Open Secret: Gay Hollywood--1928-2000

By David Ehrenstein

Book Overview

Part social history and part expos , this revealing, entertaining, and provocative book spans nearly seventy years as it explores the lives and careers of some of the silver screen's foremost gays and lesbians and the effect of their high-profile lifestyles on the general public. From Charles Laughton and Greta Garbo to Nathan Lane and Ellen DeGeneres, David Ehrenstein traces the gradual transformation of Hollywood from a time when it was box-office poison to be publicly gay to the modern era when many top entertainment figures are celebrating their gay sexuality--and are in turn celebrated for it. Updated, Open Secret reveals what has happened to the key players in gay Hollywood since the original hardcover publication.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688175856
• ISBN13: 9780688175856
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.9" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

For the aficionados.

The first time I was in L.A., a well known actor asked me if there were also as many gays in the European movie business as in Hollywood?This book lifts a veil on that still rather taboo issue. A few celebrities are mentioned in this book, but I felt that most of the chapters were more for insiders.Fortunately, this book contains also some important movie issues which tell a lot about the mentality of the people who ran (run) the studios.Hollywood's success story is based on its star system. A big panic broke out in the fifties of last century when one of the superstars 'Ingrid Bergman' left Hollywood to marry Roberto Rossellini. The movie bosses were shattered and thought that they would lose a big part of their public (the box office). They launched a big smear campaign against the actress and forced the movie reviewers to criticize heavily her new films. The not so 'orthodox' behaviour of other superstars was left unscathed.The author unveils also the real role of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons as the 'Big Sisters' of Hollywood, who spied on the stars and employees of the studios on behalf of the bosses. If the crew didn't behave as the bosses wanted, they were called on the carpet and told that 'Unless you show yourself as a respectable person, you'll lose your contract."A decent work on a difficult subject.

Hiding in Plain Sight

A breathless indictment of the hypocrisy that rules Hollywood. It exposes the willingness of the PR people and Studio Heads to hold back the truth about who is and who isn't gay. Moreover, it is a polemic that raises the question, "If it is OK to be gay now, why don't more big stars come out of the closet?" and answers it with clarity and rare insight.

A surprisingly serious examination of Hollywood's closet

I picked up Hollywood secret expecting a trashy expose of who's gay who in the Biz. It isn't, but it doesn't dissappoint. Ehrenstein delivers both the goods, and the social climate, both of larger society, and the surprisingly accepting, inward looking Hollywood society. In some ways better than other books covering the same territory, because Ehrenstein doesn't just name names, he also names sources. His interviewees are credited, and he doesn't engage in the current bankrupt practice of blind items. I wish Cruise's lawyers had sued, thus giving the book a big publicity boost. A must for any serious Hollywood History library.

Breezy fun yet thoroughly thought-provoking

While supplying plenty of Hollywood gossip past and present, Ehrenstein manages to present a fresh angle on the larger subject of homosexuality in our culture. A highlight is his behind-the-scenes look at the making of "Gods and Monsters" and his own study of that movie's subject, James Whale. And ... a book on Gay Hollywood with chapter titled "Tom Cruise"? I couldn't resist.

A serious look at gay Hollywood

Ehrenstein's book is a fine overview of Hollywood's treatment of gay and lesbian actors/actresses. There was a lot in the book that I was not aware of, and I've been a dedicated movie fan for five decades. He surprised even me with anecdotes about people I never "suspected". I'll be sure to seek out his earlier works, and am waiting for the next book.Dish on, David!