From Goodreads:
William Mann's Behind the Screen is a thoughtful and eye-opening look at the totality of the gay experience in studio-era Hollywood. Much has been written about how gays have been portrayed in the movies but no book -- until now -- has looked at their influence behind the screen. Whether out of or in the closet, gays and lesbians have from the very beginning played a significant role in shaping Hollywood. Gay actors were among the earliest matinee idols and gay directors have long been among the most popular and commercially successful filmmakers. In fact, gay set and costume designers created the very look of Hollywood.With this landmark book, Mann fills a void in the Hollywood history archives. Written in the tradition of Neal Gabler's An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood and based on hundreds of hours of interviews with survivors of this golden age, Behind the Screen is destined to become a classic of film literature.
- ISBN10 0142001147
- ISBN13 9780142001141
- Publish Date 29 October 2002 (first published 15 October 2001)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 5 March 2013
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc
- Imprint The Penguin Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 448
- Language English