HOLLYWOOD HELL: DANA WILSON'S MAKE WITH THE BRAINS, PIERRE

Dana Wilson is one of the most fascinating one book authors. An actor and screenwriter writer in the forties and fifties, who was married to working actor Lewis Wilson, the first to play Batman, and worked with him long after tier divorce. She was tight with writer and director brothers Curt and Robert Siodmak, responsible for horror and noirs like The Wolfman, The Killers, and Criss-Cross. She later married producer Albert Broccoli and helped him develop the James Bond series. Many of these experiences are reflected in her book Make With the Brains, Pierre.

The title character is a frenchman scraping by as an editor, or "cutter", in Hollywood. There is a fun observation of how Americans and Europeans adapt to other countries. He pines for Eleanor, am aspiring actress involved with studio owner Joe Sherman whose leading lady wife, Marjorie Dean, won't give him a divorce. On Eleanor's word, Sherman hires Pierre for an odd but well paying job, editing audio clips of actor Roger Niven in scenes and splicing together new dialogue. Pierre learns that the job has nothing to do with film, but fraud. Soon, he's got two thugs and Niven after him and finds himself in Marjorie Dean's clutches. He decides to execute a plan that will turn the tables on those who trapped him and do right by Eleanor.

Wilson's tale is noir with satirical whimsy. The structure resembles a Siodmak movie, opening with Pierre awaiting his doom, much like Lancaster's Swede in The Killers, with something mysterious in his tub. It then flashbacks us to a few weeks earlier and moves toward giving us answers to to the setup. You do get the feel of a Hollywood insider telling the story with it's glamour and grubbiness of the film business. She captures the editing rooms and gambling joints of the time, as well as the self involved personalities that never fall into parody as big as they can be. Having a foreigner as the lead helps give this perspective and the humor.

Make With the Brains Pierre' is as a biting and tragic take on Hollywood as Sunset Boulevard. One reason it may have never become a movie was because it hit too close to home. The new Stark House reprint has an introduction by Randal S. Brandt, chronicling Dana Wilson's full life. If only she could have carved out some time in it for a few more books.