Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood-2018
Director Matt Tyrnauer
Starring Scotty Bowers
Scott’s Review #1,048
Reviewed August 3, 2020
Grade: B+
Based on the scandalous 2012 tell-all novel Full Service, a clever play on words about the fetishist subject matter, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018) is a juicy, entertaining documentary about one man’s experiences managing the deepest and darkest secrets of Hollywood’s glamorous A-list stars.
The documentary is gossipy and dripping with saucy details. It is also a titillating affair, grabbing the viewers’ attention and leaving them wondering who did what with whom.
Any audience member who doesn’t desire to learn the sexual appetites of greats like Katharine Hepburn and Carey Grant is either lying or repressing themselves.
Scotty Bowers, who served as an unpaid pimp from the 1940s through the 1980s is today a spry ninety-something-year-old who gets around like a man in his seventy’s and even climbs a ladder now and then (carefully!).
He served in the United States Marines during World War II and decided to go to Hollywood directly after, landing a job at a gas station and eventually owning it. He and closeted military friends became confidantes and aids to stars preferring same-sex entanglements.
Scotty, clearly either bi-sexual or “gay for pay” is now married to a woman.
Before viewers pass judgment and think of Scotty as merely a pervert or sexual deviant looking for favor with the stars, a closer examination reveals the heroism of a man such as Scotty.
Without him, many stars and their sexual conquests would have had no outlet to express themselves or their sexuality. While hidden and contained, they were allowed some brief freedom to be themselves and explore desires otherwise left unfulfilled, leading to further depression, drug use, or suicide.
Closeted gays had to endure enough as it was.
The project director, Matt Tyrnauer, wisely segments the Hollywood portions of the documentary into two sections: the then and the now. He explains how different the industry was in the 1940s, when a scandal or an outing could have ruined a star’s career.
While those in the scene were “in the know” and cavalier about the tastes of a Hepburn or a Grant, the small-town public would have cast stones.
Now, as shown, things are very different, and a bevy of entertainers are out and proud. As Scotty, yes, still working at ninety years old, makes appearances at book signings and meet-and-greets, he occasionally skirmishes with an upset fan who feels Scotty’s revelations will hurt the star’s surviving family members.
I feel that truth is truth, and I have no issues with the stories or doubt that the secrets Scotty spills are actual.
The personal side of Scotty is left murky. He is an admitted opportunist, but his true motivations are unclear. He is a humorous man who laughs at his wisecracks, fondly driving down memory lane with former hustlers.
His wife adores him but prefers not to read his book or pay much attention to his life before he met her since he never admitted this side of himself. Some tension exists between the pair, but is it merely bickering or unresolved tension bubbling beneath the surface?
The documentary lags slightly when it spends too much time and energy on Scotty’s hoarding obsession. He owns a house filled with stuff collected over the years, leaving it uninhabitable.
After a couple of separate incidents related to this issue, I thought, “Who cares?” as it deviated too far from the delicious topic at hand.
As of July 2020, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018), the documentary, has been purchased to be developed into a feature film based on Bowers’s life. Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, 2017) has been hired to direct.
An acclaimed director familiar with telling a truthful and poignant LGBTQ story will assuredly do wonders to bring honesty and delight to the silver screen.
One can hardly wait.
