A Cast of Killers [The Death of William Desmond Taylor]

Description: "A Cast of Killers" by Stanley D. Kirkpatrick - 1st EDITION 1st PRINT Hardcover w/Dustjacket - Published in 1986 by Dutton - 301 pages (16 pages of great black & white photos) - book is in NEAR MINT condition; DJ is very good plus. On February 1, 1922, the distinguished silent-film director William Desmond Taylor was shot to death in his Los Angeles bungalow by an unknown assailant. Reports of strange activities at the scene of the crime circulated soon after. When the police arrived, was the head of Paramount Studios burning a bundle of papers in the fireplace, and was a well-known actress searching the house for letters she claimed were hers? Despite a full-scale investigation, the case was never solved; for sixty years is has remained a lingering Hollywood scandal. In 1967, more than forty years after Taylor's death, the great King Vidor, whose directing credits include Northwest Passage, The Fountainhead, Duel in the Sun, and War and Peace, determined to solve the mystery, which had haunted him throughout his career, in order to make a film about it. Through his intimate knowledge of both the studios and the stars, he succeeded, where dozens of professional detectives had failed, in discovering the identity of the murderer. But because his findings were so explosive, he decided he could never go public and locked his evidence away. After Vidor's death in 1982, Sidney D. Kirkpatrick, Vidor's authorized biographer, gained access to the evidence and reconstructed the amazing story of Taylor's murder and Vidor's investigation. With a cast of suspects that includes the actress Mabel Normand, a reputed drug addict; the beautiful ingénue, Mary Miles Minter; Mary's domineering mother, Charlotte Shelby; Taylor's homosexual houseman; and Taylor's secretary, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Taylor's mysteriously elusive brother, this true crime story has all the elements of a classic murder mystery. Covered up for more than half a century, the full story can now be told in all its riveting, shocking detail. There is a little wrinkling on the very top of the DJ (see the scan), but this book is still in very nice condition. No collection of true crime books is complete without this one. Check out the scan for the photos of William Desmond Taylor, Mabel Normand and Mary Miles Minter on the cover and so you can judge the condition for yourself (unlike many other booksellers, who post generic scans, the book in my scan is the one you will get). You can try to buy this book for less money from one of those eBay booksellers with hundreds, if not thousands of negatives (you know the ones I refer to) and be lucky if the book is delivered to you in the stated condition (if you even get it at all), or you can buy it from me and be assured of a prompt delivery and of receiving an item true to the condition indicated. You won't be disappointed. All previous buyers of my true crime books have been completely satisfied. I have many others available; please see my listings The book will be sent via Media mail shipping in the USA. I will combine shipping to reduce charges for multiple items. If you purchase more than one item, please wait until I send you an invoice with the appropriate combined shipping discount. See my auctions and my eBay store for hundreds of books and a wide variety of sports and non-sports collectibles. All items are packed with care to insure safe delivery. Please contact me if you have any questions. 11-14-21 -- 23.4

Price: 19.99 USD

Location: Santa Ana, California

End Time: 2024-12-15T07:36:08.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.93 USD