‘HISPANIC HOLLYWOOD’

Shame on Kevin Thomas for calling George Hadley-Garcia’s “Hispanic Hollywood” (March 3) both “captivating” and “comprehensive.” It isn’t either.

An immediate, glaring example that shouldn’t have escaped Thomas’ critical eye is the exclusion of actor-director Richard (Cheech) Marin (“Born in East L.A.”) from this book that purports to be about “Latins in motion pictures.”

Dozens of Latinos who starred in Hollywood films (Estelita Rodriguez, Susan Kohner, Lalo Rios, Apollonia Kotero, Judy Carmen, etc.) are also omitted.

In their place, Hadley-Garcia (aka Boze Hadleigh and George Haddad-Garcia) gushes over singers Vikki Carr and Julio Iglesias or Mexican actors who never made Hollywood films.

The text is also flawed. In one instance, Hadley-Garcia wrongly argues that Katy Jurado’s Hollywood career fizzled after she failed to get an Oscar nod for “High Noon” in 1952, ignoring her Oscar nomination (for “Broken Lance”) in 1954.

Readers expecting a good filmography of Latino players and productions or even decent notes on sources cited will have to look elsewhere.

Finally, an alert editor, after noting a “thank you” to Thomas in the book’s preface, should have assigned its review to someone more objective and sensitive to Latino film history.

GREGG BARRIOS, HOLLYWOOD