Comments on: Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper: “Nobody Wants Sweetness and Light”

By: Al Lowe

Al Lowe — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:10:21 +0000

Okay, Vincent. I’m not sure what your point is.
I don’t think you’re saying that Welles’ broadcast only scared a couple of people and the media didn’t think it was a big deal.
The panic that it caused and the extraordinary public attention Welles received as a result have been well documented. So, your father heard the broadcast and didn’t think much of it. That doesn’t mean that the panic and the publicity didn’t happen.

Your reply may be that you don’t disagree with me. Considering that we’re two guys who agree with each other, we’re taking up an awful lot of space. I’m willing to call it off. Take whatever shot you want and we’ll be done.

By: Vincent

Vincent — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:49:41 +0000

To Al Lowe: My father was 15 years old in 1938; he once told me that he had listened to the Welles broadcast that night (by then, the Mercury players had been on CBS for a few months) and knew full well it was a dramatization — there were references to a fictional radio network (not CBS), and the orchestra leader was one nobody had ever heard of. (Same thing with the “venue.”) Were there some who were fooled? Certainly. But most people, aware of Welles’ reputation for unorthodoxy, weren’t bamboozled.

By: cowboytony

cowboytony — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:25:19 +0000

I love the old story about a very drunk Lolly and Doc at a Hollywood party. It was around 2:30 a.m. Doc was practically passed out under the grand piano, and Louella was attempting to get him on his feet. She apologized to the guests, saying, “Doc and I have to leave now because he has to perform surgery in the morning!”

By: MMAENHOU

MMAENHOU — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:31:57 +0000

Interesting article. Thank you.

By: Al Lowe

Al Lowe — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:40:51 +0000

I made a typo in my earlier submission. Bob Hope said Louella would be mad if she wasn’t the first to know.

I agree with you Vincent. There were things based on other moguls -but, as you said, there was a LOT of Hearst in the Kane character.

I too agree with the idea of showing those TV movies. One could be RKO 281, the HBO film that contends that Kane was based on Hearst. And, yes, I know that is oversimplifying things.

My personal opinion of the “Hearst being based on Kane” issue is this. Welles was riding high after the War of the Worlds radio controversy, in which many listeners thought they were listening to a real Martian invasion. Someone once said that the smart people in America were listening to Edgar Bergen that night.
Welles was suddenly the subject of editorials, columns and front page headlines. It must have been nice.
He thought long and hard when choosing his subject matter for his movie debut. It would be fun, he thought, to have everyone talking about Welles again.
He and his cohorts underestimated the power of Hearst – and Louella Parsons.
It all blew up in their faces.

By: Vincent

Vincent — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:14:58 +0000

Excellent piece, but just one clarification — the New York Telegraph was never a Hearst property. His NYC papers were the Journal, American (they later merged) and the tabloid Mirror.

As far as Welles and Parsons, he was only telling a partial lie. There is a lot of Hearst in the Kane character, but there are elements of several other moguls too — one of whom tried to turn the love of his life into an opera star (I believe he built the opera house in Chicago in her honor).

I echo the earlier comment about getting some Hollywood history made-for-TV films on TCM…especially since they aren’t shown anywhere these days. How about “The Scarlett O’Hara War,” for instance, with Tony Curtis as David O. Selznick and Sharon Gless as Carole Lombard?

By: Al Lowe

Al Lowe — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:47:31 +0000

As I recall, Hedda’s columns, which I read during my youth (Not surprisingly the movie page was always the first one I read in the paper), were often excruciatingly dull. A typical item was that some producer, a guy that the general public never heard of, was starting a new film. Erza Goodman, author of The Fifty Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood, says this also, noting that the columns routinely carried a lot of trade news that you would have thought noone cared about.

I remember she appeared on Art Linkletter’s House Party TV show a lot.

A whole blog could be written about Louella’s relationship with Orson Welles, who lied to her and said that Citizen Kane was not based on her boss, Hearst.

According to author Goodman, “Hollywood legend had it that a glamour boy and girl, ready to elope, forgot Parsons’ phone number and had to call the whole thing off…Bob Hope, leaving on a WWII bomber flight, was asked who should be notified in case of his injury or death. He named Parson as his next of kin. ‘She’d be mad if she was the first one to know,’ he explained.”
She was honored at a 1948 testimonial where Betty Garrett sang a song composed for the occasion:
“Louella, Louella, Louella,
Everyone loves you,
Louella, Louella, Louella
And Dr. Martin too.”
It sounds like the song they sing to Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

By: medusamorlock

medusamorlock — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:44:16 +0000

It’s time for TCM to acquire some terrific Hollywood bio TV movies, including the 1985 “Malice in Wonderland” starring Elizabeth Taylor as Louella Parsons and Jane Alexander as Hedda Hopper, based on George Eels book of the same name. It won a cinematography Emmy and Alexander was up for a lead actress award. It also has the peculiar pleasure of seeing actors playing famous movie stars — in this one, Tim Robbins — yes, that Tim Robbins! — plays Joseph Cotten, and Denise Crosby — Lt. Yar from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” — plays Carole Lombard. Sounds like a must-see to me!

Fascinating post, SuziD! There is certainly much that is old-biddy about these two gals, but they certainly knew how to come out fighting!

By: debbe

debbe — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:58:03 +0000

coincidentally I have been recently thinking about TMZ. Wonder whether fifty years from now we will be reading about them in the same way….. loved the post, suzidoll. I remember vaguely both of them, or shall I say always knowing they were a force in the world of celebrity. the shiny elevated stories about people- what is that. why do we want to know things about stars that arent even true? Did you ever hear of little girls saying they want to grow up to be publicists or gossip columnists? it was a somewhat respectable job when Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons did it. Is it now? I love that both had unusual first names, and very proper Waspy last names. ANd I love it that even they had invented lives. It is very interesting to think about. good job.

By: GossipUp » Blog Archive » TCM’s Classic Movie Blog

GossipUp » Blog Archive » TCM’s Classic Movie Blog — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:22:24 +0000

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