Reviews - Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema

163 reviews for:

Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema

I really enjoyed this book, broken into chapters on different scandals faced by Hollywood performers. It was so interesting to read about these actors and actresses lives were spun by studios to either redeem or cast them out of Hollywood. Anne Helen Petersen doesn't just tell the history of what happened then, but connects the scandals to the race, gender, age, and perceived socioeconomic status of the performer involved and reflects on how the positive or negative connotations of those lead to their positive or negative treatment by their studios and the public. I couldn't put this book down until I'd finished it, it was a refreshing take on scandals we have all heard of before, without just rehashing the versions that have made it into history.

niamh22's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous informative reflective fast-paced

spurlunk's review against another edition

2.0

I was disappointed in this book because the columns (which I read all in the space of two days when I was bored a couple months ago) were so much more entertaining and scandalous than anything in this book.

kmuskiewicz's review against another edition

4.0

Not bad. A bit draggy, but overall interesting. I was most taken by how the studios used to strictly control the images and lives of their stars, and what happened when the stars started to rebel against that stricture.