Film critic Leonard Maltin's Starstruck is an amiable and anecdotal combination of memoir and starry-eyed tales of celebrities, gathered from Maltin's decades of working on Entertainment Tonight and attending film-related parties, fund-raisers and premieres. Maltin has loved movies since childhood. "I remain an unabashed fan," he writes. "This seems to hold me in good stead with the people I encounter." He's as thrilled to interview cinematographers, music editors and veteran character actors as he is superstars. With the possible exceptions of Burt Reynolds and Celeste Holm, his boyish enthusiasm and deep knowledge of the film industry usually won over even the most cynical performers. Readers will be equally beguiled.
Movie buffs who used his annually updated Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide for more than four decades may be surprised to learn Maltin was only 18 when his first edition came out in 1969. One of the most fascinating stories in Starstruck is the origin tale of his film guide and the laborious task of updating it. "I'm a lucky film buff who stumbled into careers in publishing, television, and academia, all of them unplanned," he writes. But he's being modest. He was well-prepared for every opportunity that fell in his path.
There are full chapters devoted to Katharine Hepburn, Jerry Lewis, Bette Davis, Mel Brooks, Lena Horne, Robert Mitchum, Shirley Temple and others. Another star-studded chapter chronicles how Maltin and his wife found themselves on a permanent guest list to Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion for weekend Old Movie Nights. Starstruck is a delightful and convivial pleasure cruise through Old Hollywood. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant