WELCOME!
Contact: Greg@gregorymank.com
If you have never visited this site before, you might want to take a moment to acquaint yourself by clicking on the link to the "GWM Overview" page to the left.
Thanks for visiting!
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year!
Blessings to all my readers no matter how you celebrate this glorious season!
JUST PUBLISHED!
My most recent book, Of Mice and Men: Mental Enfeeblement, Racism, and Mercy-Killing in 1939 Hollywood has just been published by BearManor Media – in time for holiday giving and getting! Accompanied by over 110 illustrations, this book takes the reader into the heart and soul of one of the most powerful and beloved films of Cinema’s Golden Age.
Of Mice and Men is one of the most haunting,
passionate films in Hollywood history. Based on the
tragic novella by John Steinbeck, it was a Best Picture
Oscar nominee in 1939, “Hollywood’s Greatest Year,”
and shattered taboos that film producers had never
dared to challenge before.
I was singularly blessed to be able to access the studio
archives (the first time such research material has been
available in 80 years). Thus I have been able to tell the
full story of this film: the censorship battles, the secret
screen tests, the day-to-day shooting, and the
controversial critical and popular response. My book
also candidly examines the private lives of the film’s
cast – particularly its three brilliant stars, Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, and Lon Chaney, Jr. – and its production staff, headed by its indomitable director Lewis Milestone.
Of Mice and Men: Mental Enfeeblement, Racism, and Mercy-Killing in 1939 Hollywood is available from BearManor Media at OMM-BearManor and Amazon at OMM-Amazon
ALSO PUBLISHED IN 2022
Angels and Ministers of Grace Defend Us! (the
“sequel” to The Very Witching Time of Night) was
published in June of 2022. It's been selling briskly
and is available from McFarland & Company
A&M-McFarland and from Amazon
Also, Frankenstein’s Witch: St. Lizzie, Pray For
Us, the first novel in my “Porter Down Hollywood
Mysteries” series, was published in May, 2022
and is available from Bear Manor Media
Look on the Amazon site to read some of the
5-STAR reviews this book has received! See my “Thoughts” page for more details on this book and my "Novels" page for information about upcoming volumes in this series.
A terrific new British magazine, “The Age of Thrills 1930s/1940s” tapped me to be a regular contributor. 2022 saw the publication of my articles on The Mask of Fu Manchu and The Old Dark House in the magazine’s first two issues. “Midnight Marquee” has also included my article on Universal’s 1946 The Cat Creeps in its issue #81 recently published.
NEXT UP
Meanwhile, I am providing the finishing touches on my second “Porter Down Hollywood Mystery” for BearManor Media, Platinum Widow: Who Killed Jean Harlow’s Husband? as well as several magazine articles for “The Age of Thrills 1930s/1940s” and a collaboration for BearManor Media with my good friend, ace Film Historian Tom Weaver.
Once in a while, I get to eat and sleep!
Hope to see you back here soon!
Greg
