When choosing a Book of the Month selection, we look for something that might be instructive for new filmmakers, or perhaps, a book that highlights an interesting/underreported moment in film history. And then there are those that are just a bit random, and maybe tangentially related.
This month’s book falls into that last category, while highlighting a connection many of us probably never thought of: Hollywood stars and bicycles. Hollywood Rides a Bike: Cycling With The Stars (2012) has a straightforward name to go along with its straightforward premise. The book consists of photos of… you guessed it, stars on bicycles. The book is the creation of former Philadelphia Inquirer movie critic Steven Rea, who first started posting photos of stars to a Tumblr account (ah, those were the days!) in 2010. According to the book’s introduction, the reaction was so strong, that Rea felt compelled to expand his search for Hollywood cycling photos and author this book.
One of the interesting things to me, is the proliferation of photos showing stars on bikes on the studio lots. As Rea explains, the studios provided bikes for workers to more efficiently make their way around the sprawling studios. Bikeshare before bikeshare, if you will. To me, there is irony in this cycling island in the middle of the automobile ocean of Southern California.
In looking at the photos, you start to notice many of the stars have almost a lightness in their eyes: as if the act of cycling is releasing them from the pressures of life on set. Even staged publicity photos hint at a bit of escape, made possible by the humble bicycle.
You can get the book and support Scrappy through this Amazon link. (Don’t forget your local library, which is where I found the reviewed copy.)