Party Animals Decide Now

If you like Hollywood stories this may be a good book for you. Alan Carr, the proverbial fat kid, rises to the heights of Hollywood by bringing a Mexican movie on the Andes "Cannibalism" plane crash incident to America with Robert Stigwood. This non-hit money maker (it's all about the costs) allows Carr to leverage this success into the at that time unwanted movie depiction of the Broadway Play "Grease". I remember this show well and it was quite a hit with Travolta following Saturday Night Live and Olivia Newton John crossing over from Pop/Country music. When you have two successes in a row you have power and suddenly the façade Carr was running was real and he was at the center of Hollywood in the 70s.

The book centers on Carr's home, Hillhaven, with a great starting set-up of Brett Ratner viewing the home which he later buys, somewhat because of the houses history. After the typical background info of young Alan Carr, you are thrown right into 70s Hollywood and party central at Hillhaven. Or should I say the Gay 70s party scene. Actually, these parties may have been the West Coast version of Studio 54 which was a heavy gay crowd mixed with celebrities and oddballs.

Just as a run of successes puts Hollywood at your feet, a run of failures takes it away and Carr's fall was particularly fast and hard. Grease was the zenith and the success of the Broadway play "La Cage Aux Follies" which he produced made him a player. But the awful disco movie "Can't Stop the Music" and "Grease 2" took the bloom off the Rose until Carr was picked to spice up the Oscars by producing the 1989 show.

The infamous 1989 Oscar show and particularly the 12 minute introduction with Snow White and Rob Lowe sealed Carr's fate and infamy. I took the time to rewatch this and frankly don't find it as bad as the backlash warranted at that time. But they get you when you are down so Carr was persona non grata. Ironically, a lot of his ideas such as presention and the wording of the Oscar winners have lived to this day and are a great improvement.

Overall an interesting story but a long Vanity Fair article would have been better than the book as it is a little more info than you need. I wish sometimes an author wouldn't find the need to lengthen a book. If 180 pages do it, stop. The additions kill the enjoyment, or at least it does for someone like me who tries to read a lot of books and is always behind. Read at your own risk. Informative, worthwhile, but not a masterpiece.
Get more detail about Party Animals.