STARSTRUCK

The self-described “lucky film buff” recounts his career.

Film critic and historian Maltin offers a warmhearted, rambling memoir of his long romance with movies, which began when he was a child. He delivered TV Guide instead of a newspaper, “devoured [my] weekly edition of Variety,” watched TV constantly, went to as many Saturday matinées as he could, and collected 8mm silent films. When he was 15, he began to submit pieces to Film Fan Monthly, soon buying, writing for, and editing the magazine himself. In high school, he started the Motion Picture Club, joined the AV squad, and worked on the stage crew. “Even my doodling was movie related,” he adds. “I would draw classic movie studio logos or try to list all 75 of Bogart’s films.” When he was 17, a teacher put him in touch with a book editor, who assigned him to write a movie reference guide—a task that established his reputation for a career that, even then, seemed inevitable. In 1982, he was hired by Entertainment Tonight, where, for the next 30 years, he interviewed pretty much everyone—except, he regrets, Walt Disney. Not comfortable with asking prying questions, Maltin put celebrities at ease. Katharine Hepburn offered him “soup, sharp memories, and strong opinions, sparing no one, least of all herself.” Anthony Hopkins disclosed why he became an actor: “I just wanted to be rich and famous, that’s all I ever wanted. I had no grounding and I had no cultural background at all.” Replete with anecdotes, the good-natured, rarely critical narrative features appreciative recollections of James Stewart, Buster Keaton, Robert Mitchum, Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Lewis, Roy Rogers, Jackie Cooper, and Shirley Temple, among many more. Maltin and his wife were on the “permanent guest list” at the Playboy Mansion in the 1990s: “Hef,” the author recalls, “was the most gracious and generous host I ever met.” It seems likely that Maltin was among the most gracious and generous of guests.

A genial, entertaining memoir.