Hollywood Wow Wow is the true love tale of Shirley Mason and Bernard Durning of silent movie fame. How they met cute at Edison in New York and became superstars in Hollywood. This book discovers how Bernard Durning was "The First John Wayne" and how William Wellman based "A Star Is Born" on him. This is the story of Shirley Mason and her sister, Viola Dana, and brings to life their Hollywood experience, making movies and having fun. Viola and Buster Keaton were "Hollywood's Hottest Couple!" It illustrates the adventures Bernard Durning and his assistant, Wild Bill Wellman-- whom Nancy Reagan adored-- making action-packed movies starring Buck Jones and Dustin Farnum. The King of the Stuntmen, Dick Grace, and Adolphe Menjou-- whom TCM refers to as an "Arch-Conservative"-- play prominent roles in this true adventure story of love and thrills.Bernard Durning's starring roles with Lon Chaney, including the newly discovered, "WHEN BEARCAT WENT DRY" (1919) , and "THE GIFT SUPREME" (1920) are shown in new light. Alec Baldwin narrates "WILD BILL: HOLLYWOOD MAVERICK" (1995), which proves how Clint Eastwood learned from the Bernard Durning System through William Wellman.. This is a thorough, thought-provoking, laugh out loud history with tears all using contemporary quotations combined with insights of silent cinema by the likes Kevin Brownlow, the first film historian to win an Academy Award. The story is highlighted with Bernard Durning's brother, Harry M. Durning, who sold RKO to Howard Hughes, and got Franklin D. Roosevelt elected.. The First John Wayne's legacy is illuminated through the works William Wellman and Bernard Durning, his nephew (the father of the author), revealing the true meaning of "Wow Wow." "This one was a wow!"--Dick Grace.
