When Hollywood Was Right : How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics

"Hollywood was not always a bastion of liberalism. Following World War II, an informal alliance of movie stars, studio moguls and Southern California business interests formed to revitalize a factionalized Republican Party. Coming together were stars such as John Wayne, Robert Taylor, George Murphy and many others, who joined studio heads Cecil B. DeMille, Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Jack Warner to rebuild the Republican Party. They found support among a large group of business leaders who poured money and skills into this effort, which paid off with the election of George Murphy to the US Senate and of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to the highest office in the nation. This is an exciting story based on extensive new research that will forever change how we think of Hollywood politics"--Provided by publisher Cover 1 Contents 7 Players 9 Celebrities 9 Moguls 11 Politicos 11 Business 11 Acknowledgments 13 Introduction 15 Chapter 1 Setting the Stage in the 1930s Republicans on Defense 21 California Politics in the ‘30s: Republican Disorientation, Progressive Revival 23 Four Cheers for Roosevelt 26 A Bolshevik Comes to Town: The Strange Case of Sergei Eisenstein 32 One Cheer and Many Tears for Sinclair 36 Antifascism, a Soviet Agent, and Mobilization 43 Entering the War 51 Chapter 2 Anticommunism Comes to Hollywood 56 California Republicans: Seeking Washington 56 Hardliners Mobilize the Motion Picture Alliance 61 Life in the Party 72 The War for Democracy: Republicans for Thomas Dewey 79 Chapter 3 The Red Scare Hits Hollywood 90 The End of the Popular Front 92 Hollywood on Strike 95 The Destructive Foibles of the House Un-American Activities Committee 98 The 1947 HUAC Hearings Intensify Anticommunism 107 Backlash to the Hearings 115 Aftermath 118 Chapter 4 Nixon Plays Hollywood 123 Nixon Enters the Political Stage 124 Hollywood Applauds Nixon on Stage 130 Nixon Auditions for a Starring Role 134 Nixon, California, and 1952 138 California Republicans Fracture 147 Nixon Seeks the Role of a Lifetime 151 1962: Nixon Leaves the California Stage 155 Chapter 5 The Hollywood Right Goes for Goldwater and Finds Reagan 169 Democrats Triumphant; Republicans Divided 170 Goldwater and the Quagmire of California Presidential Politics 177 The Hollywood Right Rallies for Goldwater 183 Reagan and Goldwater 190 Americans Make a Choice (LBJ), Republicans Find More than an Echo (Reagan) 194 Chapter 6 Ronald Reagan Triumph and Decline of the Hollywood Right 198 How Reagan Won the Governorship in 1966 198 Vietnam, Cultural Wars, and the Decline of the Hollywood Right 207 1968: Reagan, Nixon, and a Nation in Turmoil 212 How Ronald Reagan Won the White House (without Hollywood’s Support) 219 Manuscripts 229 Index 231 "Hollywood was not always a bastion of liberalism. Following World War II, an informal alliance of movie stars, studio moguls and Southern California business interests formed to revitalize a factionalized Republican Party. Coming together were stars such as John Wayne, Robert Taylor, George Murphy and many others, who joined studio heads Cecil B. DeMille, Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Jack Warner to rebuild the Republican Party. They found support among a large group of business leaders who poured money and skills into this effort, which paid off with the election of George Murphy to the US Senate and of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to the highest office in the nation. This is an exciting story based on extensive new research that will forever change how we think of Hollywood politics."--Publisher website Setting The Stage In The 1930s: Republicans On Defense -- Anti-communism Comes To Hollywood -- The Red Scare Hits Hollywood -- Nixon Plays Hollywood -- The Hollywood Right Goes For Goldwater And Finds Reagan -- Ronald Reagan: Triumph And Decline Of The Hollywood Right. Donald T. Critchlow, Arizona State University. Includes Index.