Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine

by Henry E. Scott

Before TMZ . . .
Before the National Enquirer . . .
It was Confidential .

Though it was printed on pulp paper and sold for only a quarter, Confidential could cost Hollywood stars their careers. From 1952 to 1957, it was the one magazine that refused to play by Hollywood’s rules—and was thus rewarded with four million readers per issue. If Look said that Lucy and Desi were the perfect couple, Confidential exposed him as a philanderer. If the studios claimed that Liberace, Van Johnson, and Tab Hunter were hetero he-men, Confidential set the record straight. Whether it was infidelity, homosexuality, drug use, interracial romances, or—worst of all—communism, Confidential exposed the stars’ secrets most sure to shock suburban America in the Eisenhower era.

Now, for the first time, this riveting book tells the story behind the phenomenon. Henry E. Scott reveals the truth about the publisher who loved white Cadillacs and chorus girls and the red-baiting editor who ended up a blood-spattered tabloid headline himself, as well as the libel lawsuit that brought the whole raunchy and remarkable enterprise to an end—but not before it had paved the way for today’s paparazzi-stalked, gossip-soaked world. It’s all here in one Shocking True Story .

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Crime, Film, Journalism, 20th Century, Media Tie In

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Graceann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love gossip. Old-time movie gossip, anyhow. I couldn't care less about that family that begins with the letter "K," or how some dopey singer ended up in jail. It's boring. The reason it's boring is that it's all been done before. Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton? Both heiresses and famous for their disastrous personal lives - hmm, I wonder why that sounds familiar...

Believe it or not, there weren't a lot of venues for hearing about the seamier side of a celeb's life. They were mostly underground, and highly coded. Then came Confidential and it's many, many copycats and descendants. Confidential managed to stay out of court for a surprisingly long time for two reasons: (1) they fact-checked the heck out of their stories, at least at first; and (2) they didn't print everything they knew, so there was always something even more embarrassing in the coffers should the stories have to be vetted in open court. It wasn't until they got sloppy in the fact-checking that things got bad for them, both in the courts and in circulation numbers, but by then, the damage had been done. We have only to look at our own newsagents for titles such as Hello! and The Enquirer for proof. Then, as now, celebrities and sex sell magazines, as Confidential discovered the first time they put a story about Marilyn Monroe on their cover.

But first there was Confidential, with its stories of gay actors and actresses, inter-racial (gasp) relationships, and secret Communists. One of the most famous stories was about the "wrong door raid" that Joe DiMaggio (and Frank Sinatra, and several others) conducted, when they busted down the door on an apartment where they *thought* Marilyn Monroe was trysting. Inside was a very frightened lady who was definitely not Marilyn.

Confidential ended some careers and boosted others, depending on the person being discussed. (Nothing was really going to dim Marilyn's star, but a white actress photographed out on the town with Sammy Davis Jr. saw her budding career disappear). In some cases, deals were made between PR agents and writers in order to sacrifice lower-rung stars for the promise of protection for higher-value targets. You can have Tab Hunter if you don't say anything about Rock Hudson, for instance.

In this short, very informative and interesting look at not only the stories that Confidential printed, but at the people who wrote them and the man at the helm, Henry Scott has offered a fascinating window into how our current celebrity gawking and schadenfreude is nothing new. The faces are different, but the stories remain the same.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Remember this: Today's headlines, tomorrow's toilet paper." --Studio head Jack Warner to closeted actor Tab Hunter

Before there was TMZ, before there was E! True Hollywood Story, there was Confidential magazine. This is a short, entertaining account of the magazine's rise and fall in the 1950s.

In some ways, the book is too short--it underexplains some issues. As I'm an editor, I'm all for brevity, but I still have some questions.

* I can absolutely understand why a fellow might hire a bunch of models and photograph them half-naked on a golf course. But why dress them as Ku Klux Klan members? How many men could possibly be interested in cheesecake of that nature? I've heard of niche markets, but come on. And wouldn't the sheets cover up the models', um, attributes? Maybe they just wore the pointy hoods.

* How could anyone, even in the 1950s, believe that a skull fracture could turn a gay man straight?

* Why would anyone raise pigs in the drawing room of a 3,000-acre estate in Ireland? Was this a business venture or political theater?

* A magazine called Menace of the Sex Deviates lasted only one issue? Really? Were skull fractures involved?


Here's what I learned from the book, just in case you want to start your very own scandal rag:

* Tell less than what you know. If you print an article that states that a well-known actor is having an affair, and the actor threatens to sue, you can reveal that you know the Other Woman is underage. The libel suit will never get off the ground.

* Never print a retraction. Unless someone you have named as a mobster comes to your office and dangle you out the window by your ankles. Then retract away.

* The right turn of phrase can capture the public imagination. Hookers aren't hookers; they're "cuddle-for-cash cuties." And if you hire an ex-Communist Party member to write anti-Communist articles for you, and then he sells you out to the district attorney and goes to work for a rival publisher, all the while claiming that gossip magazines are trash, feel free to label him as "Turncoat of Many Colors."

"The desire to know that which is not told . . . will continue. That I place my life on." --Confidential publisher Robert Harrison

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book on the growth of scandal journalism and focus on the lives of celebrities. I think it is interesting to note how the forerunner to TMZ began because Hollywood was so successful in controlling the media. Confidential did not want to be in Hollywood's pocket and challenged the star system with clever innuendos alluding to adultery, homosexuality and other improper behavior.
I was conflicted as I read this book - was this good or bad? I finished conflicted too - these stories hurt people, and promoted scandal and destroyed careers. However, it is interesting to see our society changing through this magazine.
Interesting quick read. Great read if you are interested in the golden age of Hollywood.

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant but not terribly deep book about the American tabloid that popularized gossip rags in 1950s America (with a special focus on Hollywood). The studios were losing their vice-like grip on celebrities’ reputations, and people like founder Robert Harrison and longtime editor in chief Howard Rushmore were there to dig up the dirt. It’s a true rise and fall story, as we follow Harrison from his humble beginnings to the heights of influence to the lawsuits that brought Confidential down, and beyond. We also follow the tragic story of Red-baiting, alcoholic journalist Rushmore, who always thought he was better than the gossip he wrote. But for all the dramatic trajectory of the story, Scott’s writing style reads like a magazine article; the facts are interesting but the analysis is slight and the style is utilitarian. He also admits in the afterward that he isn’t much of a fan of movies or Hollywood, which makes it a strange subject for him to tackle. All in all, though, it’s an entertaining read, if not essential.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second of three books on CONFIDENTIAL magazine, the original scandal sheet of the 1950s. Confidential was the magazine that tore the curtain away from Hollywood's publicity machine. The publicity-planted stories about movie starts in the perfect homes, with their loving spouses was a construction, a fabrication of the real lives of those who act in the movies we love. Robert Harrison, a fun-loving pubisher of girlie magazines, wanted a publication that would "Tell and Facts and Name the Names." Gay Stars were outed, philanderers and philanderesses were identified, bad boys and bad girls had their exploits exploited. Scott's book focuses on a handful of the most salacious stores from the pages of the short-lived scandal mag. Confidential ran from late '52 until '58, when Harrison sold it [it continued to be published, but not in Bob's flamboyant style, until the 70s]. This is fun reading, with something quotable on every page, but it barely scratches the surface of the panaorama that was Confidential magazine. Confidentially, on the QT, and very Hush-Hush.

[Brittany Jamison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flawed, unstructured, and over the place but still entertaining and the only book I know that covers this topic. Before there was TMZ there was Confidential. I wished Scott provided more insights and raised more questions about the far-reaching ramifications of this magazine; how it destroyed that certain Hollywood mythos forever. But it is a decent entry in the history of celebrity scandal and tabloids.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressively well researched and compellingly told, Shocking True Story is the book you want it to be. I'm not sure who'd I recommend this to, it doesn't waste time with historical context so unless you're already very familiar with the media landscape of the 1950s you're not gonna get much out of it, but if you're like me and have been doing research for a project that led you to this title, it's worth your time. The copy I have had far more typos in it than I would've liked, but it was clearly a passion project by somebody who knew this story needed to be told while there were still witnesses to interview. It's an important public service, even if something went wrong with the copyediting.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published only from 1952 to 1958, Confidential was the forerunner of the Enquirer and other tabloids. Run by the grandiose Robert Harrison, and his extended family, it scandalized Eisenhower America with mostly true gossip about stars like Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, and Lana Turner. It ceased publication after a lawsuit ended in a hung jury, but the magazine had lost all of its informants. Soon after, one of its most prolific contributors, Howard Rushmore (who’d started out as a communist, then become a rabidly anti-communist McCarthyite) murdered his wife in the back of a taxi before turning the gun on himself. Fairly interesting look at 50s underbelly.

[Karl O' · Rating 4 out of 5]

Largely structured around the original Confidential articles, the book covered exactly as much information as I needed about the magazine (Confidential) largely responsible for the gossip culture. The trashy beginnings of Enquirer , TMZ etc. are all here. But the Confidental writers were imaginative and could write. A brief glimpse of Hollywoods underbelly in the 50s. Fascinating to read 60 plus years later what was once scandalous now makes you a media star.

[I.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and breezy look at the life of Confidential magazine and the people who worked on it. The excerpts are a nice touch but the whole book has the depth of an expanded magazine article. Definitely fun, but could have dug a little deeper.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read!

[Skye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story, I enjoyed the excerpts from the original magazines.

[Sy Snootles · Rating 2 out of 5]

NPR is tricky. They have a way of making anything they talk about sound extremely interesting. I was absolutely tickled to get my hands on this book after hearing the author interviewed on Fresh Air. I have a minor degree in Film Studies, am a collector of vintage movie magazines, and wrote a term paper on Confidential and its ilk in college. Still, I'm no expert on the magazine, so I was excited to read this book and learn all the dirty details. What a disappointment. This is Scott's first book (he's an ad executive); he admits to not being a "movie fan" before writing it; and his inspiration came from reading L.A. Confidential on a plane. The result? A disjointed, unorganized, uninteresting mess of a book. In fact, it reads a lot like a term paper. The chapters are short and don't flow chronologically; he cites LONG passages from other works (my jaw dropped when he quoted FIVE PARAGRAPHS from Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, crediting it only as "a 2005 memoir"); and the way he references people and films (he describes the Rat Pack as "a group of actors") makes it look like he has NO IDEA what he's talking about. Maybe if you also don't know anything about the era he's describing, you might enjoy it too; and since it's so short and amateurish it's probably a good plane read (I got through it in a day). But if you know anything about this era or expect this work to be on par with other Old Hollywood nonfiction tomes, don't bother. You won't learn anything new and you'll be mad you wasted your time.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me almost two weeks to read this book. I had such high hopes for it. I read "For Enquiring Minds" years ago and when this book came out I listened to the author's interview with NPR. The book sounded more interesting than it actually was. Also during that interview the author gave away everything that was interesting about his book.

"Shocking True Story" wasn't shocking at all. It was quite boring in fact and the writing was rather clunky. "For Enquiring Minds"provided more information regarding the foundations of the modern tabloid industry and its past. However, that book is more academic and historic than "Shocking True Story", so some might not be interested at all.

Maybe this book would have been better if it left out the recounting of scandals long since cold and dead and focused on Harrison and Rushmore (the Founder and Editor of Confidential) and Confidential and its competitors and imitators.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept for laying out this book, using as a starting point for each chapter a different story from Confidential and then doing the back story on it. Unfortunately, he goes far afield by the end of each chapter, so that the structure seems chaotic by the end. It was a good idea in theory, but he just doesn't make it work. This is a two or three star book that easily could have been, by reworking the structure, a five star book. The book suffers in that the story of the people behind the magazine is spotty and broken up unnaturally by the structure. I have to say, though, there was enough information in the book for me to keep reading and to enjoy it.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books seemed empty, as though it was lacking for facts, something that strangely Confidential never suffered from. Every chapter starts with a section from the magazine, as the author uses them to plot the rise and the fall of the paper. Some of these make sense, some of them just seem as though the author felt he had to include them. I could easily dig through old back issues of Confidential however, I had hoped for something more in depth in the author's treatment of the subject than just the magazine headlines. This could have been a really interesting book. It is unfortunate that it falls short.

[Astrid Yrigollen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scandal sheets,they seem to have always been around, even before some of us were born.Juicy little tidbits of gossip about the people who are in vogue at that time * that may not be true*. If you like to read about the older celebrities like Rock Hudson and Marilyn Monroe, this book acts as a mini time capsule of the by gone era where celebrities, though imperfect, still practiced discretion and had class. While Scott's heart was in the right place the book seems a little disjointed and at times hard to follow. I love the idea though.

[Duke Haney]

Still another book I read as research, though not for a novel. I was hoping for much more in the way of detail and analysis of the Confidential era. But it moves fast and doesn't tax one's powers of concentration, which is a definite plus when you're trying to read on a plane, a train, or a bus, as I did during a recent visit to New York City, with screaming children and people shouting on phones all around me.

[G.L. Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're interested in reading Hollywood scandals, this is not the book you're looking for. If you want to read a scholarly history of Confidential magazine, with most of the emphasis paid to those who ran it, then this is the book for you. I found that compared to the subject matter, the prose was on the dry side. The insights into the people involved and the way Hollywood both ruled over and tried to protect its proteges was fascinating, though.

[Jessica Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to Confidential, one of the first true gossip magazines. The book covers Confidential's rise to success, with examples of the type of stories it ran, and then its demise in the midst of lawsuits. Very interesting!

For more on the history of Confidential, I've blogged about it and this book in more detail at: http://www.babiafi.co.uk/2015/11/confidential.html.

[Bookworm Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an easy read...sloe because I found I wasn't to invested. never heard of the magazine before and bought this book years ago for a penny. it wasn't bad. I felt I learned about the expose magazine beginnings. wouldn't reread it tho

[Sarah left GR]

Heard an interview with the author on Fresh Air today.

[Jay Levine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining (re: can be dry) story of rise/fall of Confidential, the first generation of the TMZ type publications from the 1950s.

[Hester · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only thing I got out of this was some vintage gossip about Robert Mitchum, I'll never think of ketchup in the same way again.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a shocking true story, it was kind of, well, boring...

[David Burkam · Rating 2 out of 5]

A surprisingly dull read on an lurid (and influential) moment in publishing history.

[Mlserna]

Now you're talking-great scandal book loved it.