Behind The Screen: Amazon.ca: William Mann: Books

Product Description

From Amazon

If your last piece of golden-era Hollywood gossip is that Greta Garbo and Cecil Beaton kissed at a rooftop party, you need to steep yourself in William J. Mann's social history of gay Hollywood, a treasure trove of fresh anecdotes and observations of a period and place in which homosexuals enjoyed tremendous freedom and influence--within certain obvious limits. In choosing subjects for his study, Mann cast his net widely, hauling in a great number of uncelebrated but essential workers in the "queer" areas of the film industry--mainly costume design and props, but also writing, directing and acting. This is not principally a look at famous figures, in other words, but at a subculture as a whole, in which Dorothy Arzner, George Cukor, and Charles Laughton are just part of larger circles of gay life and work. Certain to become essential to gay film studies, Behind the Scenes provides a rich, accessible history of pre-Stonewall Hollywood. --Regina Marler

From Publishers Weekly

"Come next week if possible. Kathleen giving supper Sunday the 27th. Will ask her to include you and Gary. Want both to occupy one guest room? Answer soon as possible." An insignificant query? Not when you know that it was sent in 1929 to openly gay actor Anderson Lawler, and that "Gary" was none other than beautiful Hollywood newcomer Gary Cooper, Lawler's constant companion. While he doesn't skimp on the details of who was sleeping with whom (Mary Martin and Janet Gaynor; Claudette Colbert and Marlene Dietrich; Cary Grant and costume designer Orry-Kelly), historian and cultural critic Mann (Wisecracker) also delivers an astute and groundbreaking study of the impact of gay and lesbian actors, set designers, writers, costume designers, editors and producers on studio-era Hollywood. Without directly correlating sexual identity and artistic production, Mann applies sharp, original research and interviews to re-create the intricate lives and work of "gay Hollywood," offering a new lens for examining the complicated, sometimes contradictory relationship between sexual activity, identity and work. Treating his subjects with great integrity, he argues that it is inaccurate to label stars like Colbert, Cooper and Grant "gay," because they had a far more fluid sexuality. Yet he makes a cohesive and persuasive argument for how their varied sexualities transformed Hollywood and the movies. Mann also covers a wide range of ancillary topics e.g., the history and aesthetics of set design; the rise of Los Angeles's "pansy clubs"; and the special role of Jews (who were more likely than gentiles to be open about their sexuality). This intelligent and accessible study marks a major step for gay, gender and film studies. Agent, Malaga Baldi. (On-sale Oct. 15)

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4.0 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent study of gays and lesbians in Hollywood, Jan 8 2004

By

Rebecca (Oakland, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind The Screen (Mass Market Paperback)

I found this book to be extremely interesting, and, ultimately, hard to forget. It is a well-researched account of what life was like in Hollywood for gays and lesbians, both pre-Code and post. While it is true that the book is comprehensive, and many, many people are discussed, I didn't find this to be problematic. They were not necessarily names which I recognized, but that was why I was reading the book. If I had a little trouble remembering who he was referring to in a given section, I let that go and read for content. What the people experienced. Why they did. How they felt about it.

The sheer volume of research Mr. Mann did is overwhelming, and necessary for this topic to be taken seriously. Very often, critics of gay and lesbian history books will claim that nothing is substantiated. Given the fact that some of these people were in the closet, therefore have left no documentation themselves, in my opinion, looking to other people who lived at the same time, who knew the people in question is just as valid as having a piece of paper which says, "I am gay/lesbian, and I loved 'X,' and I hid my orientation for 'Y' reason." It is unrealistic, in many cases, to expect that level of documentation, particularly with the generation of people the book talks about. Putting oneself into the closet in, say, 1935 (post-Hayes Code) meant that you *stayed* in the closet, for the rest of your life. That doesn't invalidate the experiences of the people who knew you, took photos of you, saw you and your lover behind closed doors, or at a party.

Mr. Mann put in untold hours of research, and when you look at the chapter notes, it's clear that the whole picture he presents is exactly that. He doesn't print mere rumour--there are a number of times when he doesn't "name names." What he does do is present his information, substantiated by any number of disparate sources, and gives it to the reader, straight out (so to speak). All of which, to me, is a valid way to deal with this subject. All of which made the book that much more valuable.

I found this book to be eminently readable. I could not put it down. I found a number of the stories heart-wrenching, and terribly sad (for example, Cary Grant and Randolph Scott's relationship). I found others to be uplifting. I learned about people I'd never heard of, and now, when I watch a movie from the 1930's, or 40's, I recognize names of set designers, and writers, and costume designers as *my* forefathers and foremothers (as Mr. Mann calls them).

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, for those of you who want to know more about gay and lesbian history, and how the shaping of Hollywood (by gays and lesbians) influenced the general American culture, and vice versa. It's fascinating.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but almost too exhaustive, Feb 13 2003

By

"dshoffmann" (Iowa City, IA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind The Screen (Mass Market Paperback)

I found the thesis of this book to be worthy of attention, but perhaps the extent to which the author evaluates the subject is a bit much. The book is not an easy read, at times it feels like a laundry-list of the life and times of EVERY SINGLE gay man or woman involved in the hollywood scene. The upshot of this approach is that the text is not bogged down with modern lore and urban legends about the great gay stars. They get about as much attention as everyone else, from cameramen to set decorators. The result is an absolutely comprehensive account of the lives of some very interesting men and women. Part of the theme of the text is the similarity of experience between the working/middle-class derived gay population. Perhaps that is what makes the text seem a little repetitive, so many of these people have such similar stories that you forget where you are in the book! As you can probably tell, I'm torn about this review, but all that said, this book has been an interesting read and will be a valuable reference in my library of books on film and filmmakers.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Too Much ....., Aug 31 2002

By

Gail K. Powers "Abra" (Harbor Country, Mi,N. Naples, FL, Chicago area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Behind The Screen (Hardcover)

I found this book sort of a difficult read. I can usually zip through a book very quickly, but I found myself hanging on every other sentence. The author seemed to cram almost too much meaningful information into every paragraph.
From start to finish, this book chronicled the influence of a somewhat externally closeted gay Hollywood community on the total output of work from the film industry. This wasn't all that much of a revelation to me. On one level or another a lot of film historians and movie hounds have always pretty much assumed that fact.
My biggest problem with this book was that it really was two or three separate books crammed under one title. It was almost too much to absorb on the first take. I kept re-reading chapters to make the connections complete. If I had been the editor working on this book I would have divided this book by decades and gone with at least two separate volumes and had it fleshed out with additional supporting information.
I recommend this book as an insightful study of the gay Hollywood film community and their contributions to the motion picture industry. I also caution most potential readers that this book will not be necessarily a quick take. You will miss a lot unless you proceed with caution. It is a lot like a runaway train moving at a very fast speed.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed
Unlike his great biography on William Haines, I did not care for this book, and did not even finish it!! Read more

Published on July 31 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and Thoughtful
This on my wishlist and was given to me as a Christmas present. A very nice present indeed. I had read one other work by Mann, "Wisecracker" the biography of Billy Haines. Read more

Published on Jun 6 2002 by I. Henzel