Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood: Celebrity Gossip and American Conservatism

Contents

| ix Contents List of Abbreviations xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction: “Malice in Wonderland” 1 Escape from Altoona 8 1 The Making of a Celebrity Gossip 17 A Columnist Is Born 18 Gilding Hollywood’s “Golden Age” 27 Publicity and Right-Wing Politics 33 2 Readers, Respondents, and Fans 45 Crafting Columns, Creating Community 47 Reading Hopper, Writing Hedda 54 Hollywood Gossip as Public Sphere 61 3 Hopper’s Wars 67 Prewar Isolationist to Cold Warrior 68 Civil Liberties in Times of War 77 Chasing Charlie Chaplin 82 4 Cold War Americanism, Hopper Style 91 Selling Americanism 93 Fighting the “Un-Americans” 103 5 Blacklisting Hollywood “Reds” 113 Establishing the Hollywood Blacklist 114 Hedda’s Black (and Gray) List 126 Enforcement Efforts 134 x | Contents 6 Representing Race in the Face of Civil Rights 139 An Oscar for Uncle Remus 141 In Defense of Mammy 149 Presenting Poitier 160 7 “Family Togetherness” in Fifties Hollywood 165 Hopper’s “Home Life and Good Citizenship” 168 The Sinatra Situation 175 The Liz-Debbie-Eddie Incident 180 8 Taking on “Hollywood Babylon” 191 A Career’s End 193 Reporting on a Fading Hollywood System 200 From Old to New Right 210 Conclusion: Movies, Politics, and Narratives of Nostalgia 219 Notes 225 Index 273 About the Author 281 ...