Hollywood on Hollywood per Hollywood
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017)
A hustler who saw it all, Scotty Bowers spills the beans on everyone from Cary Grant to Katharine Hepburn to Rock Hudson in this gossipy look inside the celluloid closet from director Matt Tyrnauer.
As is well known, Bowers acted as an unpaid pimp in Hollywood from the 1940s to the late 1970s.
Based on Bowers’ book “Full Service,” it was produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer, a correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine.
The film premiered at the 2017 Toronto Film Fest, and was theatrically released on July 27, 2018.
The film walks a fine, not always successful, line between offering prurient thrills and juicy gossip for movie buffs and a more poignant and illuminating look at how sexual mores have changed over the years.
This sensationalistic exposé of the private lives of then-closeted screen stars occasionally offers some interesting insights into a different era, one secrecy-ridden and dedicated to the preservation of illusions and myths.
In July 2020, Searchlight Pictures had acquired the rights to the documentary and was developing a feature based on Bowers’ life. Luca Guadagnino was hired to direct, with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg writing the script.