Forgotten Hollywood

In this episode I spoke with author Nat Segaloff about his book "The Naughty Bits: What the Censors Wouldn't Let You See in Hollywood's Most Famous Movies". Between 1934 and 1968, no Hollywood studio could make a movie without the permission of and a seal of approval from the Production Code Administration. The Production Code was Hollywood's official censor. Screenplays, books, plays, costumes an...

In this episode, I spoke with author Kurt Jensen about his book "Peerless Rouben Mamoulian, Hollywood, and Broadway.  A proud Armenian who claimed a distant link to nobility, born in what was then part of czarist Russia, Rouben Mamoulian (1897–1987) was one of the most astonishing and confounding figures in American film and theater, directing the original stage productions of Porgy and Bess , Car...

In this episode, I spoke with Alonso Duralde about his book "Hollywood Pride". For generations, members of the LGBTQ+ community in Hollywood needed to be discreet about their lives but—make no mistake—they were everywhere, both in front of and behind the camera.

In this episode, I spoke with Dean Butler about his book "Prairie Man: My Little House Life and Beyond".  An illuminating, insider’s journey through the world of Little House on the Prairie  and beyond, from Dean Butler, who starred as Almanzo Wilder, the man Laura “Half Pint” Ingalls married—on the iconic show still beloved by millions of fans as it reaches its 50th anniversary.

In this episode, I spoke with author Simon Lewis regarding his book "Making A Bridge To Far".  A Bridge Too Far, released in 1977, was the last epic WWII movie made in the Hollywood studio system. Its ambitious goal: to recreate the Allied plan Operation Market-Garden in September 1944. 

In this episode, I spoke with author Jared Stearns about his book "Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers". The untold story of the world’s most famous X-rated star, who rose to fame as the face of Ivory Snow and the star of Behind the Green Door but struggled to find her true self in a world of sex, scandal, and shattered dreams.

In this episode, I spoke with author Scott Ryan regarding his book "The Last Decade of Cinema".  Ah, the nineties. Movies were something in those days. We're talking about a decade that began with GoodFellas and ended with Magnolia, with such films as Malcolm X, Before Sunrise, and Clueless arriving somewhere in between.

In this episode, we look at the life of Roland Young.

In this episode, I spoke with Alexis Hunter about her book " Joi Lansing: A Body To Die For". Joi Lansing: A Body to Die For colorfully chronicles personal and intimate details of the last four years of the talented '50's "blonde bombshell" star's fascinating life. After three decades of successful TV and movie appearances and Vegas singing stardom, Ms. Lansing died far too young at just 43. 

In this episode, I spoke with author A. Ashley Hoff about his book "With Love, Mommie Dearest: The Making of An Unintentional Camp Classic."  When she died in 1977, Joan Crawford was remembered as an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age—until publication the following year of her daughter’s memoir, Mommie Dearest . Christina Crawford’s book was an immediate bestseller, combining the infrequently discuss...

Episode 238 Kevin Winkler about his book "On Bette Midler: An Opinionated Guide" In this episode, I spoke with Kevin Winkler about his book "On Bette Midler: An Opinionated Guide". Bette Midler today is a beloved legacy star, best known for her comic witch in Disney's Hocus Pocus  (1993) and its 2022 sequel.

In this episode, I spoke with Matthew Kennedy about his book "On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide".  A sweeping look at the career of a truly singular Hollywood star. In the oceans of ink devoted to the monumental movie star/businesswoman/political activist Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (1932-2011), her beauty and not-so-private life frequently overshadowed her movies. While she knew how to gene...

In this episode, I spoke with Josh Young and Manfred Westphal about their book The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn. A riveting tell-all biography that delves into the extraordinary life of Hollywood’s most infamous private detective and “fixer” to the stars, revealing newly discovered shocking revelations from his never-before-seen investigative files. 

In this episode I spoke with Michael F. Blake on his latest book "The Cavalry Trilogy: John Ford, John Wayne, And The Making Od Three Classic Westerns". Like other filmmakers in post-WWII Hollywood, John Ford (already a three-time Best Directing Oscar winner), longed for the freedom and independence to make his own films, away from the dictates of studio executives. Then, in 1946, Ford and produce...

In this episode, I spoke with author M.J. Trow about his book "History vs Hollywood: How the Past is Filmed". Film studios have been making historical movies now for over a century. In that time, thousands of films have been made covering not just centuries but millennia.

In this episode, I discuss with author Dwayne Epstein and his book "Killin' Generals: The Making of The Dirty Dozen, the Most Iconic WW II Movie of All Time". It has been a year since we spoke with Dwayne, and he has come back to discuss the past year regarding his book.  An explosive inside look at The Dirty Dozen , the star-studded war film that broke the rules, shocked the critics, thrilled aud...

In this episode, I spoke with author Daniel De Vise' regarding his latest book "The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise Of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic".  The story of the epic friendship between John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, the golden era of improv, and the making of a comedic film classic that helped shape our popular culture. 

In this episode, I discuss Heidi Honeycutt and her book "I Spit On Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies". From the first silent reels to modern independent films, in this book, you’ll discover the creepy, horrible, grotesque, beautiful, wrong, good, and fantastic — and the one thing they share in common. This is the true history of women directing horror movies.

In this episode, I spoke with author Thom Shubilla about his latest book " James Bond and the Sixties Spy Craze".  James Bond the the 60s Spy Craze  will explore James Bond films and the number of movies and television shows of the 1960s inspired by Ian Fleming’s character. The book also delves into the production, casting, merchandise, and music that helped to make James Bond a household name and...

In this episode, I discuss with Professor Timothy Corrigan his latest book "Describing Cinema". In Describing Cinema , award-winning film scholar Timothy Corrigan explores the art and poetics of writing about film. Part theory, part rhetoric, and part pedagogy, the text examines and demonstrates acts of describing scenes, shots, and sequences in films as the most common and most underestimated way...

In this episode, I spoke with author Burt Kearns on his recent book "Marlon Brando Hollywood Rebel. Over the last eighty years, Marlon Brando has become such an object of fascination, buried under so many accreted layers of mythos and half-truth, that it is all but impossible to see the man behind the icon. As we approach the centennial of this undisputed American legend, Marlon Brando: Hollywood...

In this episode, I spoke with the authors Alain Silver and James Ursini about their book "From the Moment They Met It Was Murder: Double Indemnity and the Rise of Film Noir'. The behind-the-scenes story of the quintessential film noir and cult classic, Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity —its true crime origins and crucial impact on film history—is told for the first time in this riveting narrative pu...

In this episode, I spoke with Kathleen Loock regarding her book "Hollywood Remaking: How Film Remakes, Sequels, and Franchises Shape Industry and Culture".From the inception of cinema to today’s franchise era, remaking has always been a motor of ongoing film production. Hollywood Remaking  challenges the categorical dismissal in film criticism of remakes, sequels, and franchises by probing what th...

In this episode, I spoke with authors Colin Gunckel and Laura Isabel Serna about their book "There Are No Hispanic Stars! Collected Writing Of A Latino Film Critic In Hollywood, 1921-1939. In the 1920s and 1930s a uniquely Mexican American entertainment culture flourished across the southwestern United States. Spanish-language newspapers offered theater listings, coverage of favorite performers, c...

In this episode, we look at the career of Jackie Cooper.  Doug Hess is the host!