In “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” is a documentary that goes into, lightly, a little about the Gay World that existed among movie stars at the big studios back in the 1040s and 1950s.

It will mainly serve as nostalgia for men over 50 who were ‘out’ and could understand what life was like back then. It was also bring back memories to those who remember when the “Confidential” newspaper/magazine outed Hollywood stars or the book “Hollywood Babylon” scandalized the ‘flyover States’ and was banned shortly after being published in the 1960s.

The stories also brought back memories for this writer of when he lived in Hollywood, Laguna Beach, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills who, as a Marine at 19 went to a couple of the George Cukor Sunday brunches, saw and met a few stars there but has nothing solicitous to report as I didn’t go into the house but hung around the pool.

I didn’t meet Scotty Bowers who wrote the book the title of the movie is based on but from seeing the man today you wonder how much is true, how much is exaggerated and how much is outright lies. He claims to have never made a dime from the connections he made, that he wasn’t a pimp and yet he seems to have done quite financially after he stopped working at the gas station where it all started. Though he bartended some of the parties where he introduced some of the ‘boy and girls’ and saved enough money to buy a home, it still doesn’t explain the $900,000 he was left or the three houses he has.

Some of the ‘tricks’ are still around plus many of the old-timers talk about what a nice guy he was and is and yet the persona of the man doesn’t match up with the photos and the man he says he was. There also no mention of what may be the cause for his being a mass hoarder in his 3 homes, so much so he and his wife can’t seem to walk through the homes.

Though “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” may offer some news to a few people, shock a few others and some people may shake their head because everyone he talks about is dead like Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, etc.

The bottom line is the movie is a curiosity more than a good or informative documentary.

P.S. I don’t remember ever seeing a skunk---not human, but animal—in the Laurel Canyon Drive, above the Sunset Boulevard area.

Movie trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qn6HxTJp0k