Hollywood Bohemians
Transgressive Sexuality and the Selling of the Movieland Dream
Brett L.
Abrams
ISBN
978-0-7864-3929-4
20 photos, notes, bibliography, index
256pp.
softcover
2008
Temporarily out of stock while McFarland awaits the reprint - accepting backorders
Description
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.
About the Author
Brett L. Abrams is an archivist with the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
Other Book(s) by Brett L. Abrams Available from McFarland:
Capital Sporting Grounds
Reviews
"an insightful and intriguing read"--Philadelphia Gay News
"In Hollywood Bohemians, Brett Abrams has provided all film historians with a brand new take on Hollywood. This social study should be must reading for all scholars. Rather than simplistic assertions, Abrams offers documents that will be new to all."--Douglas Gomery, Professor of Journalism and Film Studies Emeritus, University of Maryland and author of Shared Pleases: A History of Movie Presentation In the United States and the Hollywood Studio System: A History.
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Table of Contents & Excerpts
Related Books
Performing Arts/Film
Interdisciplinary Studies/Gay & Lesbian Studies
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