Synopsis:
Part of the Encore Film Book Classics series, this is a reprint of the original text to The Debonairs by James Robert Parish and Don E. Stanke. Things came easy to him: money, adventure, women. But he did make things easier for lady luck, thanks to his ingenuity, wit, and refined behavior. He enjoyed his success in opulent surroundings, wearing tasteful, expensive, perfect clothing like a second skin. He was the screen’s Debonair—a rather specialized model from Hollywood’s Golden Age. You can still see the likes of him in old movies. The Debonairs probes the intriguing lives of eight leading men of the bygone Tinseltown era; screen stars who most perfectly defined the Debonair manner, morality, and method. Their impressive careers, many major films, colorful lives, and memorable personalities emerge in vivid detail: RAY MILLAND—The quick smile, the easy disposition (and something deeper as displayed in The Lost Weekend) . . . ROBERT MONTGOMERY—Smooth and smart, he was the All-American sophisticate . . . DAVID NIVEN—Lighthearted enthusiasm almost hid the quiet courage of a gentleman . . . WILLIAM POWELL—Suave as silk, he could play a martini-guzzling detective or a bellowing head of the household with equal aplomb . . . GEORGE BRENT—Tough hero (in real life as well) turned light romantic lead . . . MELVYN DOUGLAS—So elegant he must have been born in a dinner jacket . . . REX HARRISON—His greatest professional problem was that he made it all look so easy . . . CARY GRANT—Larcenous or courtly, but always stylish. Whether aristocratic by birth or by training, the Debonair was always the gentleman—even when he was a cad. He made evening clothes respectable, a shoeshine necessary, gallantry indispensible. He flourished during the grim Depression. Now the dapper Debonairs stroll again in this book which contains hundreds of casts and credits of the subjects, pertinent critical judgments, contemporary reviews, and dimensional biographical studies of these gallants and their contemporaries (including the women in their lives). For all time, The Debonairs deftly captures this specialized type of sophisticated screen leading man as we love to remember them: impeccably tailored, unobtrusively rakish, sly, dry—and charming even when they aren’t half trying.
About the Author:
JAMES ROBERT PARISH, a former entertainment reporter, publicist, and book series editor, is the author of many published major biographies and reference books on the entertainment industry including Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You; The Hollywood Book of Extravagance; It’s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks; The Hollywood Book of Breakups; Fiascos: Hollywood’s Iconic Flops; The Hollywood Book of Scandals; The Hollywood Book of Love; Hollywood Divas; Jet Li; Hollywood Bad Boys; The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood; The Hollywood Book of Death; Gus Van Sant; Whoopi Goldberg; Rosie O’Donnell’s Story; The Unofficial “Murder, She Wrote” Casebook; Today’s Black Hollywood; Let’s Talk! America’s Favorite TV Talk Show Hosts; Prison Pictures from Hollywood; Prostitution in Hollywood Films; The Great Cop Pictures; Ghosts and Angels in Hollywood Films; Pirates and Seafaring Swashbucklers on the Hollywood Screen; Gays and Lesbians in Mainstream Cinema; Hollywood’s Great Love Teams; and The Fox Girls. Mr. Parish is a frequent oncamera interviewee on cable and network TV for documentaries on the performing arts. The author resides in Studio City, California. DON E. STANKE, who lived in northern California and is now deceased, interviewed more than 30 film and stage personalities, and his articles about these luminaries appeared in motion picture journals from coast to coast. He collaborated with James Robert Parish on several books.
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