The art of the opening hook

[randy_byers]

"Depending on who you believe, Edmund Goulding either died from a heart attack or by suicide in 1959 following a depraved life of bisexual adventurism."

-- Lawrence Russell on Nightmare Alley

Alas, the rest of the piece doesn't live up to the first line.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

My problem with this hook is that the clauses "in 1959" and "following a depraved life of bisexual adventurism" keep looking as if they want to be dependent on the phrase "by suicide" - in other words that the alternative death by heart attack was neither in 1959 nor following a depraved life of etc etc. But I don't think that's what the author meant. Possibly a comma after "suicide" would have helped.

And nowhere in the piece does he even mention (except in the header credits) the author of the novel the film is based on, whose life and death were equally weird.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Good point about the grammatical confusion. I think "in 1959" needs to directly follow "Edmund Goulding died," and the rest of the sentence needs to be reorganized around that. Perhaps simply, "Depending on who you believe, Edmund Goulding died in 1959 either from a heart attack or by suicide following a depraved life of bisexual adventurism." Then again, you might want to frontload the depraved life of bisexual adventurism just to get everything started off with a bang. But I guess "depending on who you believe" starts it off with a mystery.

Have you read the novel? I've been curious about it since seeing the movie, which is excellent.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't, alas. But a hint of the weirdness of Gresham's life may be acquired by knowing that his son is this guy.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Hm. From a superficial glance, that's pretty weird alright. Raised by CS Lewis?

Wikipedia has a JPEG of a Signet cover for Nightmare Alley that looks wonderfully sleazy. "A Shocking Revelation of Passion and Evil"

Wow, okay, reading the Wikipedia biography of William Lindsay Gresham lays the weirdness out in easy to follow strokes. Holy moses. Depraved bisexual adventurism most definitely pales in comparison!

[maryread.livejournal.com]

weirdness? not at all. i want to hear more about the director's depraved bisexual adventurism!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Well then, you apparently want to read Edmund Goulding's Dark Victory by Matthew Kennedy, which, according to Wikipedia, "says that it was widely known in Hollywood that Goulding was bisexual, and hosted wild parties for all persuasions."

Hm, Mr Kennedy has written an entry for Goulding at glbtq ("an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture") with some interesting comments: "There is a paradox to Goulding. His sensitivity to women's emotions brought him enduring success, as witnessed by his swooning melodramas, but his private life reflects a lack of sensitivity. Goulding was bisexual, with a decided taste for promiscuity and voyeurism. His sex parties and casting couch were notorious."

He and Gresham make quite a pair!