“ The trouble with Hollywood is that too many people who won’t leave are ashamed to be there. But when a moving picture is right, it socks the eye and the ear and the solar plexus all at once and that is a hell of a temptation for any writer…Hollywood may be full of phonies, mediocrities, dictators and good men who have lost their way, but there is something that draws you there that you should not be ashamed of.
What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg
Agreed, Budd Schulberg. I’m just reading this classic for the first time. It was written in 1941. 70 years ago. But it may as well have been written yesterday. Nothing about the way this town is run has changed. The exact same bullshit that goes on today is the exact same bullshit that went on then. It’s remarkable, really. And also a little reassuring, in a depressing sort of way.
8 months ago • 1 note
