Hedda Hopper was a famous gossip columnist who wielded power over Hollywood (as did her competitor Louella Parsons) for decades. Hopper was also an actress, in films from 1916. This 1960 NBS special took a look at old Hollywood and a group of young hopefuls and is a time capsule of a Hollywood long gone.
Among the legends of the silent screen, Hopper visits Harold Lloyd, Ramon Novarro, Janet Gaynor, Francis X. Bushman, and Ricardo Cortez. She also pays homage to Greta Garbo. She also visits Gary Cooper, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Debbie Reynolds, Walt Disney, Robert Cummings, Jimmy Stewart, King Vidor, Stephen Boyd, Anthony Perkins, John Cassavetes, Don Murray, and Hope Lange. 14-year-old Liza Minnelli sings a song.
Chief among the guests are Gloria Swanson, with whom Hopper appeared in SUNSET BOULEVARD in 1950, and Marion Davies, with whom Hopper appeared in ZANDER THE GREAT in 1925. This was Davies' first filmed appearance since she retired from the screen in 1937. She looks fabulous at age 63 but very frail. Davies died the following year. Hopper was lifelong friends with both of these film legends.
The existing footage on Youtube may be incomplete since stars like Joan Crawford, Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Bette Davis, Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Tuesday Weld, and Steve McQueen are also listed.
Certainly nothing earth-shaking, but this is a wistful look back at Hollywood when the stars lived in lavish mansion in Beverly Hills and Bel Air and had "beach houses" in Malibu. We get to see glimpses of Davies' and Lloyd's estates.
