Many people head to Hollywood, hoping to become famous as an actor or actress. Some people manage to achieve their goal and are happy while others don’t. Some people found that fame wasn’t what they thought it would be. Others end up more well known after their deaths. The movie Hollywoodland explored the strange circumstances surrounding the death of actor George Reeves.

People were shocked in June of 1959 when George Reeves, the actor who played Superman on the popular television show, died and the death was ruled a suicide. His mother, Helen, traveled to Los Angeles and looked for a private investigator because she didn’t believe that her son would have killed himself. Louis Simo, a detective struggling to make it on his own, managed to get hired and started asking questions. The more Louis uncovered, the more he started to believe that George might have been murdered. Some people didn’t seem to want him asking questions either. Louis was also trying to deal with problems in his personal life with his ex-wife and son.

In the early 1950's George met a woman named Toni one night at a restaurant, only discovering the next morning that she was married to Eddie Mannix, an executive at MGM. Toni convinced George to continue their new relationship, saying Eddie had his own mistress. The four of them even went out to dinner together. Toni bought George many things, including a house, and supported his acting. She was happy for him when more episodes of Superman were ordered even though he wasn’t really pleased with the part. As the show continued, George felt trapped by the role and still longed for more serious parts. Once the show was cancelled, he had plans to start his own production company and even move into directing. A few months before his death, George ended things with Toni after he met Leonore Lemmon. George and Leonore became engaged, and she and two other friends were at his house the night he died.

Hollywoodland was a little different than I expected. The movie started showing the police at George’s house after his death. That did raise the first of many questions, like why Leonore and her friends waited so long to call the police after hearing the gunshot. The movie then went on to show Louis and how he got involved in investigating the death. After Louis started his investigation, scenes were mixed in for the rest of the movie showing events in George’s life from the night he met Toni until his death. I had thought before seeing the movie that it would start off showing some of his life, have his death and then move on to Louis’s investigation. Some people may not like the way the movie jumped back and forth. There really wasn’t a way to know how much time had passed between some of the events.

The main focus of Hollywoodland was the death of George Reeves and the strange circumstances surrounding his death. Things related to Louis and his life were also added in. He was either divorced or estranged from his wife Laurie. His son was very upset over the death of Reeves. Louis was also shown sometimes working on another case involving a man that was convinced his wife was having an affair. The other case really didn’t add anything to the movie, though it did show the types of cases Louis had been taking to try to make a living. His primary concern was making money. He did seem to be a bit obsessed about figuring out what had happened to George and he seemed on the verge of losing control.

Before I saw Hollywoodland, I really didn’t know that much about George Reeves. I knew he had played Superman in the television show Adventures of Superman. I had heard before that his death was a suicide. I don’t remember when I first heard that some people had doubts about that. I had never heard of Toni or Eddie Mannix before or their connection to George. After I saw the movie, I did do a little research and found out that George had been involved with Toni for years. According to what I read, there was some speculation that Toni or Eddie had somehow been responsible for George’s death. That was alluded to in the movie, though it didn’t really blame either of them. The possibility was just hinted at. The movie offered a few different scenarios on what could have happened to George the night he died without definitely saying what did happen. There isn’t a way to know for sure what did happen since it was so long ago and the people involved are all gone now.

Ben Affleck gave what was probably the best performance of his career so far as George Reeves. I know that won’t be saying much for some people since many don’t like Affleck at all. He really did give a very good, strong performance as George in this movie. He was believable as an actor that longed to be taken seriously and felt trapped by the role that ultimately made him famous. Diane Lane was wonderful as Toni. The relationship between her and George was believable.

Robin Tunney did fine as Leonore, the younger woman George was engaged to when he died. She didn’t seem to be that nice of a woman. Eddie was Toni’s older husband who was powerful in Hollywood. He had a mistress and was well aware of the fact that Toni was involved with George. He didn’t seem to care until Toni was upset. Eddie wasn’t around as much as some of the other characters, but Bob Hoskins still gave a wonderful performance. Lois Smith was fine in the few scenes she was in as George’s mother.

Louis had a lot of his own problems to deal with when he got Helen to hire him. His marriage had ended, though it didn’t say for sure if he and Laurie were just separated or if they had actually divorced. He and Laurie weren’t getting along well and their son was having some issues as well. Adrian Brody was really good in the part. Molly Parker was also fine in her part, though it was one of the smaller parts in the movie.

Main Cast

Ben Affleck - George Reeves
Adrian Brody - Louis Simo
Bob Hoskins - Eddie Mannix
Diane Lane - Toni - Mannix
Molly Parker - Laurie Simo
Lois Smith - Helen Bessolo
Robin Tunney - Leonore Lemmon

Allen Coulter - Director

Hollywoodland was a very good movie full of wonderful performances that is worth seeing.



Recommended: Yes