Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los Angelesby Jon Lewis

Jessica Johnson Book Review: Hard-Boiled Hollywood: Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los Angeles by Jon Lewis necessitate this sort of methodology. Instead, his work is concentrated on Los Angeles print sources, mainly using the Los Angeles Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Herald- Express, and the Los Angeles Mirror to investigate the role of the press in either stifling or exploiting tales of scandal and corruption, all framed within the context of the changing Hollywood industry. The book is broken down into four chapters that cover an array of topics within this fifteen-year period, beginning with the death of Elizabeth Short and culminating in 1962 with the death of Marilyn Monroe. Together, these chapters paint a picture of the gritty sub-culture of crime, prostitution, and corruption that infiltrated Hollywood post-World War II. Chapter 1, entitled “The Real Estate of Crime: The Black Dahlia Dumped by the Side of the Road,” focuses on the “Black Dahlia” unsolved murder, the successive similar cases of other Hol- University of California Press, 2017. lywood hopefuls, and the subsequent media frenzy. $29.95 ISBN 978-0520284326 Particularly of interest is how Lewis traces the vari- ous angles of different print sources as these mur- The true-crime genre has long been an item of pub- ders proliferated, tracking how quickly the victims lic fascination, pairing all the intrigue of a thrilling were discredited, labelled merely as “party girls,” and mystery with the harrowing truth that the events exploited for the sake of publicity. depicted actually occurred. In Hard-Boiled Holly- This notion is further explored in Chapter 2, wood: Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los Angeles, “Mobsters and Movie Stars: Crime, Punishment, film historian Jon Lewis repurposes this genre to not and Hollywood Celebrity,” which focuses on the only make a compelling read, but also to create what interconnectedness of gangsters and Hollywood, he calls, “an alternative history focusing on Holly- particularly the prevalence of Mickey Cohen, the wood players and aspirants alike literally or figura- disappearance of Jean Spangler, and the murder tively dumped by the side of the road...casualties of Johnny Stompanato by Lana Turner’s daughter. upon which a new Hollywood was constructed.”1 Here, Lewis convincingly argues that Hollywood’s In so doing, Lewis also paints a picture of a sordid, close association with gangsters during this time uneasy Hollywood, a system torn apart by crime was born out of Depression-era fears for financial and gossip, and on the brink of inevitable change. success. In these two chapters, he continually frames Hard-Boiled Hollywood primarily focuses on the reported details of the crimes he elaborates upon the role the postwar America media had in forming within a broader social context, and therein success- a particular narrative surrounding these aforemen- fully aligns rapidly changing economic conditions, tioned “casualties,” which is why Lewis does not gender roles, political alliances, and Hollywood rely on a great deal of digging into archival mate- studio structures with the uncontrollable growth of rial. However, the focus of the book simply does not criminal activity during this time. 84 The System Beyond the Studios Luci Marzola, editor, Spectator issue 38:2 (Fall 2018): 84-85. JOHNSON Chapter 3 diverges the most from the true- literal or figurative “bodies tossed at the side of the crime feel of the book, instead discussing a highly- road.” This supports Lewis’s overall argument and researched topic of the House Un-American Ac- emphasizes the changing perspectives of an evolv- tivities Committee and the Red Scare of the 1950s. ing Hollywood system, leaving the viewer drawing This diversion is made relevant by focusing on the their own comparisons about Hollywood’s interac- system of justice (or in this case, lack thereof ) with- tions with criminality in the years that have pro- in the Hollywood studio system. Instead of giving ceeded past the end of Hard-Boiled Hollywood. a broad synopsis of the history of the Red Scare, One of the most intriguing elements of Lewis focuses on a few cases, particularly empha- this book is the author’s style and voice present sizing the importance of the gossip columns of throughout. Lewis embodies the spirit of postwar Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper as some of the Hollywood in both content and form, writing in a most influential circulations of industry-wide panic. “hard-boiled” style akin to noir narratives or pulp As he explains, fiction pieces. With sharp quips, an unapologetic If we define ‘gossip’ as private made pub- use of ellipses, and a biting personal commentary lic, legitimized by the notion that some laced in all of his chapters, this tone is what makes folks, celebrities in particular, trade pri- this book the rare academic page-turner, further vacy for fame and fortune, then we can supporting the interconnectedness of his sections. begin to appreciate how the transition in However, this could also be considered a weakness, gossip from the gawking clatter of the fan especially regarding his detailing of the female vic- magazines before the decline of the stu- tims of the unsolved murders in Chapter 1. Here the dios to the gossip columns and scandal tone can come off as unsympathetic to their situa- sheets after the war so successfully harried tions and therefore not giving them the full justice the Hollywood community.2 they deserve. To his credit, however, Lewis at least makes note of the press’s tendency to “blame the This point succeeds in bringing a new perspective to victim,” and makes it a point to give context to the a highly-researched topic within film history, illus- commonly overlooked difficulties of being a single trating how seemingly frivolous Hollywood gossip woman living in Los Angeles during this time and has the power to criminalize and condemn. trying to “make it big.” The book returns to its original “true-crime” feel in Chapter 4, juxtaposing the “fall-from-grace” Hard-Boiled Hollywood serves as a fascinating narratives of Barbara Payton and Marilyn Monroe. encapsulation of a time in Hollywood history that The choice to end the book here is justified, as Lew- is surprisingly (and very unfortunately) relevant. In is argues that “after Monroe, the filmgoing public’s light of the sexual assault scandals presently rocking imagined Hollywood as a site of glamor, of social Hollywood, with seemingly a new, previously hid- mobility, of luck and fortune, beauty and smarts, den account every week, one can draw many par- fame and celebrity would never be the same.”3 In allels between past and present regarding publicity the book’s final pages, Lewis supports this claim by and the underlying crime present in the industry. examining two instances of Hollywood stars San- With strong, well-supported arguments highlight- dra Dee and Doris Day. Though unable to make ing a time of instability for the Hollywood industry, it through their career without their lives being Lewis’s work culminates into a fascinating read that touched by crime, both managed to avoid becoming serves as a timely piece in current, unstable times. Jessica Johnson is a graduate student at Chapman University in the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. She has studied internationally with interests in ethnic and minority representation in film, and has interned for major production studios and film-based organizations. Jessica’s interests and skills are focused in the practice of dramaturgy, film history and criticism, analysis, archives, directing and producing. Notes 1 Jon Lewis, Hard-Boiled Hollywood: Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los Angeles (Oakland: University of Cali- fornia Press, 2017), 8. 2 Ibid., 143. 3 Ibid., 180. THE SYSTEM BEYOND THE STUDIOS 85.

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