Hollywood Bohemians: Transgressive Sexuality and the Selling of the Movieland Dream

by Brett L. Abrams

Between 1917 and 1941, Hollywood studios, gossip columnists and novelists featured an unprecedented number of homosexuals, cross-dressers, and adulterers in their depictions of the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle. Actress Greta Garbo defined herself as the ultimate serial bachelorette. Screenwriter Mercedes De Acosta engaged in numerous lesbian relationships with the Hollywood elite. And countless homosexual designers brazenly picked up men in the hottest Hollywood nightclubs. Hollywood's image grew as a place of sexual abandon. This book demonstrates how studios and the media used images of these sexually adventurous characters to promote the industry and appeal to the prurient interests of their audiences.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2008

About the author

As a kid I read biographies and histories because I wanted to know what people did. Then I peppered my parents with the question, "Why?" I pursued that passion earning a doctorate in U.S. History. decades ago. Now I write books about what people did, and how the culture they lived in helped or hindered their achievements.

American culture's fascination with celebrity and uproar with Southern culture sparked me to write my latest book called Terry Bradshaw: From Super Bowl Champion to Television Personality.

Since I was always interested in transgressive sexuality, my first book looked at these images that came out of the movie industry during the 1920s and 1930s. It's called, Hollywood Bohemians.

I enjoy Washington, D.C. immensely with so much great development and more excitement added to this city. The baseball stadium made me wonder about the city's history of built and proposed stadiums. This work led to a second book, Capital Sporting Grounds.

The unlucky status of Washington's basketball history led to my third book, The Bullets, The Wizards and Washington, DC Basketball.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting book, covers a decent amount of ground and offers a lot of topics for further reading, but the quality of writing is only so-so, and the author relies a lot on fictional portrayals, mixing them in with media reporting, and not always backing them up with archival or first-person sources.

[Christine Zibas · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this comprehensive overview of the development of Hollywood (particularly between 1917-1941), author Brett Abrams demonstrates how those who crossed the boundaries of the society’s sexual norms had a unique role to play in creating the image we have today of Tinseltown. Today most people’s image of Hollywood is one of a laissez faire, “anything goes” town dedicated to the movie business. Yet it wasn’t always that way.

Cross-dressers, gay and lesbian actors and actresses, as well as those who engaged in adulterous affairs all challenged the societal norms of early Hollywood, and in many ways, those attitudes remain unchanged even now. Yet these individuals helped to form Hollywood into the city it is today, known around the world for its daring, exciting milieu of glamour and stardom.

This outsider behavior allowed the middle class to get a glimpse into the exotic, then retreat back to their comfortable world. It began with “slumming,” when average folks would visit the highly charged nightclubs of early Hollywood, enjoying the titillation of seeing these “sexual deviants” from a distance, then returning to the safety of their homes. This exposure to performers, wrapped up in the glamorous veneer of clubs like the Coconut Grove or hotels like the Ambassador, gave ordinary citizens a chance to be daring without truly altering their own life styles. In fact, there was even a popular guidebook called “How to Sin in Hollywood” that served as a Fodor’s to these very Hollywood hangouts.

Movie stars and studios similarly used this daring lifestyle (if not outwardly endorsing such outlandish behavior) to gain attention for upcoming movies or make stars’ lives into more dramatic (and attention-getting) activities than they might otherwise be. Coupled with coverage in movie magazines, industry newspapers, and eventually TV coverage, it all helped build an image to sell the Hollywood product.

In his book, author Brett Abrams has done an incredible job of laying out the story of early Hollywood and detailing just how sexual transgression (whether through homosexuality, adultery, or other taboo behavior) helped to challenge society‘s boundaries and build an image for the movie business of excitement and daring.

As an archivist at the National Archives, Abrams’s research for this book is impeccable, with 35 pages of notes and bibliography alone. From White House inaugurations to newspapers’ society pages to the cross-dressing stars of early Hollywood, he has painted a fascinating portrait of an industry (the movie business) and city (Hollywood) that most of us take for granted. It’s a stunning effort to go inside a historical experience rarely covered by the general media, one that can be enjoyed by all

[Stephanie Barko]

a fascinating study of how '30s Hollywood has influenced today's movies, advertising, and sexual attitudes

[Brett]

I loved it. Learned a lot and had a good time too.

[Nancy Loe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful from start to finish.