Book Review: ‘Starstruck: My Unlikely Road To Hollywood’ By Leonard Maltin

by | Oct 5, 2021 | Books, Featured | 0 comments

Leonard Maltin has had the career of which most every film critic can only dream. He not only found an audience for his work, he also cultivated relationships with countless movers and shakers in the film industry. On top of all that, he accomplished this by working closely with his beloved wife Alice, and later with their daughter Jessie. This memoir reads like an abridged version of his movie diary, dating back to his childhood.

Each of the 39 chapters (not including an introduction and conclusion) is a standalone vignette recalling either a step in Maltin’s career or yet another interaction with industry giants. What becomes clear is that his success was built on two key elements: his refined knowledge of movie and television history, and his own personal hustle and scrappiness. He invested an enormous amount of time to watching early television series and silent films, and later studying the progression of movies. This background proved beneficial later in life as his career required him to polish and hone his interview skills, while also chronicling different aspects of cinema and TV.

Many of us old school movie lovers came to know him through his annual reference book, “Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide”. Beginning in 1969, the guide was published each year until 2014 (with 25 plus updates over the years), when it became obvious the internet (IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, etc) had rendered the guide obsolete. Casual movie fans likely know Maltin from his nearly 30 years as a movie reviewer and correspondent on the TV series, “Entertainment Tonight” (ET). Many of those pursuing a career in the film industry, know Maltin from his two-plus decades of teaching in the renowned film school at the University of Southern California. All of this from a guy who published his first movie newsletter at age 15!

Maltin chose to write this book in first person, which given the nature of his stories, often hits us with an overdose of “me, me, me, I, I, I”, but it’s important to remember that these are his stories and his memories, and the approach does help keep things more personal and less formal. The structure of the book is episodic – in line with his love for early TV like “Our Gang/The Little Rascals”, of which he not only includes here, but also in his 1977 (1992 revised) book devoted to the show.
We can’t help but marvel as he marches us through decades of conversations and interactions with a ‘Who’s Who’ of Hollywood. The list of luminaries mentioned include: Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Robert Mitchum, Jerry Lewis, Sidney Poitier, Angela Lansbury, Roy Rogers, Bette Davis, Sammy Davis Jr, Mel Brooks, and George Lucas … as well as many, many others. However, Maltin doesn’t limit his tales to those involving the Hollywood elite. He serves up some insight into the world of Walt Disney, the Oscars, and most surprisingly, his numerous evenings at the Playboy mansion. The middle of the book features approximately 30 photographs of Maltin with some of those listed above, as well as Shirley Temple, Clint Eastwood, Elizabeth Taylor, Sean Connery, and Maltin’s daughter Jessie.

Maltin includes some recollections of the many film festivals he’s attended around the world, yet we feel a bit short-changed here. The festival stories alone could likely fill an entire book. The final full chapter is a fitting tribute to Turner Classic Movies (TCM), the channel that has done more for keeping classic movies alive than any other person or organization.
For those of us who share Maltin’s love of classic films and history, TCM is the most dependable and informative friend we have. Of course, Maltin can’t help but include a dash of self-promotion for his podcast and MaltinFest, a festival he founded in 2019 with daughter Jessie (though the pandemic robbed them of the next couple of years). He admits to being fortunate and blessed, though by dedicating more than 50 years to this business, Leonard Maltin has earned his stellar reputation as a film historian, movie critic, author, and yes, even celebrity. His memoir invites all movie lovers to reminisce right along with him.

The hardback and e-book release is scheduled for October 12, 2021 via GoodKnight Books.

David Ferguson
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