
Scandals of Classic Hollywood
Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $15.47
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Romy Nordlinger
About this listen
Believe it or not, America's fascination with celebrity culture was thriving well before the days of TMZ, Perez Hilton, Charlie Sheen's breakdown, and allegations against Woody Allen. And the stars of yesteryear? They weren't always the saints that we make them out to be. Part biography, part cultural history, the stories contained in this book cover the stuff that films are made of: love, sex, drugs, illegitimate children, illicit affairs, and botched cover-ups. Based on Anne Helen Petersen's popular column on the Hairpin, Scandals of Classic Hollywood is sensationalism made smart.
©2014 Anne Helen Petersen (P)2014 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Hollywood Horrors
- Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown
- By: Andrea Van Landingham
- Narrated by: Cindy Piller
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The name “Hollywood” conjures up fantastical images of bright lights, glamorous dreams, and impossible riches. From its humble beginnings as a ranch sprawling northwest of Los Angeles in the late 1800s, Hollywood has spanned lifetimes as a factory of dreams, a dazzling place where all things are possible.
-
-
Review
- By Rhinoguy3000 on 08-11-22
-
The Castle on Sunset
- Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont
- By: Shawn Levy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since 1929, Hollywood’s brightest stars have flocked to the Chateau Marmont as if it were a second home. An apartment building-turned-hotel, the Chateau has been the backdrop for generations of gossip and folklore: where director Nicholas Ray slept with his 16-year-old Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie Wood; Jim Morrison swung from the balconies; John Belushi suffered a fatal overdose; and Lindsay Lohan got the boot after racking up nearly $50,000 in charges in less than two months. Much of what has happened inside the Chateau’s walls has eluded the public eye - until now.
-
-
Was enjoying it until...
- By leigh on 04-22-20
By: Shawn Levy
-
This Was Hollywood: Forgotten Stars and Stories
- Turner Classic Movies
- By: Carla Valderrama
- Narrated by: Carla Valderrama
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From former screen legends who have faded into obscurity to new revelations about the biggest movie stars, Valderrama unearths the most fascinating little-known tales from the birth of Hollywood through its Golden Age. The shocking fate of the world's first movie star. Clark Gable's secret love child. The film that nearly ended Paul Newman's career. A former child star who, at 93, reveals her #metoo story for the first time. Valderrama unfolds these stories, and many more, in a volume that is by turns riveting, maddening, hilarious, and shocking.
-
-
Hollywood Fun
- By Ernie D. Casciato on 01-06-21
By: Carla Valderrama
-
Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
-
-
Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
-
Astor
- The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society. The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic.
-
-
A family first made, then destroyed by wealth.
- By Barbara W. on 09-23-23
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
Full Service
- My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars
- By: Scotty Bowers, Lionel Friedberg
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Newly discharged from the Marines after World War II, Scotty Bowers arrived in Hollywood in 1946. Young, charismatic, and strikingly handsome, he quickly caught the eye of many of the town's stars and starlets. He began sleeping with some himself, and connecting others with his coterie of young, attractive, and sexually free-spirited friends.
-
-
My ears!
- By Kimberly Brooks on 10-26-12
By: Scotty Bowers, and others
-
Hollywood Horrors
- Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown
- By: Andrea Van Landingham
- Narrated by: Cindy Piller
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The name “Hollywood” conjures up fantastical images of bright lights, glamorous dreams, and impossible riches. From its humble beginnings as a ranch sprawling northwest of Los Angeles in the late 1800s, Hollywood has spanned lifetimes as a factory of dreams, a dazzling place where all things are possible.
-
-
Review
- By Rhinoguy3000 on 08-11-22
-
The Castle on Sunset
- Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont
- By: Shawn Levy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since 1929, Hollywood’s brightest stars have flocked to the Chateau Marmont as if it were a second home. An apartment building-turned-hotel, the Chateau has been the backdrop for generations of gossip and folklore: where director Nicholas Ray slept with his 16-year-old Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie Wood; Jim Morrison swung from the balconies; John Belushi suffered a fatal overdose; and Lindsay Lohan got the boot after racking up nearly $50,000 in charges in less than two months. Much of what has happened inside the Chateau’s walls has eluded the public eye - until now.
-
-
Was enjoying it until...
- By leigh on 04-22-20
By: Shawn Levy
-
This Was Hollywood: Forgotten Stars and Stories
- Turner Classic Movies
- By: Carla Valderrama
- Narrated by: Carla Valderrama
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From former screen legends who have faded into obscurity to new revelations about the biggest movie stars, Valderrama unearths the most fascinating little-known tales from the birth of Hollywood through its Golden Age. The shocking fate of the world's first movie star. Clark Gable's secret love child. The film that nearly ended Paul Newman's career. A former child star who, at 93, reveals her #metoo story for the first time. Valderrama unfolds these stories, and many more, in a volume that is by turns riveting, maddening, hilarious, and shocking.
-
-
Hollywood Fun
- By Ernie D. Casciato on 01-06-21
By: Carla Valderrama
-
Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
-
-
Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
-
Astor
- The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society. The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic.
-
-
A family first made, then destroyed by wealth.
- By Barbara W. on 09-23-23
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
Full Service
- My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars
- By: Scotty Bowers, Lionel Friedberg
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Newly discharged from the Marines after World War II, Scotty Bowers arrived in Hollywood in 1946. Young, charismatic, and strikingly handsome, he quickly caught the eye of many of the town's stars and starlets. He began sleeping with some himself, and connecting others with his coterie of young, attractive, and sexually free-spirited friends.
-
-
My ears!
- By Kimberly Brooks on 10-26-12
By: Scotty Bowers, and others
-
Hollywood: The Oral History
- By: Jeanine Basinger, Sam Wasson
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning
- Length: 28 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a unique picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Gleaned from nearly three thousand interviews, involving four hundred voices from the industry, Hollywood: The Oral History, lets a listener “listen in” on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the camera—Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloyd—to the biggest behind it—Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, as well as the lesser known individuals that shaped what was heard and seen on screen.
-
-
Picky, Picky!
- By Patrick on 12-22-22
By: Jeanine Basinger, and others
-
Seduction
- Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood
- By: Karina Longworth
- Narrated by: Karina Longworth
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this riveting popular history, the creator of You Must Remember This probes the inner workings of Hollywood’s glamorous Golden Age through the stories of some of the dozens of actresses pursued by Howard Hughes, to reveal how the millionaire mogul’s obsessions with sex, power, and publicity trapped, abused, or benefited women who dreamt of screen stardom.
-
-
Do yourself a favor - listen at a faster speed
- By Jennifer G. on 11-26-18
By: Karina Longworth
-
Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
-
-
Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
-
Bette & Joan
- The Divine Feud
- By: Shaun Considine
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This joint biography of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford follows Hollywood's most epic rivalry throughout their careers. They only worked together once, in the classic spine-chiller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, and their violent hatred of each other as rival sisters was no act. In real life they fought over as many men as they did film roles.
-
-
Fun yarn suffers from clinkers.
- By Gary & Jay on 06-11-17
By: Shaun Considine
-
Mass Effect
- Revelation
- By: Drew Karpyshyn
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After discovering a cache of Prothean technology on Mars in 2148, humanity is spreading to the stars---the newest interstellar species, struggling to carve out its place in the greater galactic community. On the edge of colonized space, ship commander and Alliance war hero David Anderson investigates the remains of a top secret military research station---smoking ruins littered with bodies and unanswered questions. Who attacked this post, and for what purpose?
-
-
Enhances the enjoyment of the games substantially
- By Some Dude on 09-01-11
By: Drew Karpyshyn
-
Star Wars: Convergence (The High Republic)
- By: Zoraida Córdova
- Narrated by: Marc Thompson
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is an age of exploration. Jedi travel the galaxy, expanding their understanding of the Force and all the worlds and beings connected by it. Meanwhile, the Republic, led by its two chancellors, works to unite worlds in an ever-growing community among near and distant stars. On the close-orbiting planets of Eiram and E’ronoh, the growing pains of a galaxy with limited resources but unlimited ambition are felt keenly. The two worlds’ hatred for each other has fueled half a decade of escalating conflict and now threatens to consume surrounding systems.
-
-
Was Skeptical at first…boy was I wrong!
- By Justin Steele on 12-12-22
By: Zoraida Córdova
-
Burn It Down
- Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood
- By: Maureen Ryan
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Burn It Down, veteran reporter Maureen Ryan does just that. She draws on decades of experience to connect the dots and illuminate the deeper forces sustaining Hollywood’s corrosive culture. Fresh reporting sheds light on problematic situations at companies like Lucasfilm and shows like Lost, Saturday Night Live, The Goldbergs, Sleepy Hollow, Curb Your Enthusiasm and more.
-
-
Good, Necessary, + Worthwhile
- By Ryede on 06-06-23
By: Maureen Ryan
-
World War Z: The Complete Edition
- An Oral History of the Zombie War
- By: Max Brooks
- Narrated by: Max Brooks, Alan Alda, John Turturro, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World War Z: The Complete Edition features 21 additional Hollywood A-list actors and sci-fi fan favorites performing stories not included in the original edition. New narrators include Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese, Spiderman star Alfred Molina, The Walking Dead creator Frank Darabont, rapper Common, Firefly star Nathan Fillion, Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg, and members of the casts of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and more!
-
-
Will never pre-order again
- By Ignatz on 05-18-13
By: Max Brooks
-
All That Heaven Allows
- A Biography of Rock Hudson
- By: Mark Griffin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive biography of the deeply complex and widely misunderstood matinee idol of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Devastatingly handsome, broad-shouldered, and clean-cut, Rock Hudson was the ultimate movie star. The embodiment of romantic masculinity in American film throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, Hudson reigned supreme as the king of Hollywood. But in a more conservative era, Hudson’s wholesome, straight-arrow screen image was at odds with his closeted homosexuality.
-
-
Almost all of book is filtered by his sexuality.
- By James M. Patton on 03-30-19
By: Mark Griffin
-
Beautiful
- The Life of Hedy Lamarr
- By: Stephen Michael Shearer, Robert Osborne - foreword
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hedy Lamarr's exotic beauty was heralded across Europe in the early 1930s. Yet she became infamous for her nude scenes in the scandalous movie Ecstasy. Trapped in a marriage to one of Austria's munitions barons, a friend of Mussolini's who hid his Jewish heritage to become an "honorary Aryan" at the onset of World War II, Lamarr fled Europe for Hollywood, where she was transformed into one of film's most glamorous celebrities, appearing opposite such actors as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and James Stewart.
-
-
Exhaustive Biography of Hedy's Acting Career
- By thequickbrownfox on 11-24-22
By: Stephen Michael Shearer, and others
-
Deliberate Cruelty
- Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century
- By: Roseanne Montillo
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ann Woodward shot her husband, banking heir Billy Woodward, in the middle of the night in 1955, her life changed forever. Though she claimed she thought he was a prowler, few believed the woman who had risen from charismatic showgirl to popular socialite. Everyone had something to say about the scorching scandal afflicting one of the most rich and famous families of New York City, but no one was more obsessed with the tale than Truman Capote.
-
-
An interesting true crime story buried in here
- By Quinn on 11-11-22
-
Wicked
- The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Heralded as an instant classic of fantasy literature, Maguire has written a wonderfully imaginative retelling of The Wizard of Oz told from the Wicked Witch's point of view. More than just a fairy tale for adults, Wicked is a meditation on the nature of good and evil.
-
-
It's not easy being green
- By PangaeaReads on 07-30-08
By: Gregory Maguire
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Tragic Hollywood, Beautiful, Glamorous And Dead
- By: Jackie Ganiy
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you always been fascinated by the morbid side of Hollywood? Did you cut your teeth on books like Hollywood Babylon, and shows like Mysteries And Scandals? This book promises to deliver all the salacious details about the stars you remember, not for their films, but for their tragic short lives. What really happened to Natalie Wood aboard The Splendor that cold November night? Was Jayne Mansfield really decapitated? Just how decadent were the days of the silent movies? Maybe you think you've heard it all? Trust me, you haven't! Chock full of new details, shocking photos and even a ...
-
-
Stories were interesting
- By Karmen King on 03-28-25
By: Jackie Ganiy
-
Confidential Confidential
- The Inside Story of Hollywood's Notorious Scandal Magazine
- By: Samantha Barbas
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1950s, Confidential magazine, America's first celebrity scandal magazine, revealed Hollywood stars' secrets, misdeeds, and transgressions in gritty, unvarnished detail. Deploying a vast network of tipsters to root out stars' sexual affairs, drug use, and sexuality, publisher Robert Harrison destroyed celebrities' carefully constructed images and built a media empire. Confidential became the best-selling magazine on American newsstands in the 1950s, surpassing Time, Life, and the Saturday Evening Post. Confidential's spectacular rise was followed by an equally spectacular fall.
-
-
Fascinating! Painstaking Research & Documentation
- By A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. on 05-22-19
By: Samantha Barbas
-
The Genius of the System
- Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era
- By: Thomas Schatz, Steven Bach - preface
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a time when the studio is making a stunning comeback, film historian Thomas Schatz provides an indispensable account of Hollywood's traditional blend of business and art. Working from industry documents, Schatz traces the development of house styles, the rise and fall of careers, and the making - and unmaking - of movies, from Frankenstein to Spellbound to Grand Hotel. The Genius of the System gives the definitive view of the workings of the Old Hollywood and the foundations of the New.
-
-
A Textbook on Old Hollywood
- By Charlie Morton on 05-26-23
By: Thomas Schatz, and others
-
The Burnout Generation
- By: Anne Helen Petersen
- Narrated by: Anne Helen Petersen
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January 2019, culture writer Anne Helen Petersen set the internet on fire with her viral BuzzFeed essay diagnosing “millennial burnout” - a chronic state of stress and exhaustion that’s become a “base temperature” for young people today. Now, she continues this generation-defining conversation in a brand-new format, interviewing millennials around the country about their own deeply personal experiences with burnout, and the culture that creates it.
-
-
Needs less emoting, more courageous questioning
- By Michael H on 10-07-19
-
Hollywood Horrors
- Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown
- By: Andrea Van Landingham
- Narrated by: Cindy Piller
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The name “Hollywood” conjures up fantastical images of bright lights, glamorous dreams, and impossible riches. From its humble beginnings as a ranch sprawling northwest of Los Angeles in the late 1800s, Hollywood has spanned lifetimes as a factory of dreams, a dazzling place where all things are possible.
-
-
Review
- By Rhinoguy3000 on 08-11-22
-
Full Service
- My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars
- By: Scotty Bowers, Lionel Friedberg
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Newly discharged from the Marines after World War II, Scotty Bowers arrived in Hollywood in 1946. Young, charismatic, and strikingly handsome, he quickly caught the eye of many of the town's stars and starlets. He began sleeping with some himself, and connecting others with his coterie of young, attractive, and sexually free-spirited friends.
-
-
My ears!
- By Kimberly Brooks on 10-26-12
By: Scotty Bowers, and others
-
Tragic Hollywood, Beautiful, Glamorous And Dead
- By: Jackie Ganiy
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you always been fascinated by the morbid side of Hollywood? Did you cut your teeth on books like Hollywood Babylon, and shows like Mysteries And Scandals? This book promises to deliver all the salacious details about the stars you remember, not for their films, but for their tragic short lives. What really happened to Natalie Wood aboard The Splendor that cold November night? Was Jayne Mansfield really decapitated? Just how decadent were the days of the silent movies? Maybe you think you've heard it all? Trust me, you haven't! Chock full of new details, shocking photos and even a ...
-
-
Stories were interesting
- By Karmen King on 03-28-25
By: Jackie Ganiy
-
Confidential Confidential
- The Inside Story of Hollywood's Notorious Scandal Magazine
- By: Samantha Barbas
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1950s, Confidential magazine, America's first celebrity scandal magazine, revealed Hollywood stars' secrets, misdeeds, and transgressions in gritty, unvarnished detail. Deploying a vast network of tipsters to root out stars' sexual affairs, drug use, and sexuality, publisher Robert Harrison destroyed celebrities' carefully constructed images and built a media empire. Confidential became the best-selling magazine on American newsstands in the 1950s, surpassing Time, Life, and the Saturday Evening Post. Confidential's spectacular rise was followed by an equally spectacular fall.
-
-
Fascinating! Painstaking Research & Documentation
- By A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. on 05-22-19
By: Samantha Barbas
-
The Genius of the System
- Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era
- By: Thomas Schatz, Steven Bach - preface
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a time when the studio is making a stunning comeback, film historian Thomas Schatz provides an indispensable account of Hollywood's traditional blend of business and art. Working from industry documents, Schatz traces the development of house styles, the rise and fall of careers, and the making - and unmaking - of movies, from Frankenstein to Spellbound to Grand Hotel. The Genius of the System gives the definitive view of the workings of the Old Hollywood and the foundations of the New.
-
-
A Textbook on Old Hollywood
- By Charlie Morton on 05-26-23
By: Thomas Schatz, and others
-
The Burnout Generation
- By: Anne Helen Petersen
- Narrated by: Anne Helen Petersen
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January 2019, culture writer Anne Helen Petersen set the internet on fire with her viral BuzzFeed essay diagnosing “millennial burnout” - a chronic state of stress and exhaustion that’s become a “base temperature” for young people today. Now, she continues this generation-defining conversation in a brand-new format, interviewing millennials around the country about their own deeply personal experiences with burnout, and the culture that creates it.
-
-
Needs less emoting, more courageous questioning
- By Michael H on 10-07-19
-
Hollywood Horrors
- Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown
- By: Andrea Van Landingham
- Narrated by: Cindy Piller
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The name “Hollywood” conjures up fantastical images of bright lights, glamorous dreams, and impossible riches. From its humble beginnings as a ranch sprawling northwest of Los Angeles in the late 1800s, Hollywood has spanned lifetimes as a factory of dreams, a dazzling place where all things are possible.
-
-
Review
- By Rhinoguy3000 on 08-11-22
-
Full Service
- My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars
- By: Scotty Bowers, Lionel Friedberg
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Newly discharged from the Marines after World War II, Scotty Bowers arrived in Hollywood in 1946. Young, charismatic, and strikingly handsome, he quickly caught the eye of many of the town's stars and starlets. He began sleeping with some himself, and connecting others with his coterie of young, attractive, and sexually free-spirited friends.
-
-
My ears!
- By Kimberly Brooks on 10-26-12
By: Scotty Bowers, and others
-
Hollywood Hellraisers
- The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson
- By: Robert Sellers
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his follow-up to the acclaimed Hellraisers, Sellers traces the intertwining lives and careers of four outrageous Hollywood movie mavericks. They’re the baddest bad-asses Hollywood as ever seen: Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson. They are men to whom rules did not apply; normal standards of behavior were simply too wearisome to worry about.
-
-
not much of interest
- By Amazon Customer on 02-15-21
By: Robert Sellers
-
This Was Hollywood: Forgotten Stars and Stories
- Turner Classic Movies
- By: Carla Valderrama
- Narrated by: Carla Valderrama
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From former screen legends who have faded into obscurity to new revelations about the biggest movie stars, Valderrama unearths the most fascinating little-known tales from the birth of Hollywood through its Golden Age. The shocking fate of the world's first movie star. Clark Gable's secret love child. The film that nearly ended Paul Newman's career. A former child star who, at 93, reveals her #metoo story for the first time. Valderrama unfolds these stories, and many more, in a volume that is by turns riveting, maddening, hilarious, and shocking.
-
-
Hollywood Fun
- By Ernie D. Casciato on 01-06-21
By: Carla Valderrama
-
Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
-
-
Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
-
City of Nets
- A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940's
- By: Otto Friedrich, Glen David Gold - foreword
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 25 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1939, 50 million Americans went to the movies every week, Louis B. Mayer was the highest-paid man in the country, and Hollywood produced 530 feature films a year. One decade and five thousand movies later, the studios were faltering....
-
-
Disjointed and flawed
- By A. N. Onymous on 01-18-22
By: Otto Friedrich, and others
-
Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud
- The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman
- By: Anne Helen Petersen
- Narrated by: Anne Helen Petersen
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You know the type: the woman who won't shut up, who's too brazen, too opinionated - too much. She's the unruly woman, and she embodies one of the most provocative and powerful forms of womanhood today. In Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud, Anne Helen Petersen uses the lens of "unruliness" to explore the ascension of pop culture powerhouses like Serena Williams, Hillary Clinton, Nicki Minaj, and Kim Kardashian, exploring why the public loves to love (and hate) these controversial figures.
-
-
Excellent Book
- By Traci on 06-22-17
-
You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried
- The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation
- By: Susannah Gora
- Narrated by: Kelli Tager
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The landscape that the Brat Pack memorialized is rich with cultural themes and significance, and has influenced an entire generation who still believe that life always turns out like an '80s movie. You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried takes us back to that era, through Susannah Gora's interviews with key players such as Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, and John Cusack, and mines all the material from the movies to the music to the way the films were made to show how they helped shape our visions for romance, friendship, society, and success.
-
-
Brings me back to my teenage years! Fantastic Narration! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- By Amazmama on 06-24-22
By: Susannah Gora
-
Goddess
- The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe
- By: Anthony Summers
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marilyn Monroe, born to deprivation and a series of foster homes, became an acting legend of the 20th century. She married famous men, Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, and her many lovers included President John F. Kennedy. Her death, at 36, is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Anthony Summers interviewed 600 people for this book, which reveals unknown truths, some funny, some very sad, about this brilliant but troubled woman. First to gain access to the files of Monroe's last psychiatrist, he throws light on Monroe's troubled psyche.
-
-
Fascinating and very plausible
- By Theresa on 10-23-17
By: Anthony Summers
-
The Godfather: A Film We Can't Refuse
- By: Paramount Pictures
- Narrated by: Rebecca Keegan
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With exclusive insights from the legendary cast, including Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro, and Talia Shire, and commentary from a diverse array of film experts and ardent aficionados, we dissect the film’s magnetic allure and its pervasive influence across our culture. Journey alongside Rebecca Keegan, acclaimed senior film editor at The Hollywood Reporter, as she explores the heart of this cinematic masterpiece through a new lens.
-
-
Deep dive into The Godfather
- By C.F. on 08-28-24
-
Madness Under the Royal Palms
- Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In March 1999, a Palm Beach matron and her socially ambitious husband invited the elite of the island for a dinner dance honoring Prince Edward. Among those dancing to the string orchestra that evening would be those accused of murder and spousal abuse, and others who would suffer fates both unseemly and unspeakable. Among the outer circle there would be murders, suicides, and fatal fires.
-
-
Just what I've been waiting for
- By kk on 09-29-09
By: Laurence Leamer
-
The Fixers
- Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine
- By: E.J. Fleming
- Narrated by: Mike Hennessy
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling are virtually unknown outside of Hollywood and little-remembered even there, but as General Manager and Head of Publicity for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, they lorded over all the stars in Hollywood’s golden age from the 1920s through the 1940s—including legends like Garbo, Dietrich, Gable and Garland. When MGM stars found themselves in trouble, it was Eddie and Howard who took care of them—solved their problems, hid their crimes, and kept their secrets. They were “the Fixers.”
-
-
business
- By julian tarasiuk on 03-11-25
By: E.J. Fleming
-
The Devil’s Candy
- The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco
- By: Julie Salamon
- Narrated by: Julie Salamon
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Brian De Palma agreed to allow Julie Salamon unlimited access to the film production of Tom Wolfe's best-selling book The Bonfire of the Vanities, both director and journalist must have felt like they were on to something big. How could it lose? But instead Salamon got a front-row seat at the Hollywood disaster of the decade.
-
-
WHAT A GEM!!!
- By Momofour on 07-04-21
By: Julie Salamon
-
The Hollywood Studios
- House Style in the Golden Age of the Movies
- By: Ethan Mordden
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hollywood in the years between 1929 and 1948 was a town of moviemaking empires. The great studios were estates of talent: sprawling, dense, diverse. It was the Golden Age of the Movies, and each studio made its distinctive contribution. But how did the studios, "growing up" in the same time and place, develop so differently? What combinations of talents and temperaments gave them their signature styles?
-
-
The reader falls quite short of the book
- By Eleanor on 07-20-09
By: Ethan Mordden
What listeners say about Scandals of Classic Hollywood
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A. N. Onymous
- 01-09-15
Not just the headlines!
I very much enjoyed this book and the way it was written. Although most of what it spoke about I already knew, The way the author was able to bring everything into a historical and cultural context of the time really made me think of certain events in different ways than I had before. It wasn't just the headlines of the gossip mags, it helps you understand what was going on in the mind of America at the time these events happened.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KimL
- 01-19-16
Couldn't Stop Listening
Would you listen to Scandals of Classic Hollywood again? Why?
This story was very good..I learned so much about classic Hollywood I didn't know..A must read for those who love Hollywood of yesteryear
Who was your favorite character and why?
I loved Jean Harlow's story..I have always been fan
What does Romy Nordlinger bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Her voice was just enough to it didn't overtake the story but was still interesting to listen to
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
What happens in Hollywood stays in Hollywood
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LindaRae Freeman
- 12-15-24
different than title suggests
These are quick but insightful stories about Hollywood stars and how their myths were created and curated. The author also shows how the stories reflected the cultural landscapes of their time. Interesting rather than silly or salacious
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sudi
- 04-05-16
Old Stars Never Fade--Nor Do Their Life Stories
If you're under 40 and just getting into The Golden Age of Hollywood and haven't been reading these exposés since the 1970s (like me,) you will find nuggets of "scandal" that will hold your interest. Mostly, it didn't have a lot of new stuff but it is well written and narrated.
I accept that after a certain point, no new information will be surfacing about James Dean, Judy Garland and even especially about the stars from the 20s... but hope springs eternal that some old diary will be found that will enhance these actors private life portfolios and tell me a tale that I haven't run across before...
Sigh.
But, as I mentioned, if you're not already saturated in Hollywood Lore, you will like this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer
- 10-07-14
Riveting journey
A beautifully written book with wonderful narration by Romy Nordlinger who added so much with her sultry but emotional voice. I was very moved listening to it and can't wait to share it with various friends who know nothing about some of these tragic and brilliant heroes and heroines. I didn't want it to end!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gerard Hunt
- 07-23-22
ok book
Mildly amusing book. Story of Errol Flynn's many scandals would have been better than the brief career of James Dean.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sherry Higby
- 04-22-22
excellent
I loved listening to this book. I wish it covered more stars and gave more information. I realize that too much info would have made the book too long. they did a really great job.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Don Diego Vega
- 08-23-24
Good book
Lots of info I’ve read before. Nicely done. Good narration. Brisk pace. Smooth delivery. Enjoyable listen. Wish there was more.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- blake
- 12-13-14
No Smut? No Problem?
Where does Scandals of Classic Hollywood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Well, this is an odd question because no two books are alike. However, for this particular genre - Hollywood expose, this is an extraordinally well written book.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Scandals of Classic Hollywood?
One of the most memorable moments from the book was the Clark Gable/Carole Lombard narrative. It was surprisingly touching and, of course, very tragic.
What about Romy Nordlinger’s performance did you like?
It was a bit frantic at times but not unpleasant overall. The narration style seemed to fit the time period and subject matter covered.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
Facts about how prevailing social norms in the country influenced what could make or break a Hollywood star and why. This was fascinating and made me contextualize it in today's celeb obsessed culture.
Any additional comments?
This book greatly and pleasantly surprised me with its intellectual, provocative examination of stardom, fame and infamy when it comes to Hollywood and public consumption. I expected a gauzy, bawdy romp through the scandals of yesteryear and got something much better instead. There are scandals aplenty but they are offered up in a framework of the psychosocial, religious, political and historical context of the country in real time. The struggle of America to come to terms with sex, gender, race and many other defining issues informs the narratives found within the book at every turn. What a fascinating read as a result! My only complaint is the fact that the author clearly cherry picked her scandals and often chose to treat some incidents with kid gloves. Still, I highly recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- redheadmomx2
- 11-11-19
Scandals of Classic Hollywood
This book disappoints if you are looking for anything new or tastier about some stars. It reads like a sociology text book and spends far too much time on analysis of the stars when it would have been better spent on adding more stars and just detailing events. I started it and committed myself to finishing it. It’s not all bad but had so much more potential.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!