Magnificent Obsession – One of the great tragedies in cinematic history was the fate of Orson Welles’s 1942 epic, The Magnificent Ambersons, which was cut, reshot, and mutilated by studio functionaries while its visionary director was working on another project in Brazil. Sixty years on, the 132 minutes of the original version—if indeed they exist—are still the holy grail of certain film buffs. The author follows the making, and unmaking, of a movie that Welles believed was the death of his Hollywood career.
A Proper Hollywood Restaurant – At the Tower Bar, you have your table, and if you are Ms. Huston or Ms. Aniston or Bill Murray, you also have your own white linen napkin embroidered with your name in cursive chocolate-brown script. If you are Michael Govan, the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or Mr. Grey, the Paramount executive, you have your favorite house-baked chocolate chip cookies delivered by Mr. Dmitrov to your table along with dessert.
