Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives. Tragic Deaths

I guess I am showing my age, because I remember most of the people and enjoyed many of their movies. The older stars my parents had watched, so I was familiar with their work. Back in the day, you had to catch your favorites on re-runs or you did not see them. No recorders or tapes or DVD's back then. These film clips were fun to watch. I still think the horror films have not lost their horror and the shooting techniques back then add to their creepiness! It is so sad some of one's generation of fine films are not carried to other generations. The audio and picture quality are not today's standards, hence the four stars. Yes, that tone of narration was how it was done back in the day. Hardly complete, but fascinating !

I cannot but wonder who the target audience was. I'm sure younger people could barely care less about these 'old timers'. So it must have been targeted at people about my age. I remember reading the newspaper report about Marilyn Monroe's death. Being about twelve, I had never seen a movie of hers, but she was so well known that everyone knew her name. Even so, it was a sad event. As a documentary, this was just okay. I think some of the information was erroneous or incomplete. Some say, for example, that James Dean was not gay. Also, no one believes that Wagner did not kill Natalie Wood. It was probably by accident, but even so... All the way through, the documentary felt like it was exploitative of the stars and their lives - can you imagine that. I cannot really recommend this unless you just like stuff about Hollywood Stars.

I like all the actresses and actors in this DVD. Very glad to have it and that it has finally come to dvd, although the program itself looks like it was done in 1989 or the late '80s by the looks of the graphics. The narration is good. The same guy that does this narration did an earlier DVD about the "Our Gang" and "Little Rascals". I found "Hollywood Heaven" to be both informative and entertaining.The narrator, though, mispronounces James Dougherty's last name saying "Dock er ty" and it seemed the homosexual themes took it over at times toward the end. I personally do not care if they were that way or not, it didn't affect the performance in the movies they were in, in my opinion.We all know Rock Hudson was probably one of the first well known actors to be gay and have this disgusting disease known as AIDS, which tore him up and eventually killed him in 1985. This video says James Dean was a homosexual also and that Rock and him didn't get along while making the film "Giant". The narrator suggests something else may have been going on during the production. Both were outstanding and they are missed in todays "Remake after Remake" Hollywood.Here are the actors and actresses covered :Rudolph ValentinoW.C. FieldsBela LugosiTyrone PowerAlan LaddSharon TateSteve McQueenGeorge ReevesNatalie WoodJames DeanRock HudsonMarilyn Monroe

Som thing to pass time

This documentary was pretty good and I liked the way (whether it be intentional or unintentional) it had the feel of a 1980's documentary. While I liked almost all of it, I felt it could have been more "honest". We all know Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood were murdered. We all know by whom. Maybe they were afraid of a lawsuit but it has been said SO many times that I would think that would not be the case. Powerful people kill and get away with it all the time. I also wondered why they did not include Judy Garland or Robert Crane in here. But, all in all, I liked the movie. Very sad how Hollywood makes them famous, exploits them and tosses them away.

Don't know what quality problems the first reviewer had, the DVD I have looks fine...Sounds like the customer got a defective disc and it should be returned for replacement, rather then writing a negative review. This Documentary is really neat, it covers a lot of facts and details many never knew about the stars, for instance, all the many bank accounts held by W,C. Fields...The naming of a condom after Rudolph Valentino greatest role "The Sheik"...Bela Lugosi being buried in his Count Dracula outfit, including actual pix of him from the wake! More great footage includes an early rare appearance of Natalie Wood on the "Perry Como Show", Bela Lugosi on "You Asked for it", rare commercials with Steve McQueen and early footage of Marilyn Monroe as well as later footage of her funeral. There is also some very interesting footage of Rock Hudson, George Reeves (including some terrific Superman promos), and James Dean which includes footage of his wrecked car and that famous traffic safety promo shot days before his death. There is also interesting footage and tidbits regarding Sharon Tate, Tyrone Power and others...If anyone loves the classic stars and Hollywood's bygone era, they should enjoy this program.

When this first started to play, I stopped it to make several image quality adjustments to my TV. Nothing helped, the imagery lacked contrast and the colors were muted. The content of the entire DVD is a series of short summaries of dead Hollywood figures. No real insight, just a few well known details thrown together. I collect documentaries and I have a good collection for the Hollywood golden age. Comparitively, this DVD was like a comic book vs War and Peace. To clarify, I'm referring to this DVD as the comic book.Do not waste your money.

Good afternoon viewing. It seems dated, but some of the information on the stars chosen for this documentary were interesting (e.g. Alan Ladd). I did see some footage of WC Fields that was new to me. If you like this Hollywood tragedy genre, then recommend it.

it was much better than I thought , would recommend it to anyone interested in the Hollywood of 50 years ago ie Marilyn Monroe and others this is for you.

Perfect