Description
Book SynopsisIllustrates how the conservative gossip maven contributed mightily to the public understanding of film, while providing a platform for women to voice political views within a traditionally masculine public realm.
Trade ReviewHedda Hopper's Hollywood is a well researched and written account of Hopper's career...Frost's book reminds us that while technology has advanced, the deep fissures of American politics and culture from the post war era remain with us, undermining efforts to promote toleration, dialogue, and respect for diverse opinions. * History News Network *
Readers get a study of Hoppers politics and those of her readers, both explored through Hoppers vastly popular newspaper column, from which this book takes its title. * Library Journal *
Every once in a while you read a book that is pure joy, and Jennifer Frosts Hedda Hoppers Hollywood hits all the right notes. Its got movie stars, its got intrigue, and its got humor, its got a light but effective theoretical frame...[A] wonderful book. -- Claire Potter, Professor of History, The New School for Public Engagement
Valuable to scholars interested in studio-era Hollywood gossip writing about which few scholarly books have been written. -- Stephen Siff * Journalism History *
A major contribution to our understanding the political importance of gossip. During the 20th century, few gossip columnists had more influence in shaping the ways in which millions of Americans thought about film and politics than this sharp-tongued conservative loyalist. Jennifer Frost reveals the role Hopper played in furthering the power of the Hollywood Right and undercutting that of the emerging Hollywood Left. She offers us an important glimpse into the the power of gossip to influence popular thinking about race, class, gender, and politics in America. -- Steven J. Ross,author of Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics
In a study of the gossip industry, the reader expects stories of & Mad-Hatter Hopper and her connections with the FBI and HUAC.The surprises come with insights into a Hollywood not generally covered in standard histories:Hoppers Anglophobic response to casting Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, her support of Lew Ayres as a WWII conscientious objector, and her campaign for a special Oscar for African American actor James Baskett who played Uncle Remus in Song of the South.A valuable contribution to American cultural history! -- Janet Staiger,author of Media Reception Studies
In this fascinating book, Jennifer Frost shows how the famous Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper combined celebrity gossip with the promotion of Right-wing politics. In the process, Frost offers a welcome corrective to the notion of an always liberal Hollywood, and reveals how apparently private tittle-tattle can become a public political force. -- Linda Gordon,author of Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits
Jennifer Frost reveals how important celebrity gossip was to the film industry in the l940's and l950's. But she also reveals the central place that Hollywood and Hedda Hopper played in advancing anti-Communist politics as well as laying the foundation for the culture wars that have pervaded national life ever since. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in postwar politics and American culture. -- Lary May,author of The Big Tomorrow, Hollywood and the Politics of the American Way
The author has deftly interwoven the skeins of Tinseltown with U.S. conservatism in a well-researched study filled with apt quotations. -- R. Muccigrosso * Choice *
A satisfying entree into the world of classical Hollywood gossip." * The Journal of American History *
Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction: "Malice in Wonderland" Escape from Altoona 1 The Making of a Celebrity Gossip A Columnist Is Born Gilding Hollywood's "Golden Age" Publicity and Right-Wing Politics2 Readers, Respondents, and Fans Crafting Columns, Creating Community Civil Liberties in Times of War Chasing Charlie Chaplin3 Hopper's Wars Prewar Isolationist to Cold Warrior Civil Liberties in Times of War Chasing Charlie Chaplin4 Cold War Americanism, Hopper Style Selling Americanism Fighting the "Un-Americans"5 Blacklisting Hollywood "Reds" Establishing the Hollywood Blacklist Hedda's Black (and Gray) List Enforcement Efforts6 Representing Race in the Face of Civil RIghts An Oscar for Uncle Remus In Defense of Mammy Presenting Poitier7 "Family Togetherness" in Fifties Hollywood Hopper's "Home Life and Good Citizenship" The Sinatra Situation The Liz-Debbie-Eddie Incident8 Taking on "Hollywood Babylon" A Career's End Reporting on a Fading Hollywood System From Old to New RightConclusion: Movies, Politics, and Narratives of NostalgiaNotesIndexAbout the Author
