The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties [Paperback]

Sam Kashner (Author), Jennifer Macnair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

A vivid portrait of power, fame, and sex in 1950s Hollywood, from the rise of tabloid journalism to the making of legendary film icons.

With "fresh emphasis on little-known stories [and] an impressive number of eyewitnesses" (Chicago Tribune), Sam Kashner and Jennifer MacNair present "a revealing,...ever fascinating glimpse into the shadowy reality and hidden mores of Hollywood in what was popularly considered a decade of innocence" (Suzanne Finstad). "[S]urprisingly vivid accounts" (People) of such public icons as Lana Turner, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, and Mae West explore the private scandals exploited by tabloids such as Confidential. Highlighting Hollywood's curious religious revival with The Robe, the film industry's exploitation of the potboiler Peyton Place, and the life of anarchic director Nick Ray of the enduring classic Rebel without a Cause, the authors "[give] a compelling sense" (Kirkus Reviews) of the unique obsessions of the era and the city's attempts to reinvent the magic and mystery of its past glories. Guided by the authors' historical savvy and intimate storytelling, we discover a city at a crossroads, attempting to reinvent the magic and mystery of its past glories. Tragic, irreverent, and always entertaining, The Bad and the Beautiful reveals the underground history of this turbulent decade in American film. 35 b/w photographs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 1950s are often dismissed as a peaceful interval between the war-ravaged '40s and the socially stormy '60s. Not so, according to journalists Kashner and MacNair, who offer a juicy, gossip-gorged expos‚ of '50s Hollywood. They begin, appropriately, with the story of Confidential magazine, a publication that outed gays and revealed interracial romances, prison records and extramarital affairs. The chapter "The Lavender Closet" concentrates on homosexual scandals involving tennis great Bill Tilden, actress Lizabeth Scott and writer/actor/director No‰l Coward. Kashner and MacNair comprehensively cover anticommunist hysteria, along with powerful studies of blacklisted screenwriter Alvah Bessie and actor Lee J. Cobb. The book's most striking subject is Nicholas Ray, director of Rebel Without a Cause. Inevitably, the authors emphasize the film's sexual backstory (Ray and Rebel cast member Dennis Hopper were both having affairs with Natalie Wood), but Ray's genius, his battles against the studio system and contribution to the fiery James Dean legend enhance the director's stature as a neglected immortal. Kashner and MacNair deal amusingly with Hollywood's religious period, ranging from Billy Graham's low-budget Mr. Texas to Twentieth Century Fox's Cinemascope circus, The Robe. Well-known anecdotes about Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Lana Turner are outshone by gritty profiles of legendary screenwriter Ernest Lehman (The Sweet Smell of Success), self-destructive novelist Grace Metalious (Peyton Place), anorexic actress Sandra Dee (Imitation of Life), suicidal playwright William Inge (Picnic) and cutthroat columnists Louella Parsons, Hedda Hopper and Sheilah Graham. These accounts, often dipped in acid, will keep readers flipping pages and highlight Kashner and MacNair's intention to write "a prismatic rather than an academic view of 1950s Hollywood." Photos.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

While Fifties Hollywood meant Disney films, the Legion of Decency, and pious epics like The Ten Commandments, it was also the era of Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, the blacklist, the scandal sheet Confidential, and the "lavender closet" as the authors note, homosexuality was considered "a kind of sexual equivalent of Communism." This popular, subjective history is a series of vignettes capturing a Hollywood in transition, pressured by television, the studio system's decline, and the postwar emerging permissiveness. Topics include the influence of the short-lived but much-feared Confidential; the clout of aging gossip queens Louella Parsons, Hedda Hopper, and Sheila Graham; and the uproar over an interracial romance between Sammy Davis and Kim Novak. Journalist Kashner and MacNair, a writer for The Jim Lehrer Newshour, write most perceptively on the era's classics (Sweet Smell of Success), and the best chapter describes how director Nicholas Ray forged his timeless portrait of teen-age angst in Rebel Without a Cause. The book is a brisk read but not the last word on Fifties Hollywood (though other, better books on the subject are out of print). The chapter on the misdeeds of the children of Hollywood stars could apply to any era, and chapters on Oscar Levant, Mae West, and Grace Metalious seem of dubious relevance. Despite its flaws, this book is recommended for public library collections. Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393324362
• ISBN-13: 978-0393324365
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars high on anecdote, low on context, August 3, 2002

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Nysocboy (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties (Hardcover)

What did the lives of the Hollywood glitterati mean to American culture during the 1950's? We don't find out. Lots of anecdotes, most quite familiar, but little sense of historical context. The text is well written and goes down well, but when the book is over we are left with no greater understanding of the 1950's or the movie industry, wondering, what was the point.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Odd Stories of Movies and Their Creators., May 29, 2006

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Jeff Sherratt "That Author Guy" (Newport Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties (Paperback)

Tantalizing and sometimes dark stories about the movie creators of the 1950s: writers, producers, directors, and yes, even a few of the actors are profiled here with intelligent prose and well documented detail. The chapter on the ill-fated, but brilliant playwright, William Inge, is alone worth the price of the book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Patchy but with some interest for movie lovers, January 30, 2004

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Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties (Paperback)

If you read this book from cover to cover then you may be disappointed as not of all it new and interesting. Nevertheless, there are some chapters which deserve the attention of movie lovers including the genesis and production of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, the dalliances of SAMMY DAVIS JUNIOR as well as the struggles he endured despite being an entertainer of genius. A book to be cherry picked and read at the airport.