Hollywood Story (1951)

Hollywood Story is a 1951 American mystery film directed by William Castle and starring Richard Conte and Julie Adams. The film was an attempt by Universal Pictures to take advantage of the success of Paramount’s Sunset Boulevard which was released the previous year. Film historian Arthur Lyons stated that the plot is based on the murder of silent movie director William Desmond Taylor. While Hollywood Story reaches a fictional conclusion, it closely follows the circumstances of the real-life event.

Director – William Castle

Writers – Frederick Kohner (story), Frederick Brady (story)

Cast –
Richard Conte as Larry O’Brien
Julie Adams as Sally Rousseau / Amanda Rousseau (billed as Julia Adams)
Richard Egan as Police Lt. Bud Lennox
Henry Hull as Vincent St. Clair
Fred Clark as Sam Collyer
Jim Backus as Mitch Davis
Houseley Stevenson as John Miller
Paul Cavanagh as Roland Paul
Katherline Meskill as Mary
Louis Lettieri as Jimmy Davis
Francis X. Bushman as Himself
Betty Blythe as Herself
William Farnum as Himself
Helen Gibson as Herself
Joel McCrea as Himself (uncredited)

Watch “Hollywood Story” (1951)

Plot

New York theatrical producer Larry O’Brien (Conte) plans to found a motion picture company in Hollywood. He buys an old studio which has remained unused since the days of silent movies. There he’s shown the office where a famous director was murdered twenty years earlier. Although there were many suspects the case hasn’t been solved. O’Brien becomes fascinated by the subject and decides to make a film based on the case. To this end he begins interviewing the surviving participants, hiring many to work on and in the film, and soon gets into danger himself.