Forgotten Hollywood

There are two answers! James Lott Jr guest hosts and explains.

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For Pride Month June 2026, James Lott JR guest stars. The film most often considered the first major film to feature an explicitly gay character/storyline is Different from the Others (Anders als die Andern), a 1919 German silent film. It starred Conrad Veidt as a gay violinist whose relationship with a male student leads to blackmail and tragedy. It was also made with sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld and is often called the first gay-rights film in history. For American/Hollywood film, it gets more complicated because gay characters were often coded for decades because of censorship. A major milestone is The Boys in the Band from 1970, one of the first mainstream American films to openly focus on gay male characters and gay life.

This is the debut of a mini episode called FH Mini Spotlight. For this one we are spotlighting Sydney Pollack (listen to Episode 439) and his time as an actor on the hit TV show Will and Grace for Gay Pride Month.

In this episode, I spoke with Patrick McGilligan who was one of the editors of the book "Sydney Pollack: Collected Interviews". Sydney Pollack was a true actor's director―a filmmaker who came up through the ranks, starting as a bit-part TV performer before turning to directing. From his debut feature The Slender Thread (1965) to his final film, The Interpreter (2005), Pollack built a reputation for intelligent, emotionally resonant storytelling.

In this episode, Warren Croom joins me for a conversation with Cindy Mitchum, daughter of John Mitchum and niece of Robert Mitchum. We also speak with Joe Cornett, who is developing a limited series about the two Mitchum brothers.

In this episode, I spoke with author Marilyn S. Greenwald about her book "Jane Fonda: There's a Great Deal to Say". Since the late 1960s, Jane Fonda has identified as an activist first and an actor second, using her celebrity as a vehicle to convey her views and her advocacy. Few stars of her stature have been as simultaneously acclaimed and vilified as Fonda.

In this episode I spoke with authors Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin Jr. about their book "The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai". The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai is an accessible collection that explores the cultural, industrial, and historical impact of that beloved American sitcom. Edited by Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin, Jr., this anthology brings together a diverse range of voices that model different media studies approach to researching and critically analyzing television texts.

In this epiosde, I spoke with Andrew Lampert about his book "Jackie Gleason: Library of the Paranormal". "I want to make hypnotic therapy and psychology my livelihood when I get out of this racket…And I'm going to spend as much time as possible investigating psychic phenomena." ―Jackie Gleason, Parade, 1952

In this episode, I spoke with author Samuel Garza Bernstein about his latest book "Roddy McDowall: An Actor's Life". As one of the very few naturally gifted child actors who graduated into adult roles with relative ease, Roddy McDowall exuded charm throughout a glorious Hollywood run that included film, television, and Broadway. John Ford’s 1941 classic How Green Was My Valley put Roddy on the map at 12-years-old. It won Best Picture over Citizen Kane and is Clint Eastwood’s favorite film of all time. But Roddy’s biggest claim to fame was yet to come.