I interview Samuel Bernstein Monday morning.
His first book was 1994’s Uncommon Heroes, 130 profiles of extraordinary gays.
His latest book is Mr. Confidential: The Man, the Magazine & the Movieland Massacre (website).
It has received only positive reviews, including this one from Publishers Weekly:
“Bernstein’s hard-boiled yet juicy chronicle of publisher Robert Harrison’s 1950s celebrity gossip magazine Confidential is an apt, unflinching take on the wildly popular tabloid that stood by its slogan, ‘Tells the Facts and Names the Names.’ In its heyday, the rag was revealing romantic trysts, outing gay stars and insinuating a lot more for an audience of over 5 million readers. That wouldn’t last, as "The Trial of 100 Stars, then 200 stars" in 1957 brought multiple felonies against the tabloid – including conspiracy to commit libel and disseminate obscene material – that would lead to circulation-killing content and format changes. Focusing on the embattled founder and two key Confidential players – Harrison’s niece and research director Marjorie Meade, ‘the most feared woman in Hollywood,’ and editor Howard Rushmore, a ‘goofball-popping, alcoholic, violent, Communist witch-hunter’ – and including a huge cast of celebrities, Bernstein does a commendable job bringing Harrison and his times to life with a page-turning pace and prose worthy of the tabloid (somewhat appropriately, his frequent italicized asides could have used more consistent attribution). Including more than 75 pages of photos and reproductions of the magazine’s stories and covers, this smart exposé should please anyone interested in 1950s Hollywood or the evolution of celebrity journalism.”
Luke (audio): "Why did you write this book?"
Sam: "I read an article in Vanity Fair about the trial in 1957 that effectively ended the magazine. I realized that I knew the central figure who had been on trial — Beverly Hills society matron Marjorie Roth who was Marjorie Meade, the notorious flame-haired femme fatale who newspapers were calling the most feared woman in Hollywood and the Duchess of Dirt.
"That gave me an entre into the story. I’ve always been fascinated by 1950s Hollywood."
Luke: "You take a different approach to this topic."
Sam: "Over the years, there’s been a dark view of the magazine, partially through James Ellroy who was really writing about police corruption. That coupled with the suicide of a main figure, Howard Rushmore (he killed his wife and then himself), it left a sinister aura to the era and to the magazine. When I started in on the project, I thought I was going to go right with that. What I discovered was this champagne silliness. By the standards of the day, most of what was written in Hollywood Confidential was funny and benign. I’m not sure that insinuating Frank Sinatra’s terrific capabilities in bed boil down to his eating Wheaties is hurtful. It’s win win.
"I discovered that many of the stars were participating in the articles about them for publicity. Some of the freelancers were up to no good but the people in charge of the magazine were this tightknit happy Jewish family. As much as the publisher loved these wild publicity stunts where he was supposedly shot in the Dominican Republican and a gangster hung him out a window by his feet, telling him not to run a story…
"There were stars who did not like what was written about them but I did not find careers destroyed. Outing Van Johnson seemed to have no effect on his career. I don’t find murders and suicides.
"While a lot of the language was insensitive, and certainly some of it was snide, but they were fairer than people imagine. It was wink, wink, nudge, nudge, boys will be boys, what the hell.
"Publisher Robert Harrison had no particular agenda. He was not out to demonize anyone.
"They liked their status as rich, popular celebrities.
"The family had no editorial approval of what I wrote and wound upset at some of what I wrote. I find that hard to understand because what I wrote paints them positively."
Luke: "What good came of Hollywood Confidential?"
Sam: "In writing about so many societal issues that were taboo, and making fun of them, it demystified miscegenation, homosexuality, etc. This was a process below the radar and unintentional. Laughing about things is the first step to not being frightened of them.
"Certainly many of the tabloids that arose out of Confidential were just nasty."
"I have an upcoming media juggernaut – blog – book called, ‘Kill Your Inner Child.’ It’s based on my bizarre upbringing. When you tell a story about something that happened to you in childhood and your shrink looks at you and says, ‘Really?’ you know you’ve got something to write about.
"As a six-year old Jewish boy living in Cairo, I didn’t know where my mother was. My father may have been selling arms to the Palestinians. I was busy at six having my first sexual experience with a Muslim male, which I initiated.
"I think I ought to be able to get a book deal. I’m working with Hearst Entertainment. We’ve shot ten episodes of different pieces of the story with actors playing my siblings and parents.
"My siblings are not thrilled with it."
Bernstein has primarily earned his living from writing for TV and movies. "I started out my career as an actor. I toured with Evita. I used to sing everywhere. I realized I wasn’t going to become as successful as I hoped. And I didn’t particularly enjoy it.
"Writing uses all that’s going on in my head."
"If I was going to decide by the financial merits, I would’ve gone into my grandfather’s cheese business."
Luke: "What do you love and hate about your life today?"
Sam: "I love my home life. My partner and I have been together 13 years. There’s not enough money and I wish I were 20 pounds lighter."
Luke: "Who are the worthy successors to Confidential magazine?"
Sam: "Vanity Fair. I don’t feel like the gossip rags have the wit. They’re not fun."
Luke: "When is gossip good and when is gossip bad?"
Sam: "It’s bad when it is directed at people who can’t fight back. I’m disturbed when people say snide things about the children of celebrities.
"When people really are private, you should respect that. There are a lot of people in Hollywood who use their families and use their private lives to promote themselves. And then they bitch about people going into their private lives. If you’ve put your private life on parade, then you’ve made a decision and your private life is fair game. But if you’re like Jodie Foster… She’s a private person. I don’t think it is necessary [to go after her]. She’s a real actor.
"But it is a divide that constantly changes. It’s human nature that we like to gossip."
Luke: "Do you think the mayor’s marital problems are legitimate?"
Sam: "Yes. He made his family the center of his campaign as politicians do. It is serious that he was having an affair with somebody who was covering him."