"Rather than merely recount the circumstances of major entertainment scandalse.g., the drug-related death of Wallace Reid in 1923, the notoriety of Hedy Lamarrs Ecstasy (1933), extra-marital affairs of Rita Hayworth and Ingrid Bergmanthis volume provides telling examples of how the publicity machines and power structures of Hollywood inflected and manipulated scandals to mobilize public outrage to its own ends. . . . A clear, thought-provoking theme emerges from these essays: the deed that provides a scandal may be ultimately less scandalous than the subsequent attempts to contain or exploit it. A must for serious students of Hollywood and film history at the undergraduate and graduate level."Choice

"A well-constructed anthology that provides satisfying meditations on film scandals both notorious and obscure. McLean and Cook assemble a cast of contributors who examine the enormously potent and diverse historical, cultural, and ideological meanings of such star sandals as Fatty Arbuckles manslaughter trial and Wallace Reids narcotic addiction. . . . These are lively and culturally novel explorations. . . . Should please most cinéastes."Kirkus Reviews

"Headline Hollywood serves up the scandals of Hollywoods past from a different perspective. Contributing essayists assess the cultural impact or look for motives behind the event, and for reasons why scandals became public. Youll find everything in here, from the Harry K. Thaw-Stanford WhiteEvelyn Nesbit scandal, to Fatty Arbuckle and the Black Sox, to the sexuality of Hedy Lamarrs Ecstasy, the Ingrid Bergman and Rita Hayworth love affairs . . . to a piece, "Hollywood Goes to Washington," for Bill Clinton and Monica."Waterbury Republican (CT)

"Adrienne McLean and David Cook's anthology brings fresh perspectives to the workings of scandal in U.S. film and sociopolitical history. The book cogently documents how scandalous personal incidents have served to efface what the editors argue is Hollywood's most profound, enduring scandal: the persistence of sexual and racial inequities, on-screen and off."--Ramona Curry, author of Too Much of a Good Thing: Mae West as Cultural Icon

Hollywood has a long association with scandal--with covering it up, with managing its effects, and, in some cases, with creating and directing it. In putting together Headline Hollywood, Adrienne McLean and David Cook approach the relationship between Hollywood and scandal from a fresh perspective. The contributors consider some of the famous transgressions that shocked Hollywood and its audiences during the last century, and explore the changing meaning of scandal over time by zeroing in on issues of power: Who decides what crimes and misdemeanors should be circulated for public consumption and titillation? What makes a Hollywood scandal scandalous? What are the uses of scandal?

The essays are arranged chronologically to show how Hollywood scandals have evolved relative to changing moral and social orders. This collection will prove essential to the field of film studies as well as to anyone interested in the character and future direction of American culture.

Contributors are Mark Lynn Anderson, Cynthia Baron, James Castonguay, Nancy Cook, Mary Desjardins, Lucy Fischer, Lee Grieveson, Erik Hedling, Peter Lehman, William Luhr, Adrienne L. McLean, Susan McLeland, and Sam Stoloff.

In the Communications, Media, and Culture Series, edited by George F. Custen

Adrienne L. McLean is an associate professor of film studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is author of Being Rita Hayworth. David A. Cook is a professor of film and media studies at Emory University. He is the author of A History of Narrative Film.