in Hollywood's memory, and infamy. They left behind great and lasting pieces of work but with their compatriots Ben Hecht, Gene Fowler, John Decker, and Sadakichi Hartmann they ran a ragged, drunken swath through the Hollywood hills. Their exploits, setting moral and ethical fires, creating havoc, and inciting more family drama then a Jerry Springer taping, lay at the heart of this release from Feral House Publishing. It makes today's Hollywood headlines seem so very tame in comparison and it shows that there truly is nothing new under the sun.

The moniker "The Bundy Drive Boys" sprang into being after the aforementioned gentlemen began to spend more and more time at the home of artist John Decker, on Bundy Drive. If you are up on your pop culture you'll realize that yes, it is THAT Bundy Drive; the one where Nicole Brown Simpson would die decades later, though not the same house. Each man had his own demons to contend with and the commingling of these phantoms was most likely not the best idea, as the book shows in plain, yet vivid detail. The book is divided into decades and gives back story on each man, his rise to prominence, and his entry into the gang of "Boys". There is no whitewashing of the facts or attempts to cover up even the most distasteful of events (the rumor of incest surrounding Barrymore and Decker comes to mind).

However, while the facts and stories are given, the men are not vilified. They are given their due as the foundations of the media world we know today. Decker's brilliant and often sarcastic art is liberally applied throughout the book, including the penultimate of his work, W.C. Fields as Queen Victoria. The reader is given a first-hand look at the pain and anguish that too often follows people in the spotlight. Though it can be difficult at times to connect with these men, between the misogyny, the alcohol and drug use, the repeated rape trials, and the diva-like behavior, there is something very pitiful and lost about them. They were given, and led to believe that the world was theirs. It is any wonder then that they should behave as kings run amok?
---------------------
Publisher: Feral House
Pub. Date: October 2007
ISBN-13: 9781932595246
Buy the Book