Film history – “What Price Hollywood?” (University Press of Kentucky, 2020) – Elyce Helford interview
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Dr. Elyce Helford has spent years, studying, writing on, and teaching popular culture. She’s studied and written about anime, Octavia Butler and now most recently on the director George Cukor. She talks about the queer and gender-bending aspects of this early director’s work.
0:42 – Elyce talks about how she got into studying George Cukor.
4:53 – Elyce talks about how actresses felt like they good trust Cukor. She also talks about the homophobic actors who didn’t want to work with Cukor.
8:57 – We talk about how Hollywood prizes success and money and how Cukor dealt with the studios.
12:20 – Elyce talks about how few close friends Cukor had in Hollywood.
13:58 – Elyce talks about how the big Hollywood moguls were Eastern European Jewish. However Cukor was Jewish but his roots were in Western Europe.
16:29 – Elyce talks about his lack of influence on other directors despite his huge success.
20:49 – Elyce talks about Cukor’s stage experience and voice coach work.
22:14 – Elyce talks about how Cukor adapted to Hollywood.
27:17 – Elyce talks about Cukor’s dating life.
29:41 – Elyce talks about whether Cukor could have pushed boundaries in Hollywood.
36:05 – Elyce talks about whether Cukor had the power to push boundaries.
40:09 – Elyce talks about how she gathered information on Cukor.
49:38 – Elyce talks about Cukor’s output as a director.
52:24 – Elyce talks about whether Cukor might have identified as a woman.
56:23 – Elyce talks about how surprising it was to find so much to write about this subject.
1:00:00 – Elyce talks about the various subjects she’s studied including manga and anime.
1:03:10 – Elyce talks about trying to avoid Cukor’s answers on his own personality.
1:05:16 – Elyce discusses the importance of what the creator was intending to produce versus wht the viewer interprets.
1:06:47 – Elyce talks about having had breast cancer and turning to digital art for a time.
1:19:53 – Elyce talks about the past use of ethnicity as mysterious and dangerous.
1:21:44 – Elyce can be found at elycehelford.com and on twitter @elycehelford
Links of interest
https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813179292/what-price-hollywood/
https://twitter.com/elycehelford
For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast
Guests: Elyce Rae Helford
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: Philadelphia Story, George Cukor, Katherine Hepburn, bisexuality, homosexuality, drag, Octavia Butler, gender, homophobia, Jewish, Gone With The Wind, Billy Wilder, long take, Hitchcock, theater, HUAC, censorship, women’s director, noir, queer, trans, Judy Garland, Wizard of Oz, Hitchcock, gaslighting, academy award, Othello, lavender marriage, musicals, Star Trek, digital art, classic Hollywood, directing
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