IF at this moment you are in a bookstore leafing through these

early pages and wondering if the whole thing is worth a sizable ex-

penditure, may I suggest that you keep your back toward the sales-

man and read on because, coming up, is a brief description of what

this book is all about.

To be an actor, it is essential to be an egomaniac; otherwise it

just doesn t work. The supreme act of egomania is to sit down and

write x3o,ooo words about oneself. That I have already done in

The Moon s a Balloon, so you will be relieved to learn that this is

not a book about David Niven... at least, it is not meant to be.

Unfortunately, the actor s urge to take up a firm position at center

stage is a strong one, and if, despite valiant efforts to remain in the

wings, I have, on occasion, eased myself forward, I apologize.

This book is about Hollywood; not the whole mishmash,

because that has been done a hundred times, and anyway, the

canvas is too huge and quite beyond my mini-brushwork, so I have

attempted to splash a little color on just one comer--the twenty-

five years between 1935 and 196o.

I was there from "extra" on down (or up--it s for you to decide),

and I was part of it, but I have made little effort to keep things in

chronological order; provided the people and events coincided with

the allotted time span, I have just described them as I saw them.