The Mysterious Montague: A True Tale of Hollywood, Golf, and Armed Robbery

by: Leigh Montville

Published by: Anchor Books

Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart

It wasn’t golf that attracted me to Leigh Montville’s biography of The Mysterious Montague. It was the True Tale of Hollywood…and Armed Robbery. I’m a sucker for Old Hollywood stories.

John Montague appeared on the Hollywood scene in 1934 and was soon dubbed “the greatest golfer in the world.” Better than any professional great of the day.

No one knows where he came from, where he made/got his money, or why he was there, except maybe to play golf. He quickly became friends with stars like Oliver Hardy and Bing Crosby. He even lived at Hardy’s place for a while.

Montague was amazing. He could things with his oversized clubs that no one else could do. He never golfed over 70. He once beat Crosby with a shovel, a rake, and a baseball bat. As amazing as those feats were, his feats off the course became as legendary. Many, many times he was known to lift the overweight Hardy onto a bar with one hand. Montague was a charmer. He did have two idiosyncrasies though.

First, no matter how much pressure his friends would put on him, he would never enter a tournament. His claim was that he only golfed for his personal enjoyment, but always some superstitious betting was going on at almost each hole. Second, he refused to have his picture taken. An odd thing in the land of stars, but that’s how he was.

However, John Montague’s gig was up in 1937. He was arrested and taken to Syracuse, New York, as a suspect in an armed robbery back in 1930 under the name of LaVerne Moore. His high-powered friends rallied around him, but the courts were determined to have their day.

Montville’s well-written biography is fun to read, albeit there are just too many golf scores. Maybe I know more about golf now that I’ve read The Mysterious Montague: A True Tale of Hollywood, Golf, and Armed Robbery –or maybe not. I won’t be hitting the links anytime soon.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not look at the pictures. One of them gives away the outcome of trial and deflates the story’s tension.

Armchair Interviews says: A delightful biography from the 1930-40’s Hollywood.