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163 reviews for:
Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema
Anne Helen Petersen
3.53 AVERAGE
163 reviews for:
Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema
Anne Helen Petersen
3.53 AVERAGE
In terms of fulfilling the promise of the title, I guess this book does a decent enough job. Knowing very little about the actors listed here, I learned a lot about not only their "scandals", but also their careers and projects. Along with a lot of background on how Hollywood worked back in the day. I'd like to read more about the Hayes Code.
Here's the problem.
I was googling these actors while listening, to give myself a visual. In those quick google searches, I found several instances of scandal not even touched upon in here. The biggest example: the book touches on Clark Gable's impregnating of co-star Loretta Young.
Not even hinted at: the revelation by her children that their mother was a victim of date rape at the hands of Clark Gable, which is what led to the impregnating.
Whether you believe the story or not, there's no reason to leave that out.
So, it's hard to take this book as thorough, or reliable.
Good useless information, though. And I do love that.
Here's the problem.
I was googling these actors while listening, to give myself a visual. In those quick google searches, I found several instances of scandal not even touched upon in here. The biggest example: the book touches on Clark Gable's impregnating of co-star Loretta Young.
Not even hinted at: the revelation by her children that their mother was a victim of date rape at the hands of Clark Gable, which is what led to the impregnating.
Whether you believe the story or not, there's no reason to leave that out.
So, it's hard to take this book as thorough, or reliable.
Good useless information, though. And I do love that.
really more of a 1.5 star. while the subjects themselves are interesting, the author tends to do a frankly wild amount of victim-shaming/blaming, which is very ironic since the book is framed as exploiting the hollywood “machine” for doing the exact same thing ?? the tone was very inconsistent and judgmental at times. it kind of felt like a glorified wikipedia article with the author’s bad takes inserted in. also, what was with the random attack on heath ledger at the end? she says that james dean’s death was more meaningful that ledger’s ever could be. like what the fuck ?? that’s in such poor taste to compare stars by the impact of their death ?? yeah, terrible end to a terrible book.
Very interesting read on more than just the scandals, but rather how they were crafted, exploited or covered up.
informative
slow-paced
informative
fast-paced
Anne Helen Petersen is the smartest gossip writer out there, author of fascinating long pieces on Kerry Washington, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, etc. on Buzzfeed and The Hairpin. It's fascinating because she sees Hollywood and stardom in terms of the system, and how personal choices become more than personal when considered in the light of fame and gossip. Managing image and publicity in classic Hollywood is the them of this book, which consists of easy-to-read chapters on different stars. It is VERY easy to read.
I grabbed this from the library because I loved Anne Helen Peterson's articles on the topic for the Hairpin, Buzzfeed, etc. This had a more academic feel than those articles, which I didn't always love, and it was definitely more of a survey - it was providing a broader overview towards a larger thesis - rather than just being random articles about stars and scandals she found interesting. I've got to be honest, I was hoping for more colloquial and gossipy.
I had hoped for more sex, deviance and drama. Instead I got a break-down of how the studios controlled and killed their stars. It's kind of like reading a car crash - it's horrible and should never have happened, but you can't seem to look away either.
I'm guessing it's so hard to understand how and why Hollywood functioned the way that it did back then, because of how different the world is today - and in some cases really isn't.
Overall it was intriguing to read about old Hollywood and imagining the old style glamour and sharpdressed men, but intertaintment and writing- wise, it was a letdown. It would have worked better as a documentary with images and movie clips.
I'm guessing it's so hard to understand how and why Hollywood functioned the way that it did back then, because of how different the world is today - and in some cases really isn't.
Overall it was intriguing to read about old Hollywood and imagining the old style glamour and sharpdressed men, but intertaintment and writing- wise, it was a letdown. It would have worked better as a documentary with images and movie clips.
I’ve had this book on my tbr for years and finally decided to tackle it. I’m glad I read it as it was entertaining but I didn’t learn anything new. I’m quite a fan of Old Hollywood so perhaps this book would be better suited for readers who haven’t heard these same stories over and over before.
It took me forever to finish Scandals of Classic Hollywood; I didn't want to stop reading it once I picked it up but I didn't feel compelled to pick it up that often. Does that make sense?
Petersen's "Scandals of Classic Hollywood" series on The Hairpin was amazing. On the strength of those articles alone, I am predisposed to read any book she publishes.
I found the book version of "Scandals" went less in-depth than I anticipated. Maybe that's due to the large number of actors Petersen covered within a relatively small number of pages. I liked it and learned new things (and got a bunch of film recs in the process), but classic Hollywood isn't exactly my wheelhouse -- everything I previously knew about Mae West probably came from one heavily filtered text-over-a-sassy-photo Facebook share -- and I think readers who have more knowledge about that era might not get as much out of it.
The tone of the book is less fizzy and lively than that of Petersen's online articles, but (at least from my previously uninformed standpoint) it's still a worthwhile introduction to the classic Hollywood machine and some of the stars it made and/or destroyed.
(three-and-a-half stars)
Petersen's "Scandals of Classic Hollywood" series on The Hairpin was amazing. On the strength of those articles alone, I am predisposed to read any book she publishes.
I found the book version of "Scandals" went less in-depth than I anticipated. Maybe that's due to the large number of actors Petersen covered within a relatively small number of pages. I liked it and learned new things (and got a bunch of film recs in the process), but classic Hollywood isn't exactly my wheelhouse -- everything I previously knew about Mae West probably came from one heavily filtered text-over-a-sassy-photo Facebook share -- and I think readers who have more knowledge about that era might not get as much out of it.
The tone of the book is less fizzy and lively than that of Petersen's online articles, but (at least from my previously uninformed standpoint) it's still a worthwhile introduction to the classic Hollywood machine and some of the stars it made and/or destroyed.
(three-and-a-half stars)