Death on the Lot

Episode 1

City of Nets, by Otto Friedrich

A dazzling social and cultural history of Hollywood’s golden age in the decade from World War II to the Korean War. Link here.

The Method: How the 20th Century Learned to Act, by Isaac Butler

The critically acclaimed cultural history of Method acting―an ebullient account of creative discovery and the birth of classic Hollywood. Link here.

Hollywood and the Law, by Paul McDonald and Emily Carman

Drawing on historical and contemporary case studies, Hollywood and the Law provides readers with a wide range of perspectives on how legal frameworks shape the culture and commerce of popular film. Link here.

Episode 4

The James Dean Story, directed by Robert Altman and George W. George

This documentary, which was undertaken soon after James Dean’s death, looks at Dean’s life through the use of still photographs with narration, and interviews with many of the people involved in his short life. IMDb here.

Rebel: The Life And Legend of James Dean, by Donald Spoto

Based on meticulous research and new interviews with dozens of family members, friends, lovers, directors, and costars, Rebel offers a revelatory look at actor and film icon James Dean. Link here.

Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber, and the Making of a Legendary American Film, by Don Graham

Don Graham’s Giant is a larger-than-life narrative of the making of the classic film, marking the rise of America as a superpower, the ascent of Hollywood celebrity, and the flowering of Texas culture as mythology. Link here.

Episode 7

Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn, directed by Simon Nasht

The story of Tasmanian-born actor Errol Flynn whose short and flamboyant life, full of scandals, adventures, loves, and excess, was largely played out in front of the camera. IMDb here.

The Baron of Mulholland Drive: A Daughter Remembers Errol Flynn, by Rory Flynn

Several years after the death of her famous father, Rory Flynn worked as a high fashion model in New York, and has since traveled the world as a still photographer for the film industry. Link here.

My Wicked, Wicked Ways, The Autobiography of Errol Flynn, by Errol Flynn

In My Wicked, Wicked Ways, Flynn reveals himself to be a self-aware and cosmopolitan devotee of excitement and pleasure. Link here.

Episode 2

There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America, by Phillip Dray

From the nineteenth-century textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, to the triumph of unions in the twentieth century and their waning influence today, the contest between labor and capital for the American bounty has shaped our national experience. Link here.

Class Struggle in Hollywood, 1930-1950: Moguls, Mobsters, Stars, Reds and Trade Unionists, by Gerald Horne

As World War II wound down in 1945 and the Cold War heated up, the skilled trades that made up the Conference of Studio Unions (CSU) began a tumultuous strike at the major Hollywood studios. Link here.

Episode 5

Superman: The Unauthorized Biography, by Glen Weldon

This fascinating biography examines Superman as a cultural phenomenon through 75 years of action-packed adventures, from his early years as a social activist in circus tights to his growth into the internationally renowned demigod he is today. Link here.

Super-History: Comic Book Superheroes and American Society, 1938 to the Present, by Jeffrey K. Johnson

This study views American history from 1938 to 2010 through the lens of superhero comics, revealing the spandex-clad guardians to be not only fictional characters but barometers of the place and time in which they reside. Link here.

Hollywood Kryptonite: The Bulldog, the Lady and the Death of Superman Book, by Nancy Schoenberger and Sam Kashner

An examination of the evidence left by the late Hollywood writer and MGM executive Sam Myer concerning the death of George Reeves. Link here.

Episode 8

The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine, by E.J. Fleming

The dual biography describes how a mob-related New Jersey laborer and the quiet son of a grocer became the most powerful men at the biggest studio in the world. Link here.

The Drama of Celebrity, by Sharon Marcus 

In this fascinating and deeply researched book, Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession with fame. Link here.

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, by Dr. Kristin Du Mez

Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism. Link here.

Killing John Wayne: The Making of the Conqueror, by Ryan Uytdewilligen

Learn about the making of The Conqueror, its ignominious aftermath, and the radiation-induced cancer that may have killed John Wayne and many others. Link here.

American Ground Zero, The Secret Nuclear War, by Carole Gallagher

One photojournalist’s decade-long commitment, a gripping, courageous collection of portraits and interviews of those whose lives were crossed by radioactive fallout. Link here.

Episode 3

He Ran All The Way: The Life of John Garfield, by Robert Nott

This definitive biography, superbly researched and compellingly written about the original film rebel, is as exciting as the best of Garfield’s films. Link here.

Body and Soul: The Story of John Garfield, by Larry Swindell

The tortured tale of cult movie icon John Garfield, whose incredible talent and turbulent lifestyle made his tragically short life so compelling decades after his death. Link here.

Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Political Life, Dr. Kathryn Brownell

A sweeping study of Hollywood and politics that addresses the state of media and politics today. Link here.

Episode 6

Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel, directed by Madison D. Lacy

A fascinating documentary about actress Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Academy Award. IMDb here.

Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood, by Jill Watts

An uncompromising look at the pervasive racism in Hollywood, as seen through the life and times of actress Hattie McDaniel. Link here.

The Thrill of Sugar Hill, by Hadley Meares

Black entertainers not only revived West Adams—they challenged racist covenants and laid the groundwork for the Fair Housing Act. Read the article here.

Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood, by Donald Bogle

Spanning sixty years, this history uncovers the audacious manner in which many blacks made a place for themselves in an industry that originally had no place for them. Link here.

Additional Materials

Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, “America’s Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine”, by Henry E. Scott

Here is the never-before-told tale of Confidential magazine, America’s first tabloid, which forever changed our notion of privacy, our image of ourselves, and the practice of journalism in America. Link here.

Oscars Past: 1957, The Year Hollywood’s Anti-Communist Blacklist Began To Crumble, by Hadley Meares

On the eve of the 95th Academy Awards, Hadley Meares takes a look back at some of the most exciting moments in the history of the Oscars and how they relate to U.S. history.

Genocide, Kill the Indian and Save the Man, by Xabier Irujo

The recent discovery of the remains of 215 indigenous children, former boarding students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, has sparked a bitter debate both within and beyond the borders of Canada. Link here.

Downwind Upshot-Knothole, by Kim Stringfellow

This multi-part dispatch illuminates the deeply troubling legacy of atomic weaponry testing at the Nevada Test Site. Link here.

The Icon and the Outcast: Hattie McDaniel’s Epic Double Life, by Hadley Meares

In Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood, biographer Jill Watts explores the Gone With the Wind trailblazer’s highs and lows. Link here.