Martin Turnbull: An Interview With The Writer & Hollywood Historian – VIDEO
Turnbull, The Author Of Hollywood’s Garden of Allah Novels Talks Disney With Mickey Blog
As a reader, I’ll admit, I often want a “smooth read.”
To me, that means I generally want a quick run through the book; as well as a feeling like I “absorbed” the book efficiently. Also, please give me a neat resolution to the tome. That’s so I can move on – and quickly.
Author Martin Turnbull, who penned the book The Garden on Sunset, dashed most of those notions. It was like I was living with his characters night and day for as long as I read the novel. Consequently, for the first time, in a long, long while, I was genuinely upset when I finished the novel (and thrilled there are nine more in the series).
I might just read it again. Soon.
The Garden of Allah
Why was the book so enjoyable?
Firstly, his trio of characters — Marcus, Kathryn, and Gwendolyn — were unique in their perspectives, especially for a novel set in the 1920s and 30s.
Secondly, the book is set in “The Garden of Allah” hotel; a veritable whos-who boarding house during Hollywood’s Golden age (which obviously includes a side that would upset the Production Code Authority).
Finally, throughout the story, the three main characters encounter a treasure trove of recognizable names and faces.
That list, of course, includes a young man with the initials W.E.D.
“People like you and me, we weren’t there in the 30s and 40s of Hollywood at its peak,” explained Turnbull. “We [meaning those of us on this side of the silver screen] weren’t Humphrey Bogart. We weren’t Cecil B. DeMille. And those are lives that are well-documented but they’re sort of legendary lives that live far outside our scope, even if we translate that to [modern stars like] Harrison Ford and Julia Roberts.
“So, in order to tell a legendary story of what goes on in Hollywood during that time, I felt that I needed to ground it in the lives of regular people, who come to Hollywood for their own reasons and find themselves at The Garden of Allah Hotel.”
There, they encounter the likes of Ginger Rodgers, Errol Flynn, Bogart, and half the Algonquin Round Table.
“So, their lives intersected — very realistically — with these legendary lives,” added Turnbull.
Martin, who helps run a “Disneyana” shop in Los Angeles (perhaps the first “Disney” store ever, BTW), made sure one of the legends with whom Gwendolyn intersected was a young Walt Disney.
That scene, set at the Cocoanut Grove — and featuring a young Bing Crosby singing, “You Came to Me out of Nowhere” — and occurred on the first birthday of Mickey Mouse.
When asked why he included Mickey’s birthday party in the book, Turnbull said, “Firstly, It actually happened. And I was always looking for actual events [around which] I can weave my fictional story.
“And when I came across the birthday party that Walt threw at the Cocoanut Grove, I thought – that right there,” he explained.
So, I’ve got the Cocoanut Grove, which is a legendary place; an evocative place… and you’ve also got Walt Disney who’s a person who’s becoming a name, but hasn’t yet reached that legendary, globally recognized iconic image.”
“[Today] when you say the name ‘Walt Disney’ anywhere in the world… everyone has pretty much got the same picture. [In the book], he hadn’t reached that yet, but he was on the way there.
“You’ve got a legend in the making, so it ticked all my boxes,” he said.
Turnbull’s work, both fictional and historical, will definitely tick the boxes of many a Disney fan.
For example, while the Cocoanut Grove wasn’t included in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the actual Brown Derby (which once stood on North Vine Street in Hollywood, California), remains integral to the park.
And the “Hollywood Brown Derby” also hosts several important scenes in Turnbull’s book.
Disney fans will delight in the inclusion of a “familiar place” in Turnbull’s novel. In turn, the author — who gives tours of Los Angeles and immerses himself in the city’s history — was thrilled with Disney’s architectural portrayal of “Old Hollywood” at Walt Disney World.
“We went two summers ago,” he recalled. “Before I even walked through the gates there was the entrance to it. I thought, ‘Oh wow!'”
Turnbull, who, thanks to his work is very familiar with LA’s architecture, said he wasn’t expecting that level of detail.
“I should have because I know what the Imagineers are like,” he said. “But I walked through and onto the ‘Hollywood Boulevard’ and as I walk through I am thinking, ‘Oh they’ve got the Dark Room. And they’ve got the [Chinese] theater. And as I was walking around I suddenly felt like I had walked into one of my novels.
“I was thinking, ‘This is what it must have felt like!'”
Meanwhile, you’ll feel that much closer to the history of Disney and Hollywood Studios after the below interview. I don’t want to spoil any more of Martin’s stories. Enjoy!
Thank you to Martin for being so, so generous with his time. You can find Martin on WordPress and via his family’s Disneyana store Fantasies Come True: Walt Disney Collectables – The world’s first store dealing strictly in Disney collectibles and memorabilia. And much thanks to my good friend Jonny Gotlib, who did wonders for my subpar Zoom audio and video.