Review: Hollywood Whispers by Eileen Cope

Synopsis: In the 1920s, the birth of the star system in Hollywood transformed young men and women from obscure shadows into radiant constellations. The name of the game was glamour, and it was played with a fervor that eclipsed the boundaries of reality. Behind the scenes, puppeteers called studios orchestrated romances, maintained facades, and spun illusions as delicate as a spider's silk. 

This carefully curated dreamscape was ripe for journalists with an attitude to expose its hypocrisy, scandals, and hidden debauchery, and two of them led the way with a combined following of 75 million Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. Their rivalry was the stuff of legend, a clash of titans that resonated far beyond the Hollywood Hills. The studios, aware of the power these women held, courted them with gifts and flattery, encouraging a rivalry that fueled the gossip mills and kept the public hungry for more. Late-night visits, clandestine whispers, and veiled threats—the tools of their trade were as potent as the potions in a sorcerer's arsenal.

Hollywood Whispers delves into the lives and intertwined destinies of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. Their columns were not just ink on paper; they were the architects of dreams and the harbingers of doom. Through scandal and spectacle, laughter and tears, they etched their indelible marks on the silver screen's most glamorous era, leaving a legacy as enduring as the Hollywood sign against the California sky. Welcome to a world where gossip was golden, and two women held the keys to the kingdom. As columnist Liz Smith has written, "The studios created both of them. And they thought they could control both of them. But they became Frankenstein monsters escaped from the labs.”

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I love reading about "old Hollywood" - the stars, the scandals, the stories. So it was with some anticipation that I settled down with this tome on two of the biggest (and oft most feared) influencers of the their time - Hopper & Parsons. When talking about the gossip mills of old Holywood, you cannot mention one without the other.

Cope wants to provide the reader with some background on the birth of Hollywood and the emergence of the two women, moving to their activity and influence before touching on their inevitable downfall. Hopper and Parsons made a career of transforming curiosity into currency and currency into control. Louella portrayed herself as the maternal voice of reason, but could be ruthless and sanctimonious; Hedda was sharp, strong, theatrical, a moral crusader. When stars were a valuable and profitable commodity, image and public opinion, and control of information was the gateway to success. Gossip was power not entertainment.

Cope then draws our attention to their public feud and rivalry, how each worked the system, who supported them and their audience, before touching on some prominent examples of defiance in the face of bad publicity. When stars rebelled against the system and failed to respond to the public sermons, the public no longer appeared guillable, and they themselves were treated with casual indifference rather than regard, the power that Louella and Hedda once held dwindled until they were but mere memories of what once was.

Those will a keen interest in this period will enjoy this immensely; for others, it will be a trite tedious in some parts. I myself, enjoyed this look back in time when two women built a culture of celebrity but lost it all when technology opened up their arena to one and all.