Hollywood Left and Right

Ever since the film industry relocated to Hollywood early in the twentieth century it has had an outsized influence on American politics. Through a series of gripping chapters on larger-than-life figures in American cinema--Charlie Chaplin Louis Mayer Edward G. Robinson Harry Belafonte Ronald Reagan George Murphy Jane Fonda Charlton Heston Warren Beatty and Arnold Schwarzenegger--Hollywood Left and Right tells the compelling story of how Hollywood emerged as a vital center of American politics. From Chaplin whose movies almost always displayed his leftist convictions to Schwarznegger''s nearly seamless transition from action blockbusters to the California governor''s mansion Steve Ross traces the intersection of Hollywood and political activism through the twentieth century and into the 21st. Significantly Hollywood Left and Right challenges the commonly held belief that Hollywood is a bastion of liberalism. The real story as Ross shows in this passionate yet highly entertaining work is a far more complicated one. The Left and the Right each gained ascendancy in Tinseltown at different times but while the Hollywood Left was usually more vocal and visible it was the Right that achieved the most capturing a Senate seat (Murphy) a governorship (Schwarzenegger) and--ultimately--the Presidency (Reagan).