From L.A. to the World: Hollywood in Radio and in Press

[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING] [INDISTINCT CHATTERING] WE'VE INVITED MR. WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST III TO OPEN UP THE PROCEEDINGS TODAY, WHICH IS ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE. AND I'M GRATEFUL TO HIM. WILL HEARST WAS, FOR A DECADE, THE EDITOR-PUBLISHER OF THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER. AMONG HIS MANY CORPORATE AND PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS, HE'S PRESIDENT OF THE WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST FOUNDATION IN SAN FRANCISCO. AND PERHAPS MOST GERMANE--AND I THINK, ACTUALLY, MOST GERMANE--TO OUR COLLECTIVE INTERESTS THIS WEEKEND, WILL HEARST IS ABUNDANTLY AND OBVIOUSLY A STUDENT OF HISTORY-- THAT OF HIS OWN FAMILY, OF CALIFORNIA, OF HOLLYWOOD, AND OF THE AMERICAN WEST. WE'RE ALL GRATEFUL TO HIM FOR HIS SUPPORT OF OUR WORK AT THIS CONFERENCE, AND I'M DELIGHTED TO INVITE WILL HEARST TO OPEN OUR PROCEEDINGS THIS MORNING. PLEASE JOIN ME IN WELCOMING HIM. [APPLAUSE] WELL, GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME. I THINK EVERYBODY'S HAVING AS GOOD A TIME AS I AM. AND YESTERDAY WAS JUST SPECTACULAR WITH ALL THOSE PANELS...AND THEN THAT WONDERFUL RECEPTION AT THE ACADEMY IN THAT MARVELOUS BUILDING--A KIND OF OASIS IN THE MIDDLE OF RAYMOND CHANDLER'S LOS ANGELES-- [LAUGHTER] WITH THAT SPECTACULAR THEATER--THE KIND OF THEATER YOU ALWAYS DREAM ABOUT, BUT A LITTLE TOO NICE FOR POPCORN. BUT... [LAUGHTER] WHAT A TERRIFIC PRINT. AND YOU REALLY HAD--IT WAS THE CULMINATION OF A WONDERFUL DAY HERE AT THE HUNTINGTON. AND IF YOU DID AS I DID AND SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN THE SESSIONS, THE ONLY THING YOU MISSED WAS THE SPECTACULAR WEATHER OUTSIDE THE DOOR. SO, WE'RE KIND OF AT THE HALFWAY POINT OF OUR CONFERENCE. AND FOR ME, AT LEAST, THIS IS THE CURRENT EPISODE OF A LONG, PERSONAL JOURNEY AS A KID WHO SPENT SUMMERS AND CHRISTMASES IN WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE HEARST CASTLE AND WE CALLED THE RANCH. YOU'RE NOT AWARE, UH, AS A CHILD, OF HOW ALL THIS GOT HERE AND WHAT IT ALL MEANS. BUT AS YOU GET OLDER, YOU BEGIN TO ASK QUESTIONS ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT TO WHY AND HOW. AND SO, IN 2005, WHEN TAYLOR COFFMAN--WHO WAS A GUIDE AT THE CASTLE AND WHO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO TRY AND PURSUE THESE QUESTIONS OF "HOW DID OBJECTS GET HERE? WHY DID THEY GET HERE? WHAT HAPPENED?" THE BACKSTORY, IF YOU WILL, THE HISTORICAL STORY. TAYLOR SUGGESTED A CONFERENCE DOWN IN SAN LUIS OBISPO. I LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO, SO SAN LUIS OBISPO IS DOWN... UP FROM HERE. BUT THE POINT IS, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF NEW BIOGRAPHERS AND BIOGRAPHIES COMING OUT ABOUT W.R. HEARST, AND THEY HAD NEW AND INTERESTING INFORMATION. AND AS OFTEN HAPPENS, ARCHIVES GRADUALLY OPEN UP AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. SO, TAYLOR PUT A CONFERENCE TOGETHER, WAS THE ORGANIZER OF A CONFERENCE. AND SOME OF THE SPEAKERS THAT WE'VE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE HERE WERE AT THAT CONFERENCE. AND I EVEN SEE SOME FAMILIAR FACES. BUT LIKE ALL HISTORY, YOU END UP WITH A FEW QUESTIONS AND A FEW ANSWERS, BUT YOU END UP WITH MANY MORE QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE CONFERENCE THAN AT THE BEGINNING. THAT'S PART OF THE PLEASURE OF IT. SO, YOU KNOW, CARI BEAUCHAMP, WHO SPOKE AT THAT CONFERENCE KIND OF OPENED UP A DIMENSION OF-- AT THE HEARST CONFERENCE--THAT THERE WERE OTHER BUSINESSPEOPLE FROM THE EAST WHO HAD GOTTEN INVOLVED IN THE MOTION PICTURE BUSINESS. AND LOU PIZZITOLA, WHO'S NOT HERE TODAY, YOU KNOW, OPENED MY EYES TO THE FACT-- I'D ALWAYS THOUGHT OF MY GRANDFATHER AS KIND OF A NEWSPAPER GUY WHO GOT INVOLVED IN OTHER MEDIA BUSINESSES. BUT LOU POINTED OUT SOMETHING--THAT HIS INTEREST IN VAUDEVILLE AND PERFORMING AS A COLLEGE STUDENT WAS A LIFELONG INTEREST AND, TO SOME DEGREE, HE WAS ALREADY VERY INTERESTED IN MOTION PICTURES AND POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT... EVEN AS THE NEWSPAPER COMPANY WAS GROWING AND FORMING. SO, THAT BECAME ANOTHER THREAD THAT WE WANTED TO TAKE TO THE NEXT STEP. AND, OF COURSE, AT THE END OF THAT CONFERENCE, KEVIN STARR, WHO I REMEMBER AS A LECTURER IN COLLEGE, SORT OF TIED IT ALL TOGETHER AND PLUGGED WHAT WE WERE DOING AT THAT CONFERENCE INTO CALIFORNIA HISTORY. AND WE'RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE KEVIN COME BACK AND TRY TO DO THAT AGAIN AT THE END OF THIS CONFERENCE. BUT ONE OF THE THEMES, AND WE HEARD ABOUT IT YESTERDAY, WAS THE SORT OF MOVEMENT FROM THE EARLY ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS, WHICH HAD A KIND OF AN ENTREPRENEURIAL FEEL, INTO A CORPORATE PHASE. AND ULTIMATELY, THAT WONDERFUL PANEL YESTERDAY ON THE STUDIOS HELPED SEE BOTH THE CULTURE AND BUSINESS MODEL OF THAT EPOCH. AND WE'LL CONTINUE THOSE THREADS TODAY. BUT I CAN'T HELP, AS A PERSON WHO'S SPEND A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME IN THE VENTURE CAPITAL INDUSTRY, THINK IF THIS STORY ISN'T KIND OF REPEATING AGAIN IN THE INTERNET SPACE-- WHICH IS THE MODERN OR NEXT GENERATION OF THE MEDIA BUSINESS--BECAUSE WE'RE SEEING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL PHASE GIVE WAY TO A CORPORATE PHASE, AND WE'RE SEEING THE GROWTH OF THINGS THAT LOOK A BIT LIKE STUDIOS WHEN YOU THINK OF GOOGLE AND YAHOO! AND MICROSOFT. THEY HAVE THAT SORT OF CORPORATE MASS. AND THE BUSINESS CHANGES, AND THE CULTURE CHANGES. THE FATHER OF 3 DAUGHTERS, I OFTEN THINK OF SOMETHING THAT CARI BEAUCHAMP HAS MENTIONED, WHICH IS IN THE EARLY DAYS, WOMEN WERE WELCOME IN THE BUSINESS. AS THE BUSINESS BECAME MORE SUCCESSFUL, THEY WERE PUSHED OUT. AND I THINK THE LESSON FOR MY DAUGHTERS' GENERATION IS THAT THESE MOMENTS OF FREEDOM AND LIBERATION HAVE TO BE REESTABLISHED. THEY'RE NOT SORT OF PERMANENTLY CHANGES IN HISTORY, BUT YOU HAVE TO SORT OF FIGHT THOSE WARS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. ANYWAY...SO, I GUESS TODAY, WE'LL HAVE THE SECOND CHAPTER. AND I WANT TO THANK THE HUNTINGTON FOR THE WONDERFUL PROGRAM THAT THEY'VE PUT ON. WITH LUCK, WE'LL GET SOME MORE ANSWERS TODAY, AND WITH BETTER LUCK, WE'LL GET MUCH BETTER QUESTIONS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. [APPLAUSE] THANKS VERY MUCH, WILL. I'LL INVITE OUR FIRST PANEL TO TAKE THE STAGE WITH THIS BRIEF INTRODUCTION. WE'RE VERY LUCKY TODAY TO START OFF WITH A BANG, AS IT WERE, BY A COTERIE OF 4 VERY DISTINGUISHED THINKERS AND WRITERS ON THE HOLLYWOOD INDUSTRY AND ITS RELATIONSHIPS PARTICULARLY TO THE MEDIA. OUR MODERATOR FOR THIS MORNING'S SESSION ABOUT THE MEDIA, THE DAILY PRESS IN HOLLYWOOD, IN OUR INTERWAR PERIOD IS MY GOOD FRIEND JOHN HORN, WHOSE WRY AND INSIGHTFUL WRITINGS ON THE FILM INDUSTRY I HIGHLY COMMEND TO YOU FROM THE PAGES OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. JOHN IS JOINED BY THIS GROUP OF WRITERS AND THINKERS WHOSE BOOKS I ALSO COMMEND TO YOU HIGHLY--BOOKS ON THE DAILY PRESS IN LOS ANGELES AND ITS IMPACT AND INFLUENCE WITH HOLLYWOOD AND OTHER INDUSTRIES AND THE RISE OF THIS CITY AND THIS FILM INDUSTRY. JOHN IS JOINED BY DENNIS McDOUGAL, ROB WAGNER, AND BOB GOTTLIEB. I'M VERY GRATEFUL TO ALL OF THEM, AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO JOHN TO TAKE US THROUGH THE DAILY PRESS AND ITS RELATIONS TO HOLLYWOOD IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD. PLEASE JOIN ME IN THANKING OUR PANEL. [APPLAUSE] GOOD MORNING. UM, FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO JUST TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT OUR SCHEDULE'S GONNA BE. WE'RE ALL GONNA OFFER UP SOME BRIEF INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, HAVE A CONVERSATION AMONGST OURSELVES, AND THEN SAVE SOME TIME AT THE END FOR QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE. I'M GONNA TRY TO SKETCH OUT BRIEFLY SOME OF THE IDEAS THAT I'M INTERESTED IN EXPLORING. I THINK OUR OTHER PANELISTS WILL HAVE THEIR OWN. SO, LET ME START WITH MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TWENTIES, THIRTIES, AND--TWENTIES AND THIRTIES IN HOLLYWOOD. THE ERA THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON THIS MORNING ENDED WITH PERHAPS THE GREATEST YEAR CREATIVELY IN MOVIE HISTORY. IN 1939, THE STUDIOS RELEASED GONE WITH THE WIND, THE WIZARD OF OZ, STAGECOACH, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE WOMEN, DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, AND THE LIST ACTUALLY GOES ON AND ON AND ON FROM THERE. AND SADLY, IT'S PROBABLY A SLATE THAT IS UNLIKELY TO BE MATCHED ANYTIME SOON IN AN ERA OF COMIC BOOK ADAPTATIONS, SEQUELS, AND CRASS COMEDIES. [LAUGHTER] BUT AS DISTANT AS 1939 MIGHT BE ARTISTICALLY, MANY OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN HOLLYWOOD DURING THE TWENTIES AND THIRTIES REMAIN VERY MUCH A PART OF THE CURRENT SHOW BUSINESS CULTURE. JUST AS THAT ERA BROUGHT US THE FIRST SOUND AND COLOR MOTION PICTURES, IT ALSO USHERED IN A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MOVIE STUDIOS AND THE MEDIA AND THE AUDIENCE, MOST NOTICEABLY TO ME, IN TERMS OF PUBLICITY, MARKETING, AND-- IT MUST BE SAID--SELF-PROMOTION AND SELF-CONGRATULATION. THE FIRST ACADEMY AWARDS WERE HELD IN 1929, SOON AFTER THE JAZZ SINGER DEBUTED. AROUND THE SAME TIME, THE FIRST ALL-TALKING MOVIE TRAILER, A COMING ATTRACTIONS PREVIEW FOR TENDERLOIN, WAS SHOWN IN THEATERS. BY THE MID-1930s, THE STUDIOS WERE USING RADIO TO PROMOTE THEIR FILMS. RKO AND PARAMOUNT DRAMATIZED UPCOMING FILMS IN SPECIAL RADIO BROADCASTS. HOLLYWOOD'S TRADE NEWSPAPERS-- THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER FIRST AND DAILY VARIETY SECOND--BOTH WERE LAUNCHED IN 1930 AND 1933. WITH THE ASCENSION OF THE TRADE NEWSPAPERS CAME THE EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF WHAT WE NOW AT THE L.A. TIMES CALL THE CELEBRITY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. [LAUGHTER] AND IT'S FAIR TO SAY, I THINK, THAT THE INTENSE INTEREST FOCUSED ON FATTY ARBUCKLE'S MANSLAUGHTER TRIALS WAS NOT ALL THAT DIFFERENT FROM TODAY'S NONSTOP OBSESSION WITH BRITNEY SPEARS. EXCEPT, SPEARS HASN'T BEEN IMPLICATED IN SOMEBODY'S DEATH. YET. AND THE NONSTOP, BREATHLESS ATTENTION DEVOTED SOME 80 YEARS AGO TO THE ROMANCE BETWEEN DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS AND MARY PICKFORD IS EERILY SIMILAR TO THE AROUND-THE-CLOCK COVERAGE TODAY OF BRAD PITT AND ANGELINA JOLIE. DID SHE HAVE HER BABIES YET? DOES ANYBODY KNOW? YES. YES. SHE HAS HAD HER TWINS. UM...BACK THEN, THE GOSSIP COLUMNISTS RESORTED TO THREATS, PAID INFORMANTS, CAR TAILS, AND TELEPHONES TAPS TO GET THEIR JOBS DONE--WHICH CERTAINLY CARRIED SHADES OF THE WORK HABITS OF RECENTLY CONVICTED PRIVATE EYE ANTHONY PELLICANO. [LAUGHTER] BUT I THINK MOST IMPORTANT, WHAT THE TWENTIES AND THIRTIES SET IN MOTION WAS THE BIRTH OF A SUB-INDUSTRY, TRAFFICKING AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES DISH. INDEED, THESE DAYS, THIS 24/7 FASCINATION WITH WHAT ARE OFTEN THE MOST INTIMATE DETAILS OF MOVIE STARS' LIVES IS A MASSIVE GLOBAL ENTERPRISE. THE CELEBRITY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX TODAY PLAYS OUT THROUGH PAPARAZZI PHOTOGRAPHERS AND VIDEOGRAPHERS; AN ARRAY OF CELEBRITY-FIXATED INTERNET SITES, INCLUDING TMZ.COM, PEREZHILTON.COM; MAGAZINES SUCH AS VANITY FAIR, US WEEKLY, AND PEOPLE; ANY NUMBER OF TELEVISION SHOWS, INCLUDING ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, INSIDE EDITION, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD; AND, I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY, NEWSPAPERS INCLUDING THE LOS ANGELES TIMES AND THE NEW YORK TIMES. WHILE THE DELIVERY MECHANISMS HAVE CERTAINLY CHANGED--THERE WERE NO HIGH-SPEED INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS BACK THEN, AND THE STORIES OF THE TWENTIES AND THIRTIES PLAYED OUT IN SYNDICATED NEWSPAPER COLUMNS AND RADIO BROADCASTS--THE ESSENTIAL DYNAMICS OF THE COVERAGE HAVE NOT CHANGED THAT MUCH. NEARLY A CENTURY AGO, THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT WERE ALMOST IDENTICAL. HOLLYWOOD AND THE MEDIA WERE ONCE EQUALLY PARASITIC AND MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL. BY THE EARLY 1930s, MORE THAN 200 NEWSPAPER REPORTERS WERE COVERING HOLLYWOOD, BUT 3 FAMILIAR NAMES LED THE CHARGE. IN 1925, LOUELLA PARSONS STARTED HER COLUMN AND SOON HAD A RADIO SHOW CALLED HOLLYWOOD HOTEL. IN 1938, HETTA HOPPER STARTED WRITING FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. BUT NO ONE COULD MATCH THE REACH OF WALTER WINCHELL, WHOSE HOLLYWOOD REPORTING WAS HEARD ON RADIO OR READ IN PRINT BY MORE THAN HALF OF ALL AMERICANS. WHILE GOSSIP COLUMNISTS JUMPED AT THE CHANCE TO REPORT THE LATEST INDISCRETIONS COMMITTED BY FILM STARS, DIRECTORS, AND PRODUCERS, THEY ALSO WOULD OFTEN COLLABORATE WITH THE STUDIOS, IF NOT THE F.B.I., TO TAKE DOWN THE UNWELCOME, INCLUDING POLITICIANS AND, LATER, ALLEGED COMMUNISTS. THEIR REACH WENT FAR BEYOND HOLLYWOOD AND VINE. WINCHELL, IN FACT, CABLED NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN SOON AFTER HITLER INVADED POLAND, OFFERING SUGGESTIONS ON HOW BRITAIN MIGHT HANDLE THE WAR. [LAUGHTER] AND WHAT PASSED FOR JOURNALISTIC ETHICS THEN IS, AGAINST TODAY'S STANDARDS, BOTH LAUGHABLE AND AMAZING. PARSONS WOULD DRIVE HER CAR AROUND THE VARIOUS STUDIOS AROUND CHRISTMASTIME, LOADING UP THE BACK WITH A PILE OF GIFTS AT EVERY STOP AND BLACKBALLING THOSE WHO DIDN'T GIVE GENEROUSLY ENOUGH. SHE TRIED TO SUPPRESS THE RELEASE OF CITIZEN KANE, WHICH SHE OBVIOUSLY FELT SMEARED HER BOSS WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST BY THREATENING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, TO EXPOSE THE PRIVATE LIVES OF RKO's BOARD OF DIRECTORS. [LAUGHTER] LIKE PARSONS, HOPPER WOULD BE CONSULTED ON CASTING DECISIONS. NONE OF THE COLUMNISTS WAS AFRAID TO MAKE THREATS. HOPPER CALLED HER OWN HOME "THE HOUSE THAT FEAR BUILT," AND WINCHELL HAD HIS OWN FAMOUS "DROP-DEAD LIST." THE GOSSIPS WERE HUGE CELEBRITIES IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, ALMOST EQUAL, IT SEEMS--IF NOT GREATER THAN--THE PEOPLE THEY COVERED. AND THE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE STUDIOS WENT BEYOND INCESTUOUS. SOON AFTER HE STARTED WRITING ABOUT HOLLYWOOD, WINCHELL SOLD A SCREENPLAY TO FOX FOR $5,000, AND THE STUDIO ALSO PAID HIM $75,000 FOR AN ACTING JOB IN THE MUSICAL WAKE UP AND LIVE. THE ERA ALSO BROUGHT US THE FIRST FORMALIZED PROCESS OF CENSORSHIP THROUGH THE HAYS OFFICE IN THE 1930s PRODUCTION CODE, WHICH WAS AIMED AT GOVERNING DEPICTIONS OF SEX, VIOLENCE, RELIGION, AND RACE RELATIONS. EQUALLY NOTEWORTHY, IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME THAT THE MOVIE STUDIOS BECAME INCREASINGLY DEPENDENT ON NOT ONLY MARKETING BUT MARKET RESEARCH. IN 1939, FOX'S DARRYL ZANUCK WROTE TO POLLSTER GEORGE GALLUP, WHO HAD BEGUN DOING AUDIENCE SURVEYS ON MOVIEGOING HABITS, INCLUDING QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT FILMS, AND EVEN MADE-UP FILM TITLES, WOULD BE ATTRACTIVE TO TICKET BUYERS. "I FEEL THAT THESE METHODS AND PRINCIPLES MIGHT BE APPLIED TO THE MOTION PICTURE PUBLIC," ZANUCK WROTE GALLUP, "WITH DIRECT BENEFIT TO THE PRODUCTION OF SCREENPLAYS." WITHIN A YEAR, GALLUP WAS WORKING WITH ZANUCK AND LOUIS B. MAYER'S MGM. THE TWENTIES AND THIRTIES, TO SUM UP, GAVE US NO ONLY SOUND AND COLOR BUT ALSO THE PROTOTYPES FOR MODERN MOVIE MARKETING AND PUBLICITY. THE MORE THE TOWN HAS CHANGED, I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY, THE MORE IT HAS REMAINED THE SAME. SO, I'M GONNA NOW HAND OVER TO DENNIS McDOUGAL, AND WE'RE GONNA TRY TO WORK A LITTLE BIT SEQUENTIALLY THROUGH THE TWENTIES AND THIRTIES AS WE CONTINUE OUR TALK. DENNIS? UM...WELL, IT'S GREAT THAT THE LIGHTS KEEP YOU FROM SEEING THE AUDIENCE. [LAUGHTER] IT'S...SORT OF... [CHUCKLES] "I HATE NEW YORK CITY. IT'S COLD, AND IT'S DAMP. AND ALL THE PEOPLE DRESS LIKE MONKEYS. LET'S LEAVE CHICAGO TO THE ESKIMOS. THAT TOWN'S A LITTLE TOO RUGGED FOR YOU AND ME, BAD GIRL." THAT'S THE PREAMBLE TO THE ANTHEM FOR LOS ANGELES, WRITTEN BY RANDY NEWMAN SOME 25 YEARS AGO. UM, I REFER TO IT IN OCCASIONS LIKE THIS, BECAUSE IT REALLY PRETTY MUCH SUMS UP HOURS AND HOURS OF DISCUSSION OF HOW LOS ANGELES CAME TO BE IN THE FIRST PLACE. UH, IT'S--IT'S A COUPLET, YOU KNOW-- "FROM THE SOUTH BAY TO THE VALLEY, FROM THE EAST SIDE TO THE WEST SIDE, EVERYBODY'S VERY HAPPY, BECAUSE IS SHINING ALL THE TIME." [LAUGHTER] UM... THAT'S WHY--THAT'S WHY THERE IS A MOVIE INDUSTRY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA--BECAUSE THE SUN IS SHINING ALL THE TIME. AND NOBODY KNEW THIS BETTER THAN... THE NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER WHO PROBABLY MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE FOSTERED THE INDUSTRIES THAT BECAME--THAT CREATED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. NOW, I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE MOVIE INDUSTRY--THAT'S A GIVEN--BUT AEROSPACE AND...REAL ESTATE, OF COURSE. AND THAT PUBLISHER, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO WILL HEARST, IS NOT HIS GRANDFATHER BUT ANOTHER FELLOW NAMED HARRY CHANDLER WHO, OUTSIDE OF THE 7 SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA, IS PRETTY MUCH UNKNOWN IN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY. HARRY CHANDLER-- IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHO HARRY CHANDLER WAS, THEN YOU HAVE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF HOW LOS ANGELES CAME TO BE. WHEN HARRY CHANDLER LANDED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND FIRST CAME TO LOS ANGELES IN THE 1880s, IT WAS A PUEBLO. THERE WAS, LIKE, 4,000 PEOPLE HERE--WHICH IS KIND OF HARD TO BELIEVE, LOOKING AT THE SPRAWL TODAY WHEN YOU FLY IN TO LAX. BUT, YOU KNOW, A CENTURY AGO, THIS WAS NOT MUCH. BUT WHAT HARRY RECOGNIZED, AS HIS FATHER-IN-LAW GENERAL HARRISON OTIS ALSO RECOGNIZED, IS THAT WHAT MADE LOS ANGELES UNIQUE WAS ITS GEOGRAPHY. AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE TWENTIES AND THIRTIES TODAY, BUT I'M GONNA START IN 1910, BECAUSE IT WAS A PIVOTAL YEAR. BY THAT TIME, GENERAL HARRISON OTIS HAD ESTABLISHED THE LOS ANGELES TIMES AS ONE OF THE LEADING, IF NOT THE LEADING, DAILIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. BUT HIS SON-IN-LAW HARRY CHANDLER, WHO WAS BEING GROOMED TO BE THE SECOND PUBLISHER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, HAD ALSO RECOGNIZED THAT WHAT WE HAD HERE, IF YOU COULD BRING THE PEOPLE TO IT, WAS A TREASURE-TROVE. I MEAN, HE'S KNOWN, I SUPPOSE TO THIS DAY, AS THE SECOND PUBLISHER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES AND A MOVER AND SHAKER AND A BOOSTER. BUT WHERE HE MADE HIS FORTUNE WAS IN REAL ESTATE. HARRY CHANDLER...I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF TO SOME DEGREE, BUT HARRY CHANDLER WAS, AT LEAST INDIRECTLY, RESPONSIBLE FOR MOST OF WHAT LITTLE WE HAVE IN TERMS OF INSTITUTIONS AND HISTORY-- PRESERVED HISTORY--IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOOK ANY FURTHER THAN THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN. HE WAS ONE OF THE PRIMARY INVESTORS IN, AND DEVELOPERS OF, HOLLYWOODLAND--AS EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM, I'M SURE, IS AWARE WAS A DEVELOPMENT, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT. AND THE "LAND" WAS KNOCKED DOWN-- THAT IS, THE HOLLYWOODLAND, THE "LAND" PART OF HOLLYWOOD, THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN, WAS KNOCKED DOWN I BELIEVE IN THE LATE THIRTIES, EARLY FORTIES. BUT, YOU KNOW, TO THIS DAY, OF COURSE, THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN IS AS ICONIC, AS FAR AS LOS ANGELES IS CONCERNED, AS THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IS FOR NEW YORK. EVERYONE RECOGNIZES THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN. WELL, YOU KNOW, HARRY CHANDLER WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT. HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BILTMORE HOTEL DOWNTOWN. HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOS ANGELES COLISEUM. HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF OLVERA STREET FROM A SLUM INTO A PRECURSOR OF A KIND OF A MEXICAN-AMERICAN DISNEYLAND. HE TURNED CHINATOWN, AFTER IT WAS MOVED, TO MAKE WAY FOR UNION STATION IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES. HE TURNED CHINATOWN INTO YET ANOTHER DISNEYLAND-LIKE ATTRACTION. HIS WHOLE LIFE WAS ABOUT ATTRACTING PEOPLE. THE REASON THAT PEOPLE CAME IN DROVES TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, IN PART, WAS BECAUSE THE LOS ANGELES TIMES PUBLISHED A MIDWINTER EDITION ON AN ANNUAL BASIS AND SHIPPED IT BY THE THOUSANDS BACK EAST WHERE IT WAS COLD AND DAMP, AS RANDY NEWMAN REMINDS US. HE WAS ONE OF--CHANDLER WAS ALSO ONE OF THE EARLY BOOSTERS OF THE ROSE PARADE, THE TOURNAMENT OF ROSES, WHICH ALSO FIGURED INTO THE MIDWINTER EDITION. WHEN PHOTOGRAPHY ADVANCED TO THAT POINT, THERE WERE PICTURES THAT WERE PUBLISHED IN THE MIDWINTER EDITION OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES SHOWING HOT BABES... [LAUGHTER] IF YOU WILL, ROLLING DOWN COLORADO BOULEVARD IN JANUARY, UH, WEARING... NOT MUCH... AND ROSES BLOOMING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WINTER. WELL, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE HOLED UP IN BOSTON, AND THE TEMPERATURE IS SOMEWHERE IN THE TEENS, AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA SEE SNOW OFF THE GROUND UNTIL SOMETIME IN APRIL, THAT BECOMES SOMETHING TO AIM FOR. PEOPLE PACKED UP, AND THEY MOVED TO LOS ANGELES. 1910 WAS A PIVOTAL YEAR BECAUSE A NUMBER OF THINGS HAPPENED IN THAT YEAR THAT CHANGED THE FUTURE FOR LOS ANGELES...AND WEDDED FOR ALL TIME, I THINK, HOLLYWOOD AND THE MOVIES. TO BEGIN WITH, THE LABOR, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW, BLEW UP THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BUILDING. AND WHATEVER HATRED THERE WAS ON THE PART OF THE CHANDLER FAMILY FOR UNIONS WAS--IT WAS RAISED TO THE LEVEL OF WARFARE. UNIONS NEVER GOT A FOOTHOLD IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, WITH THE NOTABLE EXCEPTION IN THE LATE THIRTIES OF THE MOTION PICTURE BUSINESS. UNIONS NEVER REALLY GOT A FOOTHOLD IN LOS ANGELES FOR THE NEXT HALF CENTURY, MAYBE LONGER. LOS ANGELES WAS RABIDLY ANTIUNION. AND, IN FACT, THAT WAS ONE OF THE DRAWS FOR THE EARLY FILMMAKERS, AS WAS POINTED OUT YESTERDAY. THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH UNIONS. THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH ORGANIZED LABOR IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. SO, YOU HAVE THE WEATHER. YOU HAVE A WIDE-OPEN TOWN IN TERMS OF LABOR. AND YOU HAVE PEOPLE COMING IN DROVES TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO LIVE BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER, AND THEY NEEDED JOBS. SO, THOSE ELEMENTS... BEGAN TO RAISE AN INTEREST AMONG THE PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO ESCAPE FROM EDISON AND THE STRANGLEHOLD THAT THE FOUNDERS OF MOTION PICTURE MAKING BACK IN NEW YORK HAD ON THE EARLY FILMMAKERS. D.W. GRIFFITH CAME TO LOS ANGELES IN 1910. IT WAS STILL A FEW YEARS BEFORE HE'D MAKE HIS MASTERPIECE OUT IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, BIRTH OF A NATION. BUT HE SAW FIRSTHAND WHAT...AN EDEN THIS WAS IF YOU WERE-- IF YOUR LIVELIHOOD WAS DEPENDENT UPON A CAMERA. 1910 ALSO, A COUPLE OF BROTHERS CAME TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA--NOT AS ANYWHERE AS WELL-REMEMBERED AS GRIFFITH OR EVEN DeMILLE AND LASKY WHO CAME A FEW YEARS LATER TO MAKE SQUAW MAN-- I MEAN, ALL OF THOSE ARE GREAT STORIES, BUT-- CHARLIE AND AL CHRISTIE. I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE EVEN REMEMBERS THE NAMES OF THE CHRISTIES, THE CHRISTIE BROTHERS. BUT THEY SHOWED UP IN LOS ANGELES THAT YEAR. AND THEY ARE PROBABLY BEST REMEMBERED FOR PIONEERING THE USE OF THE CUSTARD PIE-- [LAUGHTER] IN EARLY 2-REELERS. WE CAN THANK CHARLIE AND AL FOR PIES BEING TOSSED TO THIS DAY IN THE FACE OF PEOPLE ON TELEVISION. THEY INVENTED IT. THEY EVEN PERFECTED THE EGG WHITE AND FLOUR MIXTURE THAT...BAKERS-- AND MACK SENNETT STOLE THIS. I MEAN, HE...MADE NO PRETENSE ABOUT IT. HE ACTUALLY GOT THE RECIPE FOR THE PIES FROM THE CHRISTIE BROTHERS...AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WENT ON TO FAME AND FORTUNE. EVERYBODY IS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT MACK SENNETT...FOUNDED THE CUSTARD PIE PLOY, BUT IT WAS NOT TRUE. ANYWAY, THE CHRISTIES CAME TO CALIFORNIA NOT AT THE BEHEST OF WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST OR EVEN HARRY CHANDLER. BUT MR. de YOUNG OF THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE INVITED THEM TO COME FROM NEW JERSEY TO SAN FRANCISCO, ON THE PRETENSE THAT SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA-- LOTS OF SUN, THIS IS GREAT WEATHER. [SIGHS] [LAUGHTER] RIGHT. SO, YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT YOU... YOU'VE ALREADY DIVINED WHAT THE MORAL OF THIS STORY WAS. SO, THEY SHOW UP IN SAN FRANCISCO. AND, YOU KNOW, de YOUNG AND COMPANY EVEN SUBSIDIZED THEIR "STUDIO," BECAUSE THEY SAW, YOU KNOW, THE FUTURE POSSIBILITIES OF THE FILM INDUSTRY IN SAN FRANCISCO. WELL, THEY GET THERE, AND THEY FIND OUT, OF COURSE, THAT EVERYTHING'S FOGGED IN. YOU CAN'T SHOOT IN SAN FRANCISCO. AND ABOUT THE SAME TIME, THERE'S BEEN THIS RIVALRY DOWN TO ALMOST THE PRESENT DAY BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO AND LOS ANGELES. AND THAT'S, YOU KNOW, EVEN EVIDENCED IN SORT OF THE RIVALRY BETWEEN HEARST AND CHANDLER. AT ANY RATE, HARRY CHANDLER GETS WIND OF THE FACT THAT THE CHRISTIES HAVE SHOWN UP. AND HE SAYS, "WELL, YOU KNOW, I CAN'T OFFER TO SUBSIDIZE YOU, BUT I CAN GUARANTEE YOU IF YOU COME TO LOS ANGELES. THE SUN IS SHINING ALL THE TIME," AS RANDY NEWMAN SAID. SO, THE CHRISTIES CAME TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND THEY SET UP SHOP IN A TAVERN, ACTUALLY, AND THEY STARTED MAKING THEIR PIE FILMS. AND, OF COURSE, THEY WERE A BIG HIT. AND THE CHRISTIE FILM STUDIO BECAME THE FIRST PERMANENT, YEAR-ROUND STUDIO IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. IT'S MEMORIALIZED BY A PLAQUE AT COLUMBIA SQUARE...I THINK IT'S STILL THERE. I'M PRETTY-- LAST TIME I WAS HERE, I SAW IT. BUT AT ANY RATE, IT SAYS IT'S THE LOCATION OF THE FIRST STUDIO. AND THE CHRISTIE BROTHERS THRIVED THROUGHOUT THE TEENS AND INTO THE EARLY TWENTIES. ANYWAY, THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE I WANT TO GET TO IN TERMS OF LOS ANGELES AND ITS RESPECT FOR HISTORY, WHICH-- [LAUGHTER] IS NONEXISTENT. BUT HARRY CHANDLER--THAT'S THE KIND OF FORESIGHT THIS GUY HAD. I MEAN, I HAVE IT ON VERY GOOD AUTHORITY THAT WHEN HE WAS CRAFTING CHINATOWN THAT BOB TOWNE, AT LEAST SOME OF THE TIME, HAD HARRY CHANDLER IN MIND FOR HIS CHARACTER NOAH CROSS, THE JOHN HUSTON CHARACTER IN CHINATOWN. HARRY WAS--YOU KNOW, HARRY... TO MY KNOWLEDGE, I MEAN, HARRY WAS NOT INTO INCEST AND CERTAINLY WASN'T ANYWHERE NEAR AS FUNDAMENTALLY EVIL AS THE CHARACTER THAT JOHN HUSTON PORTRAYED IN THE MOVIE. BUT HARRY DID HAVE HIS FINGERS INTO EVERYTHING. HE WAS AN OCTOPUS. HE WAS--HE STARTED OUT WITH THE SUBDIVIDING OF LOS ANGELES, AS I'VE SAID. BUT THEN HE STARTED--HE DRAGGED EVERYTHING THAT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH BOOSTING LOS ANGELES. HE SAW THE SYNERGY THAT...WAS TO BE HAD IF YOU JUST PAID ATTENTION. HE BROUGHT IN AEROSPACE. HE SUBSIDIZED DONALD DOUGLAS. AND HE...WHEN AIMEE SEMPLE McPHERSON CAME TO TOWN, HE SAW THE ADVANTAGE TO BE HAD IN BUYING INTO HER VERSION OF RELIGION. SHE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST REGULAR ACTS ON L.A.'s FIRST RADIO STATION, WHICH WAS KHJ, AND WHICH WAS BEGUN AND OWNED FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL YEARS BY THE LOS ANGELES TIMES AND HARRY CHANDLER. CHANDLER ALSO SAW, AS THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY BEGAN TO DEVELOP IN THE TEENS, A SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN HIS NEWSPAPER AND THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY. AS JOHN WAS MENTIONING A LITTLE EARLIER, THERE WAS-- THE LOS ANGELES TIMES SAW FIT TO ADVERTISE MOTION PICTURES IN ITS PAGES EARLY ON AND ALSO TO TURN OVER SOME OF ITS NEWS COLUMNS TO THE COVERAGE OF MOTION PICTURES. THEY HAD A FORERUNNER OF THE CALENDAR SECTION PUBLISHED AS EARLY AS 1919, 1920 CALLED THE PREVIEW SECTION OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. AND THE FIRST GOSSIP COLUMNIST, STELLA THE STARGAZER, BEGAN COVERING THE INTIMATE LIVES OF THE STARS. THE TIMES BECAME A... AN INSTRUMENT...FOR THE PROMOTION, NOT JUST OF THE MOTION PICTURE BUSINESS AND ITS STARS AND DIRECTORS, BUT IT ALSO BECAME THIS HUB FOR EVERYTHING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN TERMS OF REAL ESTATE AND ALL OF THE OTHER BUSINESSES THAT EVOLVED. WE'LL TALK MORE ABOUT THAT LATER. ROB? UM, WE'LL CHANGE GEARS A LITTLE BIT. THE TIMES RECENTLY RAN A FRONT-PAGE REVIEW OF THE INDIANA JONES MOVIE. AND THERE WAS A LOT OF READER ANGST OVER THAT, AS IF THEY'RE DUMBING DOWN THE NEWS YET AGAIN FOR THE READER. AND THIS FOLLOWS A LOT OF HAND-WRINGING OVER OUR CONSTANT OBSESSION WITH BRITNEY AND LINDSAY LOHAN AND WHAT HAVE YOU. THERE'S ALSO A LITTLE BIT OF EYE-ROLLING IN THE NEWSROOMS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WHEN AP ANNOUNCED THAT THERE WILL BE SOME ADDITIONAL STAFFERS FOR ITS ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE. SO, THERE JUST SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF EFFORT TO COVER THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. AND... BUT THE POINT IS THAT CELEBRITY- AND MOVIE-OBSESSED COVERAGE IN THE MEDIA IS NOT A NEW THING. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GOING BACK 80 YEARS. TODAY, THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE A LIVING EXPLOITING THE SUCCESSES, FAILURES, OR EVEN THE CRIMES OF MOVIE STARS ARE SIMPLY FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE PREVIOUS GENERATION OF NEWSPAPER PEOPLE. AND WE'RE DATING THIS BACK TO 80, 90 YEARS. TODAY'S JOURNALISTS MAY BE BETTER BEHAVED, THEY MAY BE MORE ETHICAL, AND THEY MAY OVERALL BE MORE HONEST THAN THE PREVIOUS GENERATION. BUT THE PURSUIT OF THE STORY AND THE PLAY OF THE STORY ALWAYS REMAINS THE SAME. BEFORE CELEBRITY JOURNALISM AS WE KNOW IT TODAY WAS BORN-- AND I'M TALKING ABOUT THE SCANDAL-ORIENTED COVERAGE, MORE OR LESS BEGINNING WITH FATTY ARBUCKLE IN 1921-- NEWSPAPER COVERAGE WAS PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD. YOU EITHER HAD YOUR SOFT FEATURE, OR YOU HAD YOUR STRAIGHT NEWS. BUT I THINK THE BEST EXAMPLE--THE POSTER GIRL, IF YOU WILL, FOR JOURNALISM BEFORE FATTY ARBUCKLE AND AFTER FATTY ARBUCKLE--WOULD BE LOUELLA PARSONS. SHE WAS THE ONE JOURNALIST ASSOCIATED WITH INTRUSIVE NEWS COVERAGE. SHE HELD SWAY WITH THE MAJOR STUDIOS. SHE WAS THE ONE PERSON WHO COULD ACTUALLY MAKE OR BREAK MOVIE CAREERS. BUT AT ONE TIME, SHE WAS A SOBER-MINDED, THOROUGH REPORTER WHO RESPECTED HER SUBJECTS AND RELIED ON FACT. AND HER STORIES WERE VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD. HER FORTE WAS THE ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW. AND HER SUBJECTS INCLUDED ARBUCKLE, CHARLIE CHAPLIN, ANITA LOUISE, DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, TOM MIX-- ALL THE BIG STARS OF THE DAY. SHE CUT HER TEETH ON THE CHICAGO PAPERS COVERING THE INDUSTRY. SHE MOVED TO CHICAGO, WORKED FOR HEARST THERE COVERING THE INDUSTRY--ALL STRAIGHTFORWARD REPORTING. THEN SHE CAME OUT TO--FOR HER HEALTH, SHE CAME OUT TO L.A. IN THE MID-TWENTIES TO WORK FOR THE L.A. EXAMINER. IF YOU LOOK AT HER WRITING TODAY, IT'S REMARKABLY CONTEMPORARY, AND IT STANDS THE TEST OF TIME. YET, IT CONTRASTS SHARPLY TO HER LATER GOSSIP STYLE. AND PARSONS, UNLIKE HETTA HOPPER, IN THE LATER YEARS, SHE WAS A TRAINED JOURNALIST. HOPPER WAS NOT. SO, UNTIL THE ARBUCKLE SCANDAL, MOST REPORTERS WERE CONTENT TO BE COMPLIANT. THEY MAY GOSSIP ABOUT CHARLIE CHAPLIN'S PREOCCUPATION WITH TEENAGE GIRLS, BUT THEY DIDN'T CALL HIM ON IT TOO OFTEN. RATHER, WHEN CHAPLIN MARRIED 17-YEAR-OLD MILDRED HARRIS, MUCH OF THE NEWS HOLE AT THAT TIME WAS DEDICATED TO MILDRED'S MOTHER, WHO SPOKE GLOWINGLY OF CHAPLIN. THERE WASN'T A LOT OF CRITICISM ABOUT CHARLIE CHAPLIN AND HIS TEEN BRIDES. AND THERE WERE MORE THAN ONE. SO, WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT MADE THIS RELATIVELY RESPECTFUL, DOCILE PRESS TURN INTO THE MONSTER WE SEE TODAY--CHASING BRITNEY SPEARS OR A PHOTOGRAPHER LOOKING FOR THAT MONEY SHOT OF SOME STARLET EXITING A CAB IN A SHORT SKIRT? WELL, ARBUCKLE HAPPENED. FOR ALMOST A DECADE, ARBUCKLE HAD BEEN ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR AND GIFTED COMEDIC ACTORS OF HIS TIME. HE WAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST PAID. HE GAVE CHAPLIN, HAROLD LLOYD, BUSTER KEATON...A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY AS A LEADING COMEDIC ACTOR OF THE TWENTIES. BUT IN SEPTEMBER 1921 AT THE ST. FRANCIS HOTEL IN SAN FRANCISCO, HE HELD A PARTY, AND A YOUNG ACTRESS BY THE NAME OF VIRGINIA RAPPE WAS THERE. AND SHE BECAME ILL, AND SHE DIED 4 DAYS LATER. WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT HOTEL ROOM TO THIS DAY IS A MATTER OF SPECULATION. NO ONE REALLY KNOWS, ALTHOUGH THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A DOZEN EYEWITNESSES THERE AT THE TIME. ONE THING WE DO KNOW IS THAT ARBUCKLE DID NOT HAVE MUCH CONTACT WITH HER. YET HE WAS CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER AND A BUNCH OF SEX OFFENSES, AND HE WAS HELD FOR TRIAL. I THINK THAT IF THE RAPPE TRAGEDY HAPPENED EARLIER, PERHAPS ARBUCKLE WOULD BE REMEMBERED TODAY AS A GREAT, PIONEERING COMEDIC ACTOR AND NOT AN ACCUSED RAPIST. BUT AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME, FOR THE BIRTH OF SCANDAL COVERAGE, IT WAS RIPE FOR THIS...FOR SCANDAL COVERAGE TO BEGIN. FOR ONE, THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY, ESPECIALLY LOS ANGELES NEWSPAPERS, WERE BEGINNING TO REALIZE THAT AD REVENUE FROM FILM STUDIOS WAS GENERATING ENORMOUS PROFITS. SO, THIS COURTSHIP BETWEEN THE MEDIA AND THE STUDIOS BEGAN. AND AFTER WORLD WAR I, MORE REPORTING RESOURCES WERE APPLIED TO COVERAGE. YOU COMBINE THIS WITH THE FACT THAT SOCIETY AT THAT TIME WAS CHANGING RAPIDLY FROM THE VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN AGE TO THE JAZZ AGE. SKIRTS WENT UP, HAIR CAME DOWN, MUSIC BECAME FASTER. PROHIBITION ENCOURAGED-- DID NOT DISCOURAGE--A DRINKING CULTURE. AN OLDER GENERATION CLUNG TO WHAT WAS, AND THE NEW GENERATION ENGAGED IN A KIND OF RELATIVE RECKLESSNESS. VICTORIAN SENSIBILITY WAS OLD SCHOOL. MOVIES AND THE EXCESSES OF ITS STARS REPRESENTED KIND OF NEW ORDER FOR A YOUNGER GENERATION. THERE WAS A HUNGER FOR THAT KIND OF NEWS. IT WAS NEW, AND IT WAS DIFFERENT. AT THE SAME, A CLASS SYSTEM DEVELOPED BETWEEN THE HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY AND THE PRESS. MOVIE STARS WERE EARNING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A WEEK, DRIVING CUSTOM-BUILT CARS. THEY WERE BUILDING THEIR MANSIONS IN BEVERLY HILLS. REPORTERS, ON THE OTHER HAND, WHO WERE COVERING THESE MOVIE STARS, WERE EARNING 25 BUCKS A WEEK. THEY KEPT A ROLL OF NICKELS IN THEIR POCKET FOR THE TROLLEY, AND THEY LIVED IN UPSTAIRS APARTMENTS. SO, IT WAS INEVITABLE THAT THE NOT-SO-WEALTHY AND THE NOT-SO-PRIVILEGED WOULD TAKE A CRACK AT KNOCKING SOME OF THESE STARS OFF THE PEDESTAL. AND ARBUCKLE WAS THE PERFECT TARGET. HE WAS OBESE, HIS ON-SCREEN PERSONA WAS CHILDLIKE, HE DROVE THIS $25,000 PIERCE-ARROW, AND HE LIKED THE LADIES. AT THE TIME, TRIAL LAWYER EARL ROGERS ONCE SAID THAT ARBUCKLE DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE IN FACING THE PRESS. ARBUCKLE'S OBESITY AND HIS WEALTH AND THE FACT THAT HE WAS SUSPECTED OF RAPING A FRAIL YOUNG WOMAN DOOMED HIS PROSPECTS TO SURVIVE PRESS SCRUTINY, AND HE WAS RIGHT. AND THIS SERVED-- ALL THESE ELEMENTS SERVED--AS A TEMPLATE FOR FUTURE SCANDAL COVERAGE. YES, REPORTERS KNOCKING STARS OFF THE PEDESTAL, I MEAN, THAT'S--YOU KNOW, ALL REPORTERS LIKE TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT. YOU KNOW, YOU BUILD 'EM UP, AND YOU TEAR 'EM DOWN. THAT...GOES BACK A LONG WAYS. BUT IF IT DOESN'T TRANSLATE TO BOOST ITS CIRCULATION NUMBERS, IF IT DOESN'T TRANSLATE TO INCREASE AD REVENUE, WELL, THEY'D BE COVERING SOMETHING ELSE. SO, PUBLISHERS' MOTIVES REMAIN THE SAME TODAY AS THEY DID 80 YEARS AGO. THEY'RE PREOCCUPIED WITH NUMBERS. WELL, IT MIGHT CHANGE FROM NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION TO THE NUMBER OF HITS ON A WEBSITE, BUT THE APPETITE FOR MEDIA OUTLETS TO GENERATE HUGE PROFITS HAS NOT CHANGED A BIT. AND NO ONE KNEW THAT BETTER THAN WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST. IN FACT, HE ONCE SAID THAT THE ARBUCKLE SCANDAL HAD SOLD MORE NEWSPAPER THAN ANY EVENT SINCE THE SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA. AND THE OTHER THING THAT IS NOT APPRECIATED TODAY WAS THAT THE EXAMINER, WHICH LED THE COVERAGE IN THE ARBUCKLE CASE...THEY PUT A LOT OF RESOURCES ON ARBUCKLE. AND THE STANDARD AT THAT TIME WAS, ONE OR TWO REPORTERS WOULD COVER A STORY. WELL, THE EXAMINER DID NOT MIND AND NEVER BLINKED AN EYE IN ASSIGNING A HALF DOZEN REPORTERS TO THE SAME STORY, EVEN IF IT MEANT SENDING THEM ALL UP TO SAN FRANCISCO. SO, YOU HAD A REPORTER COVERING THE NEWS AND DOING THE INVESTIGATION, YOU HAD ONE DOING COLOR, AND YOU HAD FEMALE REPORTERS DOING THE WOMEN'S ANGLE, IF YOU WILL. THEY WERE CALLED SOB SISTERS BACK THEN. THE EXAMINER PIONEERED MORE OR LESS THE GRAPHICS THAT WE SEE TODAY IN TODAY'S NEWSPAPERS, MAPS. SO, YOU'D HAVE THIS BIG SCREAMER HEADLINE OF FATTY GOING ON TRIAL. YOU'D HAVE THIS DECK. YOU HAVE MULTI ART OF FATTY AND VIRGINIA AND ALL THE PLAYERS THAT PLAYED OUT ON THE FRONT PAGE. THERE WOULD BE A MAIN STORY, AND THERE WOULD BE A SIDEBAR. AND THEN YOU'D JUMP INSIDE, AND YOU GOT A FULL PAGE--AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THESE BIG, BROAD SHEETS, THESE HUGE NEWSPAPERS AT THE TIME-- FULL PAGE, MORE ART, MORE STORIES, MORE GRAPHICS. SO, READERS AT THE TIME COULD SPEND ALL MORNING WITH FATTY AND GET EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO KNOW. MOST OF IT WAS NOT TRUE, BUT THAT WAS BESIDE THE POINT. [LAUGHTER] IT STILL PROVIDED A GREAT STORY. LIKE I SAID, THE HEARST PAPERS PRETTY MUCH CARRIED THE TORCH OF THE ARBUCKLE COVERAGE, AND OTHER PAPERS FELL IN LINE, MATCHING STORY FOR STORY. WE HAD--BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THEY ALMOST HAD A 24-HOUR NEWS CYCLE THEN. IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON FOR PAPERS TO PUBLISH MAYBE 11, 12, EVEN 13 EDITIONS A DAY. SO, IT WAS ALL FATTY, ALL THE TIME. [LAUGHTER] WHAT WAS INTERESTING, THOUGH, IS THAT COMMENT FROM FILM STUDIOS WAS ALMOST NONEXISTENT. NO ONE SEEMED TO CARE WHETHER OR NOT WHAT THE STUDIOS HAD TO SAY, WHAT FATTY'S EMPLOYERS HAD TO SAY, OR WHAT HIS COLLEAGUES HAD TO SAY. AND YOU'D GET THESE ANONYMOUS SOURCES FROM THE STUDIOS TALKING ABOUT FATTY'S BAD BEHAVIOR, BUT DID THEY EVER THINK TO BALANCE THOSE STORIES? NO. THAT WAS, UM, TOO MUCH TIME, APPARENTLY. SO, THESE STUDIO CHIEFS WERE PARALYZED WITH FEAR. AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU HAD THESE CHURCH GROUPS WHO WHEELED CONSIDERABLE POWER, AND THEY'RE ALREADY CRITICAL OF THE MORAL VALUE OF MOTION PICTURES. THE ARBUCKLE SCANDAL, WITH ITS LURID DETAILS, INFURIATED THESE GROUPS, AND THEY WAGED VERY PUBLIC CAMPAIGNS TO PULL HIS FILMS FROM CIRCULATION, AND THEY SUCCEEDED. THE STUDIO CHIEFS COMPLIED. WHEN ARBUCKLE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS THIRD TRIAL-- THE FIRST 2 ENDED IN A HUNG JURY. AND BY THE WAY, HE WAS ACQUITTED. NOT ONLY WAS HE ACQUITTED IN THE THIRD TRIAL-- THE JURY FELT IT WAS NECESSARY TO APOLOGIZE ON THE BEHALF OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR BRINGING THEM TO TRIAL IN THE FIRST PLACE. BUT DURING THE THIRD TRIAL, WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR, WHO WAS A POPULAR DIRECTOR AT THE TIME, WAS FOUND SHOT TO DEATH IN HIS BUNGALOW IN ALVARADO. SO, ARBUCKLE WAS SWEPT OFF THE FRONT PAGE, JUST WHEN HE WAS ABOUT READY TO BE ACQUITTED, AND WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR'S HOMICIDE BEGAN A NEW CYCLE OF SENSATIONALIST COVERAGE. AND, YOU KNOW, THE WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR CASE WAS NEVER SOLVED. AND SO, AFTER THAT PETERED OUT, THEY'D FIND ANOTHER VICTIM. AND I THINK THE NEXT ONE WAS PROBABLY WALLACE REID AND HIS DRUG ADDICTION AND HIS EVENTUAL DEATH. SO, THERE WAS ONE SCANDAL AFTER ANOTHER TO KEEP THE PRESS HAPPY. BUT ONE THING THAT THE STUDIOS LEARNED FROM ARBUCKLE WAS SPIN CONTROL. AND WHAT THEY DID DURING THE TAYLOR HOMICIDE WAS, THEY GATHERED A GROUP OF POPULAR WRITERS OF THE DAY-- RUPERT HUGHES FOR ONE, ELINOR GLYN, MANY OTHERS--AND THEY SENT THEM OUT TO WRITE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THE FILM INDUSTRY FOR LOCAL PAPERS AND MAGAZINES. AND THEIR MESSAGE WAS CONSISTENT--FILM ACTORS BEHAVED NO DIFFERENTLY THAN WALL STREET BROKERS OR PLUMBERS. THE PROPORTION OF ACTORS WHO COMMITTED CRIMES OR ENGAGED IN IMMORAL BEHAVIOR WAS SIMILAR OR LESS THAN ANY OTHER PROFESSION. YOU KNOW, OF COURSE, THE PUBLIC DIDN'T BUY THAT. STOCKBROKERS WEREN'T ON THE SCREEN, AND THEY WEREN'T MAKING LOVE TO STARLETS. SO, WHO CARED ABOUT A STOCKBROKER? THEY WANTED TO SEE WHAT THE LATEST MOVIE STAR WAS DOING. SO, THEIR EFFORT TO STEM THE TIDE OF BAD PUBLICITY FAILED. BUT IT GAVE RISE TO SPIN CONTROL. OF COURSE, WE KNOW NOW THAT STUDIO CHIEFS HAD HIRED WILL HAYS TO IMPLEMENT A PRODUCTION CODE, AND THAT'S ALL WELL AND FINE. BUT THEY ALSO DEVELOPED MUCH MORE SOPHISTICATED PUBLICITY DEPARTMENTS. AND NOT ONLY WERE THEY GONNA PROMOTE THEIR STARS, THEY WERE GONNA KEEP THEM ON A SHORT LEASH AND DO WHATEVER THEY CAN TO PREVENT BAD BEHAVIOR OR KEEP THAT BAD BEHAVIOR UNDER WRAPS. IN LATER YEARS, THE PAPERS BECAME MORE SOPHISTICATED IN THEIR COVERAGE. AND, AS WE KNOW, CIRCULATION WAS AND CONTINUES TO BE TIED TO ENTERTAINMENT NEWS. BUT NOW, NEWSPAPERS PERFORM THIS BALANCING ACT. THEY GIVE THE READERS WHAT THEY WANT TO KNOW WITH WHAT THEY NEED TO KNOW. AND THIS BRINGS ME BACK TO INDIANA JONES BEING ON THE FRONT PAGE. YOU LOOK AT ANY FRONT PAGE NEWSPAPER--ANY FRONT PAGE OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, FOR EXAMPLE, THE DAY AFTER THE ACADEMY AWARDS--IT'S ALMOST IDENTICAL COVERAGE OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS. JOANNE WOODWARD WON AN ACADEMY AWARD IN '58 FOR THE THREE FACES OF EVE-- SAME PLAY, HAS ALMOST THE SAME DESIGN, REALLY, OF DANIEL DAY-LEWIS IN 2008 WINNING FOR THERE WILL BE BLOOD. SPUTNIK WAS THE NEWS OF THE DAY IN OCTOBER OF '57, BUT THE HEADLINE IN THE TIMES DURING THAT MONTH HAD TO COMPETE WITH JACK BENNY'S WIFE FAINTING AT A DINNER. [LAUGHTER] THERE WAS MUDSLIDES PLAGUING MALIBU IN '58, BUT WHAT WAS THE LEAD ART ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE TIMES DURING THAT TIME? GARY COOPER GETTING A FACE-LIFT. [LAUGHTER] SO, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED. IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT GETTING THE MONEY SHOT. IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE SCOOP AND PUTTING THE CELEBRITY FRONT AND CENTER ON PAGE ONE OR AT THE TOP OF A WEBSITE TO GENERATE THOSE CLICKS OR SALES. I GUESS IT'S A GOOD IDEA I DIDN'T BRING ANY SUBSCRIPTION CARDS TO THE L.A. TIMES... [LAUGHTER] UM, BEFORE I HEAD OVER TO BOB, I HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR ROB. I MEAN, WE TALKED--HE MENTIONED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SPIN CONTROL, BUT SOMETHING THAT ALSO HAPPENED IN THAT ERA, IN SOME OF THOSE CASES YOU REFERRED TO, IS THAT THE STUDIO EXECUTIVES--THAT'S THE HEADS OF THE STUDIOS--WOULD BE AT CRIME SCENES BEFORE LAW ENFORCEMENT WOULD GET THERE. CORRECT? OH, YOU BET. WELL, THEY HAD THEIR MINIONS, THESE--I THINK THERE'S A FELLA AT THE MGM, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE THIRTIES, SAM MARX, WHO WAS KIND OF THE HENCHMAN FOR THE PUBLICITY DEPARTMENT. AND HIS JOB WAS TO KEEP EVERYTHING UNDER WRAPS. AND AS A GENERAL RULE, THE COPS WOULD CALL MARX OR WOULD CALL WHOEVER WAS IN CHARGE OF THE PUBLICITY DEPARTMENT AND SAY, "ONE OF YOUR BOYS" OR "ONE OF YOUR GIRLS" ARE IN TROUBLE. YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET OUT HERE." AND SO, HE WOULD GET OUT THERE, CLEAN THINGS UP A LITTLE BIT, AND THE PRESS IS ALWAYS A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT OFTEN. SO, THEY MISSED OUT. ROB, YOUR TURN. OK. I'LL...TRY AND BE BRIEF TO ALLOW SOME BACK-AND-FORTH WITH THOSE OF YOU THAT WE CAN'T SEE. UM... [LAUGHTER] THE--YOU KNOW, JOHN'S STORY LINE; THE MORE IT CHANGES, THE MORE IT'S THE SAME; DENNIS' STORY LINE; HOW HARRY CHANDLER MADE L.A.; ROB'S STORY LINE ABOUT THE BIRTH OF CELEBRITY JOURNALISM--MY STORY LINE IS GOING TO BE HOW HOLLYWOOD AND THE STUDIOS BECAME POLITICIZED AND POLITICAL ACTORS. AND I'M GONNA TAKE US TO 1934. WE'RE GONNA GO FROM THE TEENS TO THE TWENTIES TO THE THIRTIES. AND, UM...TO SET THE STAGE, THERE WAS A FILM THAT WAS DEVELOPED AND WAS READY TO BE RELEASED IN 1934 CALLED OUR DAILY BREAD. IT WAS A KING VIDOR PRODUCTION, AND JOSEPH MANKOWITZ WAS THE SCREENWRITER. AND THE FILM TALKED ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON IN RELATION TO PEOPLE BEING DISPLACED FROM THE LAND, ENORMOUS UNEMPLOYMENT. AND THAT STORY LINE WAS HOW PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER TO FORM A RURAL FARM COOPERATIVE WHERE A NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED BECAME PART OF HOW THAT DEVELOPED. AND THERE WAS A VERY POSITIVE SPIN ABOUT PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER AND CREATING COMMUNITY. AND IT RESONATES IN TERMS OF WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE EARLY 1930s, OF COURSE, IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, IN AN ERA OF ENORMOUS UNEMPLOYMENT, OF POLITICAL TURBULENCE, AND OF A CONCEPT THAT WAS DEVELOPING-- WHICH WAS, "WHY NOT PUT PEOPLE TO PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY AS A WAY TO ADDRESS THOSE PROBLEMS?" AND THAT GAVE RISE TO A CANDIDACY OF A PERSON WHO HAD BEEN IN AND OUT OF HOLLYWOOD, IN FACT, UPTON SINCLAIR, WHO CREATED A CAMPAIGN HE CALLED END POVERTY IN CALIFORNIA, OR E.P.I.C.-- WHOSE CHIEF KIND OF FRAMING SLOGAN, HIS GOVERNING METAPHOR, WAS "PRODUCTION FOR USE," THAT PUT PEOPLE--CREATE OPPORTUNITIES, CREATE COOPERATIVE STRUCTURES, VERY MUCH LIKE THE KING VIDOR FILM. NOW, THAT WAS AN ENORMOUS-- AT FIRST, THAT CAMPAIGN WAS NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY. SINCLAIR WAS A SOCIALIST. HE WAS IN AND OUT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA POLITICS, AS WELL AS HIS WRITINGS INCREASINGLY TALKED AND SET THE STAGE AROUND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, INCLUDING HIS 1927 NOVEL ABOUT OIL. BUT HIS MESSAGE DID RESONATE. AND IN 1934, HE WON THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIMARY. HE CHANGED HIS REGISTRATION FROM SOCIALIST TO DEMOCRAT. AND THERE WAS AN ENORMOUS OUTPOURING, PARTICULARLY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, WHICH WAS THE REALLY HEART OF HIS CAMPAIGN. WELL, THAT PUT THE FEAR OF SOCIALISM, IF YOU WILL, UNDER THE NAME OF "PRODUCTION FOR USE," AND A VERY TIGHT POLITICAL AND...ECONOMIC ELITE THAT HAD SHAPED LOS ANGELES, HARRY CHANDLER BEING ONE OF THOSE FIGURES. A PERSON I INTERVIEWED ABOUT 30, 35 YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS WRITING A BOOK ON THE TIMES, ASA CALL, TOLD ME, CACKLING AWAY ABOUT THE STORY OF HOW, IN FACT, THIS ELITE MOBILIZED TO TRY AND UNDERCUT THE CAMPAIGN, THIS EMERGING CAMPAIGN THAT WAS DEVELOPING. AND HE SAID, "WELL, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE DID, THE TIMES, AMONGST OTHER THINGS, WAS A HIGHLY POLITICAL ENTITY. ITS REPORTERS WERE NOT REPORTERS. THEY WERE POLITICAL POWERBROKERS." AND THE CHIEF POLITICAL POWERBROKER WAS A MAN NAMED KYLE PALMER, WHO SUBSEQUENTLY IN THE 1940s, INVENTED THE CAREER OF RICHARD NIXON, FOR EXAMPLE. WELL, KYLE PALMER WAS LOANED TO THE MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION, AND HE BECAME A TEMPORARY PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR FOR THE ASSOCIATION, IN A CONTEXT OF A CAMPAIGN THAT WAS EMERGING TO UNDERCUT THE E.P.I.C. CAMPAIGN. THE SORT OF FIRST MOMENT OF THAT WAS HERALDED BY THE TIMES ITSELF. AT A PRESS CONFERENCE THAT SINCLAIR WAS SPEAKING AT, HE WAS ASKED A QUESTION ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF HIS "PRODUCTION FOR USE" AGENDA WAS ADOPTED? AND...WHAT WOULD HAPPEN-- WOULDN'T IT BE A MAGNET FOR THE UNEMPLOYED? AND SINCLAIR MADE A JOKE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WOULD COME TO CALIFORNIA--COULD BE HALF THE UNEMPLOYED WOULD COME TO CALIFORNIA. BUT THEN HE...WENT BACK AND THEN SAID, "WELL, LOOK, WHAT'S SERIOUS ABOUT THIS IS THAT WE HAVE THIS PROTRACTED UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM. WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH NEW STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS THAT." WELL, THE NEXT DAY, THE TIMES HAD A BANNER HEADLINE WHICH READ SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT OF "TRANSIENT FLOOD EXPECTED." [LAUGHTER] "HALF THE UNEMPLOYED WILL HOP THE FIRST FREIGHT TO CALIFORNIA." AND THAT OPENED IT UP. AND SO, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT KYLE PALMER DID-- AND THIS STORY HAS NOW BEEN WELL-TOLD IN BOOKS AND ARTICLES--IS THAT HE ENLISTED THE STUDIOS WHO, AT THAT POINT, WERE STARTING TO DO THESE KINDS OF VERY, UM, NONCONTROVERSIAL NEWSREEL SHOTS THAT THEY HAD. THEY CALLED IT THE CALIFORNIA-- IN THIS CASE, IT WAS CALLED THE CALIFORNIA ELECTION NEWSREEL-- THAT UP TO 1934 HAD REALLY NOT BEEN POLITICALLY CHARGED. WELL, THAT CHANGED IN THIS ELECTION. AND UNDER PALMER'S GUIDANCE, YOU HAD NEWSREELS THAT INCLUDED HALF THE UNEMPLOYED HOPPING THE FREIGHTS TO COME TO CALIFORNIA. SHOTS THAT WERE... SEEN AS AUTHENTIC STORIES IN A NEWSREEL CONTEXT WERE REALLY SHOT AS STUDIO--IF YOU LIKE--STUDIO TRAILERS OF HOW WE'RE GONNA DEFEAT UPTON SINCLAIR. THEY DID THINGS-- THEY HAD...THE INTERVIEWER ON THE SPOT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA FELT. SO, THEY WOULD INTERVIEW A PERSON WITH LONG WHISKERS, CLEARLY FROM A RUSSIAN BACKGROUND, SAYING, "WELL, WHO ARE YOU GONNA VOTE FOR?" AND HE'D SAY...[RUSSIAN ACCENT] "WELL, I'M GOING TO VOTE FOR SINCLAIR, BECAUSE IF THEY DO IT IN RUSSIA, THEY WILL DO IT HERE WELL, TOO." [LAUGHTER] [NORMAL VOICE] AND THEY HAD CLEARLY AN UNEMPLOYED LATINO BEING INTERVIEWED, SAYING, "YES, WE NEED SINCLAIR, BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA CHANGE THE WAY GOVERNMENT WORKS." AND THEN THEY HAD THE LITTLE OLD LADY SAYING, "YOU KNOW, IF SINCLAIR WINS, I'M GONNA LOSE MY HOUSE." SO, THAT DEVELOPED AS KIND OF A TOOL. BUT MORE THAN THAT, THE STUDIOS DECIDED THAT AS AN ENTITY ITSELF, THAT THEY WOULD GET ENGAGED IN POLITICS. ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THEY DID IS, THEY ASSESSED A ONE DAY'S WAGE OF EVERY EMPLOYEE WHO MADE MORE THAN $100 A WEEK IN THE STUDIO SYSTEM, WOULD DONATE TO A FUND THAT WOULD BE USED AS PART OF THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST SINCLAIR. AND THEY WORKED ALSO WITH OTHER MEDIA--WITH RADIO, FOR EXAMPLE. JOSEPH MANKOWITZ, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, SUBSEQUENTLY GOT INVOLVED IN DOING SOME OF THE ANTI-SINCLAIR RADIO SPINS THAT WERE ALSO DEVELOPED AT THAT TIME. ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WAS THAT THIS WAS NOT NECESSARILY A CONSENSUS POSITION WITHIN THE...WITHIN HOLLYWOOD, AMONGST SORT OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE. WHEN THE $100--I MEAN, THE ONE-DAY WAGE ASSESSMENT WAS APPROACHED, JIMMY CAGNEY MADE A MAJOR POLITICAL STATEMENT, SAYING THAT HE REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS. THERE WERE OTHERS. PEOPLE LIKE DOROTHY PARKER AND NUNNALLY JOHNSON BECAME VISIBLE SINCLAIR SUPPORTERS. AND SO, YOU BEGAN TO SEE A LITTLE BIT OF A DIVIDE. BUT THE OVERWHELMING EMPHASIS OF THE STUDIOS, WHO HAD BECOME NOW POLITICAL ACTORS FROM A POSITION PRIOR TO THAT, WHERE THEY HAD BEEN RELATIVELY PASSIVE IN ENGAGING IN THIS POLITICAL UNIVERSE, THAT THEY NOW BECAME CENTRAL ACTORS, TOO. ULTIMATELY, THE STORY ENDS. OUR DAILY BREAD, BY THE WAY-- THE STUDIOS DECIDED NOT TO RELEASE IT BEFORE THE ELECTION. SO, IT WAS PUT OFF UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION. SINCLAIR LOST. THERE WAS A 3-WAY RACE. HE CAME CLOSE. AND THE E.P.I.C. MOVEMENT ITSELF DID BECOME A SIGNIFICANT FORCE IN CALIFORNIA. AND 4 YEARS LATER, ONE OF THE E.P.I.C.s, CULBERT OLSON, WAS ELECTED GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA. A NUMBER OF OTHER FIGURES GOT ELECTED TO THE STATE LEGISLATURE. DENNIS TALKS ABOUT THE STUDIOS COMING IN, OR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRY BEING NONUNION BEING AN ATTRACTION. WELL, BY THE END OF THE THIRTIES, AS PART OF THE POLITICAL TEMPER OF THE TIME, UNIONS WERE BECOMING MORE OF A SIGNIFICANT FORCE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. AND YOU HAD SOME OF THE MOST MILITANT UNIONS IN HOLLY--IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, LIKE THE CONFERENCE OF STUDIO UNIONS-- WERE COMING TOGETHER IN... AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF POLITICS THAT WAS TAKING PLACE IN LOS ANGELES, OF WHICH THAT 1934 ELECTION WAS KEY. AND IF WE THINK ABOUT THAT MOMENT AND WE PROJECT IT INTO BOTH THE SUBSEQUENT DECADES AND INTO THE PRESENT TIME, I THINK WHAT WE SEE IS THAT THIS CONNECTION TO POLITICS--SIMILAR TO THE CONNECTION TO CELEBRITY JOURNALISM, IF YOU WILL--HAS BECOME KIND OF A PERMANENT PART OF WHAT WE ASSOCIATE WITH HOLLYWOOD. OF COURSE, IN 1945 AND '46, THERE WAS A VERY BITTER STRIKE...THAT ENDED WITH A VICTORY OF THE STUDIOS OVER THE CONFERENCE OF STUDIO UNIONS. YOU HAD THE--WHICH REALLY, AS LARRY CEPLAIR HAS POINTED OUT IN HIS EXCELLENT BOOK, REALLY WAS THE FORERUNNER OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BLACKLIST AND THE HOLLYWOOD TEN EPISODE. YOU HAVE...DURING WORLD WAR II AND THEREAFTER, FILMS THAT ARE--HAVE MUCH MORE EXPLICIT POLITICAL CONTENT. AND THEN IF YOU LOOK AT THE TRADITIONS OF THE JAMES CAGNEYS AND THE DOROTHY PARKERS, YOU ALSO HAVE OTHERS WITHIN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY--ACTORS AND WRITERS-- AND PEOPLE IN ALL ASPECTS OF HOLLYWOOD TAKING OTHER KINDS OF POSITIONS THAT WERE COUNTER TO WHERE THE STUDIOS WERE, PARTICULARLY DURING THE YEAR OF THE BLACKLIST AND THEREAFTER. TODAY, OF COURSE, HOLLYWOOD IS SEEN AS A MAJOR POLITICAL FORCE, FOR GOOD AND FOR BAD...AND THAT REALLY CHANGED AT A POINT IN TIME WHERE THROUGH KIND OF THE MANIPULATION OF THAT POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ELITE, BRINGING KYLE PALMER INTO THE BOWELS OF THE STUDIOS IN ITS PRIMARY TRADE ORGANIZATION TO SAY TO THE STUDIOS, "IF YOU'RE PART OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, YOU HAVE TO BE WITH A POLITICAL AGENDA." MM-HMM. WE'RE GONNA TAKE SOME QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES. I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS I WANT TO RUN BY THE PANEL. WHAT WE'RE HEARING IS KIND OF A MONOLITHIC DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE MEDIA OPERATED. WERE THERE ANY ALTERNATIVE VOICES, OR DID NEWSPAPERS AND RADIOS PRETTY MUCH ACT AS ONE? I'D LIKE, ACTUALLY, ROB TO TELL HIS STORY. YOU TOLD ME RIGHT BEFORE...OF AN ALTERNATIVE VOICE. MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER RAN A MAGAZINE CALLED ROB WAGNER'S SCRIPT IN THE TWENTIES, THIRTIES, AND FORTIES. HE WAS A FRIEND OF UPTON SINCLAIR'S, AND HE HAD GIVEN HIM PLENTY OF EDITORIAL SPACE IN HIS MAGAZINE. I THINK THE SCRIPT AND READER'S DIGEST WERE THE ONLY ONES THAT HAD NOT EXPLICITLY ENDORSED HIS CANDIDACY BUT HAD GIVEN HIM FAVORABLE COVERAGE. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE ENTIRE LOS ANGELES--WELL, CALIFORNIA MEDIA--NEWSPAPERS HAD OPPOSED HIS CANDIDACY. AND WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO SCRIPT WAS THAT MGM, IN PARTICULAR, BUT A NUMBER OF STUDIOS HAD WAGES A VERY QUIET CAMPAIGN TO GET SUBSCRIBERS TO CANCEL THEIR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND TO PULL THEIR ADVERTISING FROM SCRIPT. AND IN '34 IS A VERY DARK HOUR FOR SCRIPT, AND THEY ALMOST WENT UNDER. SCRIPT NEVER REALLY PULLED AWAY FROM ITS EDITORIAL COVERAGE OF SINCLAIR. THEY TONED IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT. AND I THINK THAT SATISFIED EVERYBODY. AND THEY SURVIVED. I ALSO WONDER, HOW MUCH OF THE COVERAGE--NOT JUST OF FATTY ARBUCKLE BUT OF HOLLYWOOD IN GENERAL--WAS SOMEWHAT MORALISTIC? THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF--MAYBE THE MEDIA WAS REFLECTING VIEWS INSIDE, OUTSIDE OF LOS ANGELES THAT HOLLYWOOD WAS BEHAVING IN AN AMORAL WAY AND THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF KIND OF PREACHING ABOUT HOW OUT OF CONTROL THIS TOWN WAS. WAS THAT A COMMON DENOMINATOR IN THE COVERAGE THROUGH THIS ERA? YES. THAT WAS PART OF THE COVERAGE. I DON'T THINK THAT THAT WAS THE TRUE REASON. I MEAN, I KNOW IT GOES DOWN TO ECONOMICS. AND...I THINK THAT... THE BOTTOM LINE IS THE DOLLAR. AND WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS THAT THESE CATHOLIC GROUPS IN PARTICULAR WIELDED A LOT OF POWER. AND THEY THREATENED ADVERTISING. AND THEY THREATENED THE STUDIOS WITH BOYCOTTING FILMS. AND IF YOU'RE GONNA BOYCOTT FILMS AND FILMS ARE NOT GONNA PLAY, WELL, YOU'RE NOT GONNA HAVE ADVERTISING IN NEWSPAPERS. SO, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO ECONOMIC FACTORS. I DON'T THINK THAT JOURNALISTS OR EDITORS IN PARTICULAR-- I CAN'T SPEAK FOR PUBLISHERS, BUT--THEY DIDN'T CARE WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S MORAL ISSUES OR NOT. I MEAN...IF THERE'S IMMORAL BEHAVIOR, THAT MAKES A GREAT STORY. [LAUGHTER] SO, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO IGNORE THAT? SO, REALLY, WHAT THEY FEARED WAS, IS JUST LOSING THE ADVERTISING REVENUE. DENNIS? WELL, I THINK IT'S SIGNIFICANT THAT STELLA THE STARGAZER DISAPPEARED FROM THE PAGES OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES AND...THE PREVIEW SECTION VANISHED SOMEWHERE IN THE EARLY 1920s...AND THAT THIS ALL HAPPENED JUST ABOUT AT THE TIME--WELL, RIGHT AFTER THE FATTY ARBUCKLE AND THE WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR SCANDALS--ALL OF THIS HAPPENED AT ABOUT THE TIME THAT...HARRY CHANDLER HELPED TO BRING WILL HAYS TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. IT WAS YET ANOTHER ONE OF HIS MANY...INNOVATIONS, OR HE INFLUENCED THE HAYS COMMISSION. ANYWAY...THE TIMES WAS NOT THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, BY A LONG SHOT. YOU KNOW, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF OTHER NEWSPAPERS, AND THEY ALL HAD A VOICE, AND THEY ALL HAD THEIR CONSTITUENCY. BODIE'S DAILY NEWS AND THE HOLLYWOOD CITIZEN-NEWS AROSE AROUND THAT TIME. AND THEN THE HEARST PAPERS-- THE HERALD EXPRESS AND THE EXAMINER. BUT I THINK THERE WAS THIS MORALISM THAT SORT OF DESCENDED ON THE MEDIA IN THE MID TO LATE TWENTIES... AND THAT IT HAPPENED NOT-- I MEAN, IT WAS NOT JUST A COINCIDENCE THAT IT HAPPENED AT THE SAME TIME THAT THE STUDIOS BEGAN TO TAKE AN INTEREST IN AND EXAMINE THE CONTENT OF THEIR PRODUCT. THE...CHANDLERS WERE CONGREGATIONALISTS...AND, YOU KNOW, NOT RABIDLY SO, I DON'T SUPPOSE. BUT THEY DID BRING TO BEAR THAT KIND OF SENSIBILITY TO THE PAGES OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. IT WAS SOBER. IT WAS A REPUBLICAN HOUSE ORGAN, ESSENTIALLY. AND...I THINK THAT THAT KIND OF MORALISM DID DESCEND INTO THE MEDIA IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA--NOT TOTALLY, BUT IN LARGE PART-- THROUGH THE PAGES OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES IN THE LATE TWENTIES AND THEN CERTAINLY ON INTO THE 1930s. I SUSPECT IT WAS ALSO THE CASE AT THE TIME THAT THE STUDIOS WOULD... COULD STRIKE BACK. IF THEY DIDN'T LIKE THE WAY THEIR STUDIO WAS GETTING COVERED, THEY COULD PULL THEIR ADVERTISING. AND THAT WAS ONE WAY IN WHICH YOU COULD BE PUNISHED FOR NOT KIND OF FALLING INTO STEP AND WRITING THE KINDS OF STORIES THAT THE STUDIOS WANTED YOU TO WRITE. I PROMISED AUDIENCE QUESTIONS. SO, I THINK WE CAN SEE. LET'S HAVE THEM--WE'LL MAKE THEM SHORT QUESTIONS, AND WE'LL TRY TO HAVE SHORT RESPONSES SO WE CAN DO AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. SO, WHY DON'T YOU STEP UP AND DIRECT YOUR QUESTION TO ONE OF THE PANELISTS? DENNIS--IS THIS ON? WE CAN HEAR YOU IF YOU-- ALL RIGHT. UM, DENNIS, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, I THINK IT'S APPROPRIATE THAT WE'RE HERE AT THE HUNTINGTON, BECAUSE HENRY HUNTINGTON WAS OUT OF THE CALIFORNIA CLUB, DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, WHICH WAS ADJACENT TO THE PACIFIC ELECTRIC BUILDING, RAN--AND THE CORRESPONDENCE I'VE SEEN HERE BETWEEN HIM AND CHANDLER WAS SO INCREDIBLE, THAT THEY WERE TALKING DURING THE BOMBINGS AND HOW TO HANDLE THIS. BUT HENRY HUNTINGTON LAID OUT 1,100 MILES OF TROLLEY CAR TRACKS ALL OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. AND THEN THE CHANDLERS, WITH THE SCARE TACTICS, BROUGHT--WE HIJACKED THE OWENS RIVER AND BROUGHT IT IN, BECAUSE THIS IS A DESERT. THIS--LOS ANGELES WOULD NOT BE BUILT--AND CHINATOWN, AS YOU MENTIONED, IS A HUGE PART OF LOS ANGELES, BECAUSE THIS IS A DESERT. AND THE POWERBROKERS THAT WERE BEHIND THIS--AND, OF COURSE, ALL THE GOOD OLD BOYS FROM THE CLUB, THE CALIFORNIA CLUB, WERE BUYING UP LAND IN THE VALLEY TO DEVELOP INTO ORCHARDS, 'CAUSE THEY KNEW WHERE THE WATER WAS COMING THROUGH. BUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED WITHOUT THE OWENS RIVER COMING IN HERE. THIS IS A DESERT. AND I WAS JUST WONDERING, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE HUNTINGTON...HIRED GIBSON, DUNN, & CRUTCHER, WHO WAS THEIR ORIGINAL--HIS LAW FIRM--WERE THE JUDGES HERE IN LOS ANGELES. AND THE POWERBROKERS THAT WERE BEHIND THESE PEOPLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT HERE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA--THAT SOME OF THE REAL POWERBROKERS WERE BEHIND THIS THAT WERE DIRECTING THINGS AS A GHOST HERE. I MEAN, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT'S RELEVANT? I MEAN, THIS IS A BIG PART OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-- OR LOS ANGELES, I SHOULD SAY. DENNIS? WELL, SURE. I MEAN, LOS ANGELES WAS BASED ON A LIE. AND IT--I MEAN, THAT PROBABLY DESCENDS TO THE PRESENT DAY. [LAUGHTER] LOS ANGELES ISN'T--YOU'RE QUITE CORRECT. LOS ANGELES IS A DESERT--NOT SPECIFICALLY A DESERT, NOT LOS ANGELES ITSELF--THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, DEFINITELY. LOS ANGELES-- IF YOU LOOK ON, YOU KNOW, A GEOGRAPHER'S, A PROFESSIONAL METEOROLOGIST'S EXAMINATION OF CLIMATES AROUND THE WORLD, LOS ANGELES HAS A--AT LEAST THE LOS ANGELES BASIN, ON THIS SIDE OF THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS--HAS A VERY UNIQUE KIND OF A CLIMATE, COMPARABLE TO THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN. THERE IS NO OTHER AREA IN THE WORLD LIKE THAT EXCEPT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. BUT THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT THE OWENS AQUEDUCT COMING IN-- WELL, SAN FERNANDO VALLEY WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. RIGHT. LET'S GO OVER HERE. LET'S KEEP THE QUESTIONS SHORT AND THE ANSWERS SHORT SO EVERYBODY CAN HAVE A CHANCE TO SPEAK. I'LL TRY TO KEEP THE QUESTION AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE. HEH HEH. I'M CURIOUS IF THE PANEL WOULD ADDRESS THE ROLE POLITICS IN THE MEDIA--I WAS HOPING TO ASK YESTERDAY THAT THE ROLE OF JOE KENNEDY AND WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST IN THE NOMINATION OF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT IN '32 AND THEN HOW HEARST IN HIS PRODUCTION OF THE FILM GABRIEL OVER THE WHITE HOUSE ATTEMPTED TO INFORM ROOSEVELT AS TO HOW TO HANDLE THE CRISIS OF THE DEPRESSION? HOW INTERESTING--I KNOW IT'S OUTSIDE THE FRAME OF THE TIME, BUT JOE KENNEDY WAS STAYING WITH MARION DAVIES IN 1960 HERE IN LOS ANGELES AS HIS SON WAS NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. WHO WANTS TO...TRY THAT ONE? [LAUGHTER] SOUNDS GOOD. HEH HEH HEH. I... WHAT'S THE QUESTION? YEAH. UM...I GUESS IT'S MORE OF A STATEMENT, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU-- YEAH. THIS IDEA OF THE ROLE OF MEDIA, OF POLITICS, OF ENTERTAINMENT, AND HOW WE HAVE BUNDLED IT AND HOW FAR BACK THAT GOES AND HOW--IN FACT, I THINK WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST MIGHT BE THE SEMINAL CHARACTER IN THE STORY, THAT...HE DIDN'T FIND POLITICS. HE SEEMS TO HAVE ALMOST BEEN BORN IN POLITICS. AND THEN HE FOUND HOLLYWOOD. HE BROUGHT, IN MANY WAYS, POLITICS TO HOLLYWOOD. OR ONE OF THE-- WELL, I...WOULD ARGUE THAT HEARST WAS ALWAYS A POLITICAL ACTOR. AND--BUT THAT HE WAS A POLITICAL ACTOR, NOT BECAUSE HE HAD THE STUDIOS AND USED THE STUDIOS FOR POLITICS. HE WAS A POLITICAL ACTOR, AND WHEN IT SUITED HIS POLITICAL AGENDA TO BRING IN THE STUDIOS, HE DID SO. BUT MY ARGUMENT WAS, THE STUDIOS IN THE HOLLYWOOD SYSTEM TENDED TO NOT BE CENTRAL POLITICAL ACTORS TILL THE E.P.I.C. CAMPAIGN, BECAUSE THEY MOBILIZED AS AN INSTITUTION, AS OPPOSED TO POWERBROKERS WHO HAPPENED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH HOLLYWOOD. AND HEARST WAS REALLY OBVIOUSLY THE KEY FIGURE IN RELATION TO THAT. SO, THERE ARE THESE--YOU KNOW, AND THAT TRADITION, OF COURSE, CONTINUED. YOU HAVE THE LEW WASSERMANS. SUBSEQUENTLY, YOU HAVE OTHERS WHO PLAY THAT KIND OF POWERBROKER ROLE. BUT AS AN ENTITY, AS A SET OF INSTITUTIONAL COMPONENTS THAT CONSTITUTE WHAT WE CONSIDER HOLLYWOOD, I THINK IT DEVELOPED AFTER AND THROUGH THE DEPRESSION INTO WHAT BECAME, FOR EXAMPLE, THE BLACKLIST, WHICH WAS REALLY AN INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE. LET'S TAKE A QUESTION IN HERE. GO AHEAD. THIS QUESTION IS FOR ROB. UM, I WONDER IF THE COMMENT THAT YOU MADE NEAR THE END OF YOUR PRESENTATION ABOUT THE STUDIOS COMPLYING WITH THE NEWSPAPERS WOULD ACCEPT...PARAMOUNT AS SOON AS THE ARBUCKLE ARREST TOOK PLACE. AND THE REASON WHY I ASKED THAT IS THAT PARAMOUNT DID TAKE A SERIOUS FINANCIAL HIT AFTER THAT ARREST. AND OBVIOUSLY, THE EXAMINER, HEARST EXAMINER, WAS NOT FAVORABLE. BUT THERE IS--AMPAS HAS THE REPLYING END OF A TELEGRAM EXCHANGE BETWEEN ZUKOR AND HEARST. AND THE GIST OF IT IS THAT HEARST WAS SAYING, "YES, I UNDERSTAND I CAN KILL YOU WITH OUR NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, AND I'LL TAKE A LOOK AND SEE WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU." AND SO, I'M WONDERING IF, AS FAR--PARAMOUNT DID NOT DO ANY COMPLYING WITH NEWSPAPERS, BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT HELPING HIM. THEY WERE WORKING TO DESTROY HIM. IS THAT FAVOR--OR... REASONABLE PRESENTATION? WELL, I THINK THAT THERE WAS COMPETING INTEREST, FINANCIAL INTEREST. I THINK THAT HEARST WAS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT CIRCULATION AND BUILDING CIRCULATION AT THAT TIME AND REALLY DIDN'T CARE WHAT PARAMOUNT'S PROBLEMS WERE OR WHAT... FATTY ARBUCKLE'S EMPLOYERS, WHAT PREDICAMENT THEY WERE IN. I DON'T THINK THAT WOULD-- I DIDN'T THINK THAT PLAYED IN. SO, YOU DON'T THINK THAT HEARST TONED IT DOWN SOME IN THE PAPERS TO NOT DO FURTHER DAMAGE TO PARAMOUNT? NO. I DON'T THINK--JUDGING FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, AND I'VE PROBABLY READ EVERY ARTICLE THAT THE EXAMINER'S EVER DONE-- THEY NEVER TONED IT DOWN. [LAUGHTER] THANKS. QUESTION OVER HERE. IT'S THEIR MISSION. THAT'S A GREAT PANEL-- I'D JUST LIKE TO ASK ABOUT SOME OF THE RIVAL SYNDICATES OF THE L.A. TIMES AND THE HEARST PRESS. 'CAUSE WHEN I WAS DOING RESEARCH FOR MY OWN BOOK, I WOULD READ A LOT ABOUT THE TRIBUNE AND THE McCORMICK PRESS, WHICH I GUESS WAS OUT OF CHICAGO. I THINK THEY OWNED THE DAILY NEWS AND THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE. BUT THEY SEEMED--I MEAN, IN READINGS I'VE DONE--THEY SEEMED TO TRY TO GET INVOLVED IN SOME HOLLYWOOD ISSUES. LIKE, THEY SEEMED TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST ONES TO TALK ABOUT A BLACKLIST EXTENDING TO HOLLYWOOD--"WELL, WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE COMMIES IN HOLLYWOOD," TRYING TO MAKE ROOSEVELT THE STALIN OF AMERICA, ET CETERA, LIKE THAT. I WAS WONDERING IF AT THE TIME, THERE WAS THAT MUCH OF A CONCERN ABOUT...THESE SORT OF RIVAL PRESS EMPIRES? WELL, IN...WHEN--A COMMON, UH, TARGET, WHICH UPTON SINCLAIR REPRESENTED, CAME TO THE FORE, THERE WAS REALLY--AS ROB POINTED OUT--THERE WAS REAL UNITY IN HOW THE PRESS OPERATED. SO, THERE WAS, OF COURSE, THAT VERY BITTER HISTORICAL RIVALRY BETWEEN HEARST AND THE CHANDLERS, BUT NOT IN THAT CASE. AND I THINK SUBSEQUENTLY ALSO AROUND THE BLACKLIST, THE SAME THING HAPPENED. ANYBODY ELSE WANT TO TALK-- ADDRESS THAT? WELL, I--I WILL SAY THIS. UH, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, McCORMICK WAS--HE WAS IN THE GENERAL OTIS TRADITION OF BEING SOMETHING OF A MEDIA FASCIST. I...AND IRONICALLY, AT ONE POINT, THE TRIBUNE IN THE LATE 1930s MADE A BID FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND HARRY CHANDLER GAVE IT SERIOUS CONSIDERATION, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN A REMARKABLE IRONY. THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, OF COURSE, DID SUCCEED IN ULTIMATELY BUYING THE LOS ANGELES TIMES MANY, MANY-- I WOULDN'T USE THE VERB "SUCCEED." [LAUGHTER] UM... BUT, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, McCORMICK DID REFLECT A NUMBER OF MANY OF THE SAME VALUES THAT THE FOUNDING FAMILY OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES HAD, IN TERMS OF--AND PROBABLY, IT WAS REFLECTED IN BOTH THE TRIBUNE AND THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DURING THE 1930s IN THEIR COVERAGE FROM AFAR OF THE TERRIBLE SCANDALS THAT WERE GOING ON IN HOLLYWOOD. I DON'T THINK THERE WAS ANYTHING LOCKSTEP IN TERMS OF THEIR ATTITUDE, BUT YEAH. I MEAN...THEY WERE OF THE SAME STRIPE. LET'S GO RIGHT HERE. UH, HELLO? UH, MY NAME IS DAVID EWING. I'M CURIOUS--I'VE HEARD A GOOD DEAL ABOUT THE SORT OF PARASITIC RELATIONSHIP OF THE PRESS TO HOLLYWOOD, BUT--AND HOLLYWOOD'S DEFENSIVENESS. BUT HOW DID THE SORT OF SYMBIOSIS DEVELOP WHERE HOLLYWOOD RECOGNIZED THE BENEFITS OF THIS KIND OF PRESS? I'M WONDERING IF-- WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THAT? WELL, UM... BETWEEN AN EMPIRE OF THEIR OWN AND DISNEY, NEIL GABLER, WHO I SAW HERE--AH, THERE HE IS-- AND WHO WAS ON THE PANEL YESTERDAY, WROTE A TERRIFIC BOOK--I DON'T THINK IT'S GOTTEN NEARLY THE ATTENTION THAT IT DESERVED--BASICALLY EXAMINING HOW NEWS OR THE NEWS BUSINESS IN THIS COUNTRY REALLY WAS, FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT. I MEAN, WE'VE BECOME HIGH-MINDED IN THE LAST 2 OR 3 GENERATIONS AND MAINTAINED THAT, YOU KNOW, JOURNALISM IS THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. [LAUGHTER] BUT ESSENTIALLY, YOU KNOW... YOU CAN GO TO THE NEWSEUM IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AND THEY'LL REFLECT THAT BILL OF RIGHTS KIND OF MENTALITY. BUT AS NEIL ACCURATELY POINTS OUT, YOU KNOW, IT STARTED OUT WAY BACK IN THE EARLY 1800s WHEN NEWSPAPERS WERE A PENNY A SHOT AND WHAT HAVE YOU, AND THE GREAT UNWASHED WENT OUT AND BOUGHT IT ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK AND BOSTON AND WASHINGTON. IT WAS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT. IT WAS ABOUT RAPE. IT WAS ABOUT MURDER. IT WAS ABOUT ALL THOSE REALLY COOL THINGS, YOU KNOW. AND IF WE HAD A LINDSAY LOHAN BACK IN 1850, I'M SURE THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THE FRONT PAGE OF WHATEVER NEWSPAPER HAPPENED TO BE PUBLISHED AT THE TIME. SO... I THINK THAT... YOU KNOW, THAT SYMBIOSIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE AND CONTINUES TO THIS DAY. IT'S NOT A SHOCK TO ME THAT--AND I'M NOT OUTRAGED BY THE FACT THAT...BRITNEY MAKES THE FRONT PAGE OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES OR MARIAH CAREY'S RECORDING CONTRACT MAKES THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES. BUT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN A PUBLIC APPETITE AND THE PRESS' WILLINGNESS TO PROVIDE THAT KIND OF MATERIAL. BUT WHAT I'M ASKING ABOUT IS, WHEN DID THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY--WHEN DID HOLLYWOOD REALIZE THE BENEFITS-- I THINK IT WAS VERY MUCH IN THIS ERA. I MEAN, WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THE GOSSIP COLUMNISTS AND, YOU KNOW, THE DETAILS OF PERSONAL LIVES THAT THEY WROTE ABOUT. BUT MOST OF THEIR STUFF WAS TOTALLY PROMOTIONAL-- YOU KNOW, WHAT WE WOULD CALL A POOLSIDE CHAT, A STAR PROFILE-- THAT HOPPER AND PARSONS AND WINCHELL, TO A LARGE DEGREE, WROTE FAVORABLE STORIES ABOUT ACTORS AND DIRECTORS AND THEIR NEW MOVIES. AND I THINK IT WAS-- THE SYMBIOSIS WAS THAT THE STUDIOS REALIZED THAT THOSE KINDS OF ARTICLES COULD SELL TICKETS, AND THE NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS REALIZED THAT THOSE KINDS OF ARTICLES COULD SELL NEWSPAPERS. MY STEP-GRANDMOTHER WAS A WOMAN NAMED VOLA VALE. AND SHE WAS WILLIAM S. HART'S LEADING LADY IN THE LATE 19-- I DON'T KNOW, 1917, 1918. SHE HAD A SHORT BUT BRILLIANT CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD. AND SHE USED TO TROD OUT HER SCRAPBOOKS IN THE 1950s AND 1960s, WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, AND SHOW ME THE CLIPS FROM THAT ERA. SHE...WAY BACK THEN, HOLLYWOOD RECOGNIZED THAT IF YOU PROMOTED A STAR AND IF YOU TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHERE SHE LIKED TO GO TO THE BEACH OR...THAT PEOPLE WOULD BUY PAPERS. AND...IT GOES BACK AT LEAST THAT FAR, I KNOW, FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. WE'VE GOT A BUNCH OF PEOPLE QUEUED UP AND RUNNING OUT OF TIME, SO LET'S KEEP GOING AND KEEP IT FAST. GO OVER TO HERE. OK. HAD A QUESTION MAINLY FOR MR. GOTTLIEB. MANY OF THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT BUSINESSES FORMED WERE USUALLY COALITIONS THAT WERE FORMED TO OFFSET POPULUS OR PROGRESSIVE REFORMS IN THE LATE 19th AND EARLY 20th CENTURIES. WHY WERE THE FILM STUDIOS NOT BROUGHT IN EARLIER WHEN THEIR OWN INTERESTS WERE THREATENED BY MANY OF THE THINGS THAT WERE BROUGHT UP BY PREVIOUS SPEAKERS ON THE PANEL? WHY WERE THEY BROUGHT IN SO LATE IN THE SINCLAIR CAMPAIGN? WELL, YOU KNOW... IT DEPENDS ON HOW YOU DEFINE "LATE." THE STUDIOS REALLY, AS A SIGNIFICANT ENTITY, DATE TO THE LATE TEENS, EARLY TWENTIES. SO, YOU'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT A 10-, 15-YEAR PERIOD BEFORE THAT EMERGED. AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS THAT LED TO THE KIND OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND DEFENSIVENESS OF THE STUDIOS WITHIN THOSE RELATIONSHIPS THAT THEY'VE HAD WITH...WHETHER IT WAS THE O'MELVENY & MYERS OR THE CHAMBER FOLKS OR THE MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION--THE OTHER ENTITIES THAT REALLY DETERMINE KIND OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA POLITICAL LANDSCAPE FROM ONE PERSPECTIVE. BUT BY THE RECOGNITION OF THAT ELITE OF THE POWER OF THE STUDIOS, THAT'S THE CHANGE. AND IT ACTUALLY TOOK ANOTHER, WHAT, 3, 4 DECADES BEFORE THAT KIND OF DEFENSIVENESS OF THE ROLE OF THE STUDIO HEADS AND HOW THEY, IN FACT, CONNECTED TO THIS OTHER POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ELITE WAS OVERCOME. YOU KNOW, YOU HAD THE FAMOUS HILLCREST COUNTRY CLUB CONSTELLATION OF STUDIO PEOPLE THAT WAS UNTIL MAYBE THE 1960s, AND 1970s WAS STILL SOMEWHAT MARGINAL...TO, IF YOU WILL, THE CALIFORNIA CLUB NEXUS. SO, IT'S A PROCESS THAT TOOK PLACE. BUT I THINK THAT FIRST STEP WAS THE RECOGNITION OF THE POWER-- THE POLITICAL POWER--OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY TO SHAPE POLITICAL AGENDAS. WE'RE GONNA MOVE HERE-- I'M GONNA MAKE ONE QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS WILL BE OUR LAST QUESTION FOR THE PANEL. BUT AS FAR AS I KNOW, THE PANEL DOES NOT HAVE TO RUN OUT THE DOOR. I WANT TO KEEP THE DAY ON SCHEDULE. SO, LET'S HAVE YOUR QUESTION, AND THEN THE PANEL WILL STICK AROUND. AND IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS FOR THEM, COME UP AFTER WE'VE WRAPPED UP. GO AHEAD. WELL, THIS IS A QUICK QUESTION FOR ROB WAGNER. YOU MENTIONED WILLIAM TAYLOR. AND I WANTED YOU TO COMMENT ON PARAMOUNT'S FEAR OF THE PUBLIC KNOWING THAT WILLIAM TAYLOR WAS GAY--THAT THEY CREATED THIS ENTIRE AFFAIR BETWEEN HIM AND MARY MILES MINTER. JUST-- IF YOU COULD-- AND HER MOTHER, I BELIEVE. AND HER--HA HA HA! CORRECT? WELL, IT WAS AN AFFAIR BETWEEN HIM AND HIS LEADING LADY. THAT'S WHAT THEY CREATED. WELL, I'M AWARE OF THE STORIES THAT PARAMOUNT TRIED TO COVER THAT UP OR TRIED TO CREATE THIS FANTASY, IF YOU WILL. BUT FRANKLY, I--I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S EVIDENCE THAT HE WAS GAY OR WHETHER OR NOT MARY MILES MINTER OR MABEL NORMAND WERE ACTUALLY... HIS LOVERS. YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST ALL UP FOR SPECULATION. BUT ALSO, I THINK IN THIS, YOU KNOW, LATER YEARS, THERE WAS A LOT OF COVERING UP OF ROCK HUDSON'S PERSONAL LIFE. I MEAN, I THINK AS THE COLUMNISTS WORKED, TOO, THEY WOULD HEAR ONE THING AND TRADE ANOTHER AND NOT PUBLISH THAT STORY IN EXCHANGE FOR SOME OTHER STORY. BILL, DO YOU NEED TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT, OR SHOULD WE GO TO BREAK? YOU CAN CLOSE IT-- I WANT TO THANK YOU GUYS FOR SOME GREAT QUESTIONS, AND I ESPECIALLY WANT TO THANK THE PANELISTS FOR SHOWING UP. [APPLAUSE]