A new literary form, on intriguing marriage of fiction and nonfiction, Hollywood Royalty is a fascinating look into the world of movie stardom.

The scene is San Simeon, the mountaintop Xanadu created by William Randolph Hearst, and the occasion an imaginary dinner party to which he has invited major stars of the film world. At the head of the table sits James Stewart in his tuxedo, flanked on his right by Katharine Hepburn in a lovely gown and on his left by a bejeweled Bette Davis. Facing him across the crystal- and silver-laden table is Gregory Peck, holding court between Ava Gardner and Audrey Hepburn.

Arrayed along the sides, eighteen more Hollywood legends join the others at this, the ultimate soiree, and all of them look as they did in their prime.

Journalist Gregory Speck, best known for articles originally published in Interview magazine, has woven interviews with these stars into one extended conversation. Everyone from Lillian Gish, Helen Hayes, and James Cagney to Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland confides memories of their peers, like Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Gary Cooper, Vivien Leigh, Henry Fonda, Ingrid Bergman, Spencer Tracy, and Jean Harlow.

The book also includes vivid character portraits of the great directors, such as Alfred Hitchcock, William Wyler, and John Huston, and hilarious anecdotes about the making of cinematic masterpieces, such as Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, and Moby Dick.

The actual words of the stars in this pantheon are taken from transcripts of the author's interviews with these luminaries. Collectively, they offer an unprecedented perspective on the truth behind the images of these larger-than-life personalities. Not a word has been fabricated. Illustrated with stunning photographic portraits, many never before published, Hollywood Royalty may be the most unusual book ever written on the world of motion pictures.