Hollywood: A Cruel Town and then there are the Critics

Image by A. Scarpulla via Flickr

Two of the cruelest, most primitive punishments our town deals out to those who fall from favor are the empty mail-box and the silent telephone. – Hedda Hopper

If debased art is kitsch, perhaps kitsch redeemed by honest vulgarity may become art. – Pauline Kael

Over the years, the movies have furnished America with its nearest equivalent to Europe’s royalty. – Arthur Knight

There are snake dances, sacrifices, private swimming baths, a Holy Mountain. The Mountain, by the way, has the privilege of belching when it is dissatisfied, something that the well-bred critic must not do. – C.A. Lejeune

Over in Hollywood they almost made a great picture, but they caught it in time. – Wilson Mizner

Some of the greatest love affairs I’ve known involved one actor, unassisted. – Wilson Mizner

Ava Gardner about Rex Reed:
Rex Reed is either at you feet or at your throat.

It is the business of art to expand consciousness, while it is the business of mass communication to reduce it. – Richard Schickel