Hollywood left and right [electronic resource] : how movie stars shaped American politics / Steven J. Ross.

ISBN:

9780199720484

Title:

Author:

Ross, Steven Joseph.

Personal Author:

Ross, Steven Joseph.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 500 pages) : illustrations

Contents:

Introduction: movie stars and politics -- The first political movie star: Charlie Chaplin -- The man who brought Hollywood into the Republican Party: Louis B. Mayer -- Little Caesar and the HUAC mob: Edward G. Robinson -- Hollywood and the conservative revolution: George Murphy and Ronald Reagan -- Politics in black and white: Harry Belafonte -- Movement leader, grassroots builder: Jane Fonda -- Moses and the red tide: Charlton Heston -- President Bulworth, or, will Mr. Beatty go to Washington?: Warren Beatty -- Governor Arnold and the age of celebrity politics: Arnold Schwarzenegger -- Epilogue.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Motion picture industry -- United States -- Influence.

Motion picture producers and directors -- Political activity -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Motion picture actors and actresses -- Political activity -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Geographic Term:

United States -- Politics and government -- 20th century.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2011

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
791.43028092273 22	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In Hollywood Left and Right, Steven J. Ross tells a story that has escaped public attention: the emergence of Hollywood as a vital center of political life and the important role that movie stars have played in shaping the course of American politics. Ever since the film industry relocated to Hollywood early in the twentieth century, it has had an outsized influence on American politics. Through compelling larger-than-life figures in American cinema--Charlie Chaplin, Louis B. Mayer, Edward G. Robinson, George Murphy, Ronald Reagan, Harry Belafonte, Jane Fonda, Charlton Heston, Warren Beatty, and Arnold Schwarzenegger--Hollywood Left and Right reveals how the film industry's engagement in politics has been longer, deeper, and more varied than most people would imagine. As shown in alternating chapters, the Left and the Right each gained ascendancy in Tinseltown at different times. From Chaplin, whose movies almost always displayed his leftist convictions, to Schwarzenegger's nearly seamless transition from action blockbusters to the California governor's mansion, Steven J. Ross traces the intersection of Hollywood and political activism from the early twentieth century to the present. Hollywood Left and Right challenges the commonly held belief that Hollywood has always been a bastion of liberalism. The real story, as Ross shows in this passionate and entertaining work, is far more complicated. First, Hollywood has a longer history of conservatism than liberalism. Second, and most surprising, while the Hollywood Left was usually more vocal and visible, the Right had a greater impact on American political life, capturing a senate seat (Murphy), a governorship (Schwarzenegger), and the ultimate achievement, the Presidency (Reagan).

Author Notes

An eminent historian of film, Steven J. Ross is recipient of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Films Scholars Award and author of the prize-winning book, Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America.

Reviews (3)

Booklist Review

We all know there's a relationship between Hollywood and the American political establishment, and it goes further than the obvious examples of Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, two actors who became politicians. But as much as we think we know about Hollywood and politics, film historian Ross is here to tell us there's a lot we've never considered. Such as, for example, the classic Andy Hardy films: Who knew these family-friendly light comedies were the foundation of a conservative ideology ? As Ross explains, the movie industry and American politics were growing up at the same time and in the same way: both of them opening up to new ideas, new styles, new points of view. The ideological diversity of early silent films. he notes. mirrored the ideological diversity of American politics. A vastly informative and engagingly written book.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist

Choice Review

Although academic critics regularly impose their own political readings on Hollywood films, this extensively researched volume takes the more direct approach of showing how Hollywood figures use their power as actors and celebrities to push forward political agendas. Ross, an award-winning film historian, studies Hollywood politics "through the prism of ten people," from Charlie Chaplin, whose financial independence allowed him a measure of political freedom in making films, to Louis B. Mayer, who used his studio power to promote Republican causes in extraordinary ways, to Edward G. Robinson, whose political persecution is less well-known than that of the blacklisted "Hollywood ten." Ross combines the story of George Murphy with the better-known trajectory of Ronald Reagan, and adds to what is known and understood about Harry Belafonte, Jane Fonda, Charlton Heston, Warren Beatty, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The book claims an old-fashioned, objective point of view, with much more description than ideological critique; here politics means what Democrats and Republicans think it means, and no theoretical authorities are invoked to make one think otherwise. That said, this is a major, illuminating, unparalleled treatment of 20th-century politics in Hollywood that no reader should miss. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. S. C. Dillon Bates College

Library Journal Review

Ross (history, Univ. of Southern California; Working-Class Hollywood) reveals the wide-ranging and lasting influence of Hollywood stars and producers on American politics. He profiles ten celebrities-five on the left (Charlie Chaplin, Edward G. Robinson, Harry Belafonte, Jane Fonda, and Warren Beatty) and five on the right (Louis B. Mayer, George Murphy, Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, and Arnold Schwarzenegger)-who devoted themselves to political activism, sometimes at great risk to their careers. Ross situates the personal stories of his subjects within the greater cultural and political landscape, exploring the motivations that drove each of them and measuring the effectiveness of their efforts. Determining that Hollywood conservatives have been more successful at shaping the political direction of the country than those on the left because of their ability to package and sell the simple but appealing story of America as the greatest nation in the world, Ross nonetheless credits the film stars on the left for championing vital issues like anti-Nazism, civil rights, women's rights, antiwar efforts, and economic justice. VERDICT Well written, entertaining, and enlightening, this is highly recommended, especially for film buffs interested in the intersection of politics and culture. [Although the author used the Tamiment Library collections, where this reviewer works, the two never met or communicated.-Ed.]-Donna L. Davey, New York Univ. Lib. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.