Hollywood Heavies

They just don't make villains like they used to. While we turn to the hideous Freddy Krueger to make us quake in fear, the old Hollywood was content to show our evil side with its glamour perfectly intact. J.C. Suares' collection of studio stills in Hollywood Heavies shows us a gorgeously horrific Bette Davis in The Little Foxes, all decolletage and pursed lips, James Cagney giving a ceremonious smack with a grapefruit to his costar Mae Clarke in The Public Enemy, and the hapless Edward Arnold in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The book ends with modern images — Kathy Bates in —Misery, Sylvester Stallone in Farewell, My Lovely — that make us long for the likes of Joan Crawford. B+