By Jan Wahl–
When it comes to LBGTQ in Hollywood, William J. Mann is a rock star. It all began for me with Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood 1910–1969. Unlike another favorite of so many of us, The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo, Mann’s book takes a deep dive into the actual, usually wild, personalities rather than cinematic images.
Then I read Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood, the winner of the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Fact Crime in 2015. This work actually solved an infamous crime, the death of closeted William Desmond Taylor, an early renowned movie director. Soon I was devouring every book by Mann, from Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn to Wisecracker: The Life and Times of Billy Haines, Hollywood’s First Openly Gay Star.
Mann’s latest is a book I wouldn’t have picked up if it was not written by him. It is Bogie and Bacall: The Surprising True Story of Hollywood’s Greatest Love Affair. I am such an avid reader of all things Hollywood that I thought I knew it all about these two icons. Wrong, Jan. Mann carefully constructs and deconstructs the truth from the careful images. He paints a vivid portrait of the true backgrounds, alcoholism, battles, affairs. There’s a sympathetic, yet clear-eyed look at Bacall’s conflict about her Jewish identity and her bitter, grouchy years after Bogie’s death. Bogart’s wealthy upbringing was at odds with his acting out as a mean drunk and actual tough guy. I recently asked Mann why he chose these two stars as his subjects.
“I’m fascinated by the tension between public and private lives,” Mann told me for the San Francisco Bay Times. “When you become as famous as my subjects, there is a compromise constantly asking you, ‘How does the world want to see me? Is it worth hiding the truth?'”
“Some will keep the lying image going to the day they die and some are not willing to put up a false front,” he continued. “From Bogie’s business partner, I discovered unseen material; Bacall’s letters and other personal papers were part of the research. Bogart was fortunate to be born wealthy, though he clawed his way up the Hollywood system from bit parts to leading man.”
I am a fan of Bogart’s work; he was so good at infusing even the most violent or complicated characters with humanity. When he would get drunk, which he did from an early time, he could become vicious. One of his wives was actress Mayo Methot. They were known as The Battling Bogarts for their nightclub brawls. She has gone down in Hollywood history as the instigator, but Mann sets the record straight.
Mann said, “Bacall was raised Jewish and the reason it’s important is that she felt forced to deny it in order to create a career. Bogie could care less, but antisemites were all over Hollywood at this time and talked freely about the Jewish moguls running the studios as well as the need to keep Jews out of the business. Howard Hawks, Bacall’s mentor, was one of these people and she felt shamed and allowed lies to flourish.”
“Though Bacall was gifted at playing the sexy and mysterious, she was also ashamed of her limited acting range since she compared herself to the genius of an actor she was married to,” he added. “Later on, living in the famed Dakota in Manhattan, she was bitter for losing her place among the Tinseltown elite (including a fiasco with Frank Sinatra). Known to many as cold and angry, even sometimes to her own children, she missed out on many years of happiness or at least satisfaction.”
Allow me to return to Mann’s great read Wisecracker, about silent mega star Billy Haines. His story is remarkable, not only for his absolute devotion to being out of the closet but also for his extremely successful second act as an interior designer. Haines had his career cut short in a most cold and calculated way because he refused to hide his homosexuality and his longtime lover.
This took tremendous courage in the early 1930s, especially since he was a beloved leading man and a popular box office draw. He would not use a beard to go to premieres or in any way falsify his life. Thankfully, he had a hobby that led to an amazing second career. He loved designing furniture and redoing his girlfriends’ (Carole Lombard, Joan Crawford, etc.) homes to great acclaim.
I asked Mann why a movie has not yet been made about Wisecracker, sharing the story of this courageous man. He said that it has been optioned since he wrote it, but no luck yet. What an amazing movie this life would make! Thank you, William J. Mann, for shining a light on so many fascinating lives and for giving readers the joy of truth.
Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian and film critic on various broadcast outlets. She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community. Contact her at www.janwahl.com
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Published on December 7, 2023
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