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I just saw a copy of the book "The Keystone Kid: Tales of Early Hollywood" by Coy Watson Jr. and was wondering if this book is worthwhile picking up?

Louie Despres wrote:I just saw a copy of the book "The Keystone Kid: Tales of Early Hollywood" by Coy Watson Jr. and was wondering if this book is worthwhile picking up?

It's not a bad book, nice stills, and a good History of the Watson Clan. This guy says pick it up.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

Louie, definitely pick it up. It is a great read, with some great color on what it was like to grow up in 1910's/1920's Edendale around the movie studios. It's one of those memoirs that transcends the actual subject of movie history to be a "coming of age" type of story, which--with Coy recently passing away, and few other survivors--there aren't going to be any/many more of. There are some of the kind of factual errors you'd expect from someone recalling 70-80-90 years previous, but these are really unimportant in the scheme of the book next to the color of the era and place the book provides.

Brent

Brent Walker wrote:Louie, definitely pick it up. It is a great read, with some great color on what it was like to grow up in 1910's/1920's Edendale around the movie studios. It's one of those memoirs that transcends the actual subject of movie history to be a "coming of age" type of story, which--with Coy recently passing away, and few other survivors--there aren't going to be any/many more of. There are some of the kind of factual errors you'd expect from someone recalling 70-80-90 years previous, but these are really unimportant in the scheme of the book next to the color of the era and place the book provides.

Brent

Two thumbs up here, too. It's a charming book, very sweet.

Joan

I've read this book a few years ago, and definitely recommend it to anybody and everybody. It includes photos from his childhood up until 1999 (I think), when the family received their star on the Walk of Fame. I was saddened to hear about his passing, but am glad he was able to write out his autobiography before he passed away.

Sara

My Hubby picked up this book for me a few years back and I put it on the shelf and figured that I woudl "get to it eventually". I wasn't in a real hurry.

I then read a review someone wrote of it and decided to push it up to "next book to read". I was glad that I did.

The pictures are great , and the text is great to read. It is not the usual "star bio" but a family story of a large clan that grew up amidst the begining of the Keystone Studios. The author's father was , as I recall ,a stunt man who got into staging gags for Keystone. He was credited as the person who started the use of piano wire in gags.
The author fell into the business when an infant was needed for a shot in and early Lon Chaney film ( before Chaney was famous) and then was used so much at Keystone he earned his nickname. Eventually he and his siblings were in many films and the story follows the family throughout this history.

It is personal and fun. I found it to be a wonderful book that far exceeded my expectations.

Agnes McFadden

I found "The Keystone Kid" to be a very enjoyable and informative read. As mentioned, Coy Watson, Jr. doesn't quite get some of the facts quite right - but overall it offers a genuine feel for the experience of being a kid in silent films. So definitely pick it up. (Somewhere I have a newsreel that was shot by Watson in the early '50s during his second career as a cameraman showing Stan Laurel judging a children's swim meet.)

Jim K