Film explores secrets behind Hollywood
The story in “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” that most surprises people concerns Katharine Hepburn and by extension Spencer Tracy, says director Matt Tyrnauer.
“The Hepburn-Tracy relationship is one of great iconic myths of Hollywood, and Hepburn spun that myth after Tracy’s death, and worked very hard to build it up,” Tyrnauer said. “It was sold to the public as a great romance of the 20th century. It mirrored what you saw on the screen. To hear that wasn’t exactly the story that you were led to believe, I think people find it disturbing.”
The documentary explains how Scotty Bowers, a Marine who had served in World War II, procured same-sex partners for Hollywood stars, including Hepburn, Tracy, Cary Grant, Rock Hudson and Charles Laughton. The movie plays the Florida Film Festival today and Sunday. (Details: enzian.org.)
Tyrnauer started his movie before Bowers published a memoir, “Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars,” with writer Gore Vidal’s help. Bowers, who is now 94, explained how he set up people out of a gas station. Vanity Fair dubbed him “classic Hollywood’s favorite pimp.”
His detailed reminiscences check out, says Tyrnauer, who has written for Vanity Fair. “He has a memory that’s almost photographic,” he added. Bowers also shared revelations about Cole Porter, J. Edgar Hoover and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
To those outraged by Bowers, Tyrnauer cites his star. “I think Scotty’s response in the film is the best: ‘What’s wrong with being gay?’ ”
Tyrnauer says Bowers enhances our knowledge of people who are names for the ages. Bowers also talks of his sexual flings with Bette Davis, Ava Gardner and Lana Turner.
“When you ask him what he is, he says I’m everything,” the director said. “Part of that everything was a robust sex life with other men at a time that was a dangerous thing to be doing for a guy. He had two wives and many relationships with women. Probably when push comes to shove, he prefers women over men.”
What was his appeal? “What I’ve been told, he was not just good at sex, he was great at sex,” Tyrnauer said. “He was a very empathetic lover and very generous and considerate.”
In the movie, Bowers says he likes to make people happy. “I think that’s kind of the key to him. He’s a compulsive pleaser of people,” Tyrnauer said.
The movie, which weaves in several tragic stories, reveals that Bowers is a hoarder. With the AIDS crisis, he scaled back his operation. “He had to run a smaller and more careful sex ring,” Tyrnauer said.
“He was a flouter of convention and a nonconformist,” he added. “We’re not talking about someone who was doing this in Lincoln, Neb. We’re talking about someone who was doing this in Hollywood, which was creating the image of America for America but the rest of the world. He was dealing with the people who were behind that image as the creators of it. They were creating an image that was a lie, and a hypocritical lie sometimes. He’s the last of the lives that can actually supply us with this counternarrative.”