"A Murder in Hollywood: Solving A Silent Screen Mystery- by Charles Higham

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  • "A Murder in Hollywood: Solving A Silent Screen Mystery- by Charles Higham

    Just finished reading “A Murder in Hollywood: Solving A Silent Screen Mystery” by Charles Higham.

    This book laid out all the relevant details of the murder of William Desmond Taylor in 1922. At the same time, it delivered a perfect picture of the seamy snarl of sniveling sycophants who would say or do anything to aid the movie studios in their cover-up of who was the actual murderer (murderess?), including the corrupt kingpins of the legal system itself, such as Los Angeles District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine.

    While the book reads like a detective's journal as he follows and tracks every possible lead in the case to establish who might be the killer, it's the highlighted leads that aren't followed and the clues that are purposely ignored that are most damning and most telling.

    I read this book as part of my research for a possible script, and also in relation to the thread “Top of L.A.” here under “Loglines and Query Letters.” I'm sure someone must have optioned this book by now; if not, I'd be quite surprised. How would I find out that information?

    Overall, the book was a fun read and even more fun to imagine it as a finished film production.
    Last edited by Clint Hill; 06-14-2018, 08:48 AM.
    “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

  • #2
    Re: "A Murder in Hollywood: Solving A Silent Screen Mystery- by Charles Higham

    There are multiple places to research options. You can reach out directly to the authors or their agents or their estates (if they're deceases as Higham is) So many authors have websites now with contact info on the site. It's often the easiest and most expeditious way to get the info.

    If you can't find the contact info you can reach out to the publisher.

    Also many times option deals are reported in the trades so you can search their archives and imdbpro as well. But just because you don't find info in the trades or on imdbpro doesn't mean the ip isn't under option

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    • #3
      Re: "A Murder in Hollywood: Solving A Silent Screen Mystery- by Charles Higham

      Originally posted by Screenplay Savant View Post
      There are multiple places to research options. You can reach out directly to the authors or their agents or their estates (if they're deceases as Higham is) So many authors have websites now with contact info on the site. It's often the easiest and most expeditious way to get the info.

      If you can't find the contact info you can reach out to the publisher.

      Also many times option deals are reported in the trades so you can search their archives and imdbpro as well. But just because you don't find info in the trades or on imdbpro doesn't mean the ip isn't under option
      Thank you. Yes, separate from any research I might do on my own, I wish to tread the legal line on a screenplay and its outline, which, in my opinion, had to be influenced by the reading of this book. And no, I don’t want to err by presuming the book hasn't been optioned. Thanks again.
      Last edited by Clint Hill; 06-18-2018, 02:37 PM.
      “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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