By Anne Helen Petersen
Three out of Five Stars
The fascinating aspect in reading Scandals of Classic Hollywood is the fact that what sent the general public into spasms of outrage back in the day, is par for the
course today. Author Anne Helen Petersen presents us with fourteen essays focusing on scandals of yesteryear, but with an eye to how they’d be viewed today – Petersen received a PhD from the University of Texas, where she studied the history of the gossip industry (is that really a PhD course?). It’s a unique approach, but one, that while interesting enough, seemed to fall short of the books promise.
course today. Author Anne Helen Petersen presents us with fourteen essays focusing on scandals of yesteryear, but with an eye to how they’d be viewed today – Petersen received a PhD from the University of Texas, where she studied the history of the gossip industry (is that really a PhD course?). It’s a unique approach, but one, that while interesting enough, seemed to fall short of the books promise.
The book starts well, focusing on the fall of Fatty Arbuckle, accused of murder after a wild party held in a San Francisco hotel room and Wallace Reid, one of Hollywood’s first known drug addicts. Chapters on the romance between Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, and Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall merely tell us how the studios orchestrated the publicity of their couplings so as not to outrage fans – all relationships started with one or both in other relationships. Today, stars cheating on their spouses isn’t that outrageous anymore.
Chapters on two stars who fell from grace, Rudolph Valentino and Clara Bow are interesting enough, but all we realize is that Valentino was lucky enough to die young, before he grew old and pathetic - and forgotten. I don’t recall her mentioning one of the biggest rumors used against “It” Girl Clara Bow, namely that one night she took on and pleasured the University of California football team; added to that rumor eventually was that the team she took on and pleasured in one night included a then unknown John Wayne. While both profiles are interesting, there just seemed to be something lacking in there telling.
Three profiles on Hollywood’s “Three Angry Men” seemed excessive. Reading about Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando and James Dean, seemed like one profile too much. Scandals of Classic Hollywood was a fun read, and definitely an introduction to Classic Hollywood for those who aren’t familiar with that wonderful era – but in terms of true scandal, it just didn’t seem to provide the impact the title promised. I guess I just wanted more depth and analysis to the profiles, and just didn’t get that, but that’s also coming from someone who has all ready embraced Hollywood’s Golden Era and knows a little about it.
A valiant effort and a good start for those who want to put together a viewing list of classic films worth checking out.
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