If you’re a fan of classic movies, you might recall the iconic scene from The Wizard of Oz where snow gently falls over Dorothy in a poppy field. Surprisingly, the snow used in this scene was made from asbestos, a material known today to be harmful. This was a common practice in filmmaking until the late 1940s. In fact, around 1,000 pounds of asbestos were used to create snowy scenes in films like the 1936 movie The Country Doctor and the 1942 musical Holiday Inn starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.
Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss, and welcome to the List Show. Today, we’re diving into some fascinating and occasionally scandalous facts about old Hollywood. From the Vatican’s investigation of Shirley Temple to the bizarre tale of John Barrymore’s friends allegedly taking his body from the morgue, let’s explore these intriguing stories.
Southern California’s sunny weather and vast open spaces made it an ideal location for the burgeoning film industry in the early 20th century. It was also conveniently far from Thomas Edison, who had established the first film production studio in New Jersey in the 1890s. Edison held numerous patents related to filmmaking, and in 1908, he formed the Motion Picture Patents Company, creating a monopoly that made it difficult for independent filmmakers to operate without fear of legal action. The distance from Edison’s influence and the more lenient West Coast judges encouraged filmmakers to migrate to California.
In 1923, the iconic Hollywood sign was erected on Mount Lee, not to promote the film industry but to advertise a luxury housing development called Hollywoodland. The sign, originally illuminated with 4,000 light bulbs, fell into disrepair by the 1940s. Instead of removing it, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce saw an opportunity and transformed it into a symbol of the entertainment industry by removing the last four letters.
By the 1930s, labor unions had emerged to protect the rights of stage workers. In 1934, an official studio zone was established, defining local shoots within a six-mile radius. If filming occurred outside this zone, studios were required to provide essentials like food and transportation for workers. This radius expanded to 30 miles in 1970, giving rise to the term “30-mile zone,” which inspired the name of the internet tabloid TMZ.
Shirley Temple, famous for films like Baby Take a Bow and Wee Willie Winkie, faced skepticism about her age due to her mature talent and the absence of missing baby teeth on screen. A rumor spread in Europe that she was an adult with dwarfism, prompting the Vatican’s newspaper to investigate. Father Silvio Masante confirmed she was indeed a child after a thorough examination. Filmmakers used various methods, including temporary dentures, to fill gaps in her teeth.
Temple also experienced a harsh disciplinary method known as the “black box.” During the early 1930s, she starred in Baby Burlesques, where child actors parodied adult films. Misbehaving children were confined in a cramped sound box with an ice block for seating. Temple later reflected on this experience in her memoir, Child Star, noting that it taught her the value of time and money.
Filmmakers often used unconventional methods to elicit emotional performances from child actors. Margaret O’Brien, who starred in Meet Me in St. Louis, was encouraged to cry by competing with fellow actress June Allyson. In contrast, Jackie Cooper, while filming Skippy, was told his dog would be taken away and heard a gunshot, leading to genuine tears.
Adults on set faced their own challenges. Tippi Hedren, during the filming of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, endured real birds being thrown at her for five days. The experience was so intense that a doctor intervened to give her a week off. Despite the ordeal, Hedren and Hitchcock collaborated again on Marnie, where she faced further difficulties, including harassment from Hitchcock.
Joan Crawford and Bette Davis were known for their legendary feud, which began in 1933 when Davis’ film Ex-Lady was overshadowed by Crawford’s divorce announcement. Their rivalry continued for decades, culminating in their collaboration on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, where tensions ran high on set.
Before becoming Joan Crawford, she was Lucille Fay Lasser. MGM held a public contest to choose her stage name, initially selecting Joan Arden. However, due to a potential double payout, they settled on Joan Crawford, a name she initially disliked.
The Rat Pack, a group of entertainers including Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, got its name from Lauren Bacall, who commented on their wild behavior in Las Vegas. During the era of the Motion Picture Production Code, which lasted from the 1930s to the mid-1960s, films adhered to strict guidelines, including limits on kissing scenes.
Hollywood’s history is filled with legends, such as the tale of John Barrymore’s friends allegedly taking his body from the morgue. While some, like Errol Flynn, claimed it happened, others, including Barrymore’s granddaughter Drew, have different accounts. The truth remains a mystery, adding to the allure of Hollywood’s golden age.
Our next episode will explore the history of vaccines. If you have any interesting facts about vaccination, share them in the comments for a chance to be featured in the video. See you then!
Investigate the historical use of asbestos in film production, focusing on its implications for health and safety. Prepare a presentation that outlines the reasons for its use, the transition away from asbestos, and the impact on industry standards. Share your findings with the class and discuss how modern safety regulations have evolved.
Form two groups to debate the ethical considerations of using child actors in early Hollywood, referencing Shirley Temple and other child stars. Consider the methods used to elicit performances and the long-term effects on the actors. Use historical examples to support your arguments and engage in a respectful discussion about the balance between art and ethics.
Write a short story or diary entry from the perspective of an actor working in 1930s Hollywood. Incorporate historical facts from the article, such as the influence of the Motion Picture Production Code or the challenges faced by actors like Tippi Hedren. Share your piece with classmates and discuss how historical context influences creative expression.
Analyze a classic film from the 1930s or 1940s, focusing on how labor practices and unionization might have influenced its production. Consider the “studio zone” and other labor-related aspects mentioned in the article. Present your analysis to the class, highlighting how these factors shaped the film industry.
Engage in a role-playing activity where you assume the roles of early independent filmmakers, studio executives, and legal representatives from the Motion Picture Patents Company. Simulate a negotiation or legal battle over filmmaking rights and patents, drawing on the historical context provided in the article. Reflect on how these legal challenges shaped the film industry.
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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If you’re a movie lover, you can probably picture the scene from *The Wizard of Oz* where a blanket of snow falls over Dorothy lying in a poppy field. But did you know that the snow dumped on Dorothy and her friends was actually made from asbestos? This carcinogenic material was a common substitute for snowflakes in filmmaking until shortly after World War II. A staggering 1,000 pounds of the toxic material brought the snowy landscapes of Quebec to life in 1936 as the country doctor. It was also used in the 1942 musical *Holiday Inn* starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.
Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss, and welcome to the List Show. Cancer-causing faux snow is the first of many fascinating and sometimes scandalous facts about old Hollywood that I’m going to share with you today. From the time the Vatican’s newspaper investigated Shirley Temple to the time John Barrymore’s friends allegedly smuggled his corpse from the morgue, let’s get started.
Southern California’s pleasant weather and wide open spaces made it an ideal location for the film industry to set up shop in the early 20th century. It was also about as far as you could get from Thomas Edison. After building the world’s first film production studio in New Jersey in the early 1890s, Edison churned out patented adventures related to making and showing movies. Then, in 1908, he spearheaded the creation of the Motion Picture Patents Company, an East Coast association where all the major patent holders in the film industry pooled their resources. It was essentially a monopoly, and aspiring filmmakers could hardly lift a finger without fearing a lawsuit for patent infringement. It was harder to enforce patent laws over such a great distance, and West Coast judges were also less amenable to Edison and his cohorts.
Sure enough, filmmakers started migrating to Southern California. In 1923, the Hollywood sign was erected on Mount Lee, but not to promote Hollywood. That year, Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler built a luxury housing development called Hollywoodland to publicize it. He fashioned a 43-foot-tall sign that spelled out its name, illuminated with some 4,000 light bulbs. The sign had fallen into disrepair by the 1940s, and the “H” wasn’t even upright anymore. But instead of tearing it down, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce saw an opportunity, making a deal with the city of Los Angeles. They removed the last four letters, patched up the Hollywood part, and gave it a new life as a welcome sign of sorts for the city itself and the glamorous world of entertainment it had come to represent.
By that time, labor unions had already popped up to protect stage workers’ rights, and in 1934, an official studio zone was established. If studios filmed inside that circle, it was considered a local shoot, and workers—mostly extras—were on their own for basics like food and transportation. If workers had to show up for a shoot outside the zone, on the other hand, the studio had to provide those things. In 1970, the circle’s radius was expanded from 6 to 30 miles, generating a new nickname: the 30-mile zone. That’s where the internet tabloid TMZ got its name.
If TMZ had existed in the 1930s, there’s a good chance it would have covered this next story: Shirley Temple gained fame for films like *Baby Take a Bow* and *Wee Willy Winky*. Some people grew skeptical that such a mature and talented child could even exist. They also found it suspicious that she was never seen on screen with missing baby teeth. A rumor spread across Europe that Temple was actually an adult with dwarfism. For some reason, the Vatican’s newspaper saw fit to investigate the matter and sent Father Silvio Masante to pay Temple a visit. After a thorough quizzing, which included going through a book of old master paintings, he was satisfied that she was actually a child. As for the case of the missing baby teeth, filmmakers had filled the holes with any number of items deemed camera-ready, including temporary dentures.
Shirley Temple also experienced a method of keeping child actors in line that would definitely be illegal today: the “black box.” In the early 1930s, she and a couple dozen other kids starred in *Baby Burlesques*, in which the child actors would parody scenes from adult movies. If Temple or any of the other pint-sized stars misbehaved, they would be shut into a cramped sound box cooled by a big ice block, which also happened to be the only place to sit. As Temple later wrote in her memoir, *Child Star*, “So far as I can tell, the black box did no lasting damage to my psyche; its lesson of life, however, was profound and unforgettable: time is money. Wasted time means wasted money, which means trouble.”
The adults on film sets also adopted unconventional methods in making child actors cry in emotional scenes. For Margaret O’Brien, who played the little sister of Judy Garland’s character in *Meet Me in St. Louis*, competition was key. O’Brien recounted in 2014 that she and June Allyson were in competition as the best criers on the MGM lot. When she was having trouble crying, her mother suggested having the makeup man put false tears on her face, but June was such a great actress that she always cried real tears, and then O’Brien started crying.
That motherly manipulation was positively kind compared to what Jackie Cooper endured while filming 1931’s *Skippy*. To elicit tears from the eight-year-old actor, director Norman Taurog told Cooper his dog would be taken to the pound and then had someone fire a gun in the distance so Cooper would think his dog got shot. Cooper later recalled the incident in his autobiography, saying he began sobbing so hysterically that it was almost too much for the scene.
In short, things weren’t always great for kids on set or for adults. One example: Tippi Hedren didn’t exactly have to fake her fear during the climactic avian attack in Alfred Hitchcock’s *The Birds*. They were real birds. For five days, bird handlers literally threw ravens, doves, and pigeons right at Hedren. At one point, they even tied some to her outfit. The birds pecked at her incessantly, and the experience was so harrowing that a doctor had to coerce Hitchcock into giving her a week off to recover. Cary Grant, who witnessed part of the shoot, told Hedren she was the bravest woman he’d ever seen. Hitchcock and Hedren worked together again for the 1964 thriller *Marnie*, and for Hedren, the shoot was even more harrowing. In her 2016 memoir, she revealed that Hitchcock had assaulted her on set and threatened to ruin her career when she resisted—an ugly but unfortunately far from isolated moment in Hollywood history.
If Joan Crawford and Bette Davis’ top claim to fame was for acting, their second was for hating each other. Their feud was so legendary that it inspired a TV show in 2017 starring Jessica Lange as Crawford and Susan Sarandon as Davis. The beef allegedly began in 1933 when the release of Davis’ movie *Ex-Lady* was eclipsed by the news that Crawford was divorcing Douglas Fairbanks Jr. To add insult to injury, Crawford’s next husband was actor Franchot Tone, whom Davis was in love with. More than 50 years later, Davis said, “I have never forgiven her for that and never will.” The two stars continued sliding each other off-screen until the early 1960s when they finally got a chance to duke it out on the same set. Both starred in the 1962 thriller *What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?* While filming a scene where Davis’ character attacks Crawford, Davis clocked her rival in the head with a little too much gusto. In a later scene, when Davis had to drag Crawford’s limp body around, Crawford purposely botched takes and may have even weighed down her costume to make it harder on Davis. When Crawford died in 1977, Davis is said to have quipped, “You should never say bad things about the dead; you should only say good. Joan Crawford is dead.”
Long before Joan Crawford became Joan Crawford, she was Lucille Fay Lasser. Studios didn’t exactly downplay that they made Hollywood hopefuls adopt stage names, but in Crawford’s case, MGM literally ran a public contest promising a cash prize to whoever submitted the winning name. Joan Arden was the first choice, but as the official story goes, another actress already went by that name, and MGM settled on Joan Crawford. Though the name eventually grew on her, Crawford initially hated how much it sounded like “crawfish.” Film historian Janine Basinger actually pointed to a different reason for MGM to avoid Joan Arden: apparently, two separate people had submitted the name to the studio, meaning MGM would have been on the hook for two separate $1,000 prizes. Crawford, for her part, was apparently never disabused of the potentially dishonest story behind her stage name.
Other monikers arose more organically, like the Rat Pack. According to Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall’s son Steven, his mother coined the phrase when Bogart and friends were having an especially debauched week in Las Vegas, and Bacall said, “You look like a goddamn rat pack these days.” The Rat Pack generally refers to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop, but Sinatra was the only member who’d been there from the beginning. At its inception, the Rat Pack comprised Sinatra, Bogart, Judy Garland, and David Niven, along with some other pals. Bogart and Bacall starred in four movies together during the 1940s, but they never kissed on screen for longer than a few seconds. In fact, nobody kissed on screen for longer than a few seconds during that era. From the 1930s through the mid-1960s, Hollywood followed the Motion Picture Production Code, which banned, among other things, excessive and lustful kissing, though it didn’t specify a time limit. Three seconds was the unofficial standard, so if you’re ever watching a Golden Age classic and wondering why the romantic leads keep pausing to walk and/or talk between kisses, that’s why.
For every proven story from Tinseltown’s 20th-century heyday, there’s a plethora of legends that we’ll probably never know the truth about. Here’s one of the wildest ones: after John Barrymore died in 1942, his friends supposedly stole his corpse from the morgue and brought it back to Errol Flynn’s house. According to Flynn’s ghostwritten memoir, *My Wicked Wicked Ways*, he came home to find Barrymore propped up in Flynn’s favorite chair. He looked puffed, white, and bloodless; they hadn’t embalmed him yet. Flynn let out a delirious scream. Director Raoul Walsh, who was behind the prank, largely corroborated Flynn’s account in his 1972 memoir, *Each Man in His Time*. John Barrymore’s granddaughter, Drew Barrymore, even confirmed the story during an appearance on *Hot Ones* in 2020. But Gene Fowler’s son always told a different story. According to Fowler, he and his father spent the whole night with Barrymore’s corpse in the morgue, and it never left their sight. Gregory William Mank, author of *Hollywood’s Hellfire Club: The Misadventures of John Barrymore, W.C. Fields, Errol Flynn, and the Bundy Drive Boys*, thinks Flynn probably made it all up and Walsh went along with it for fun. As Mank told Mental Floss in 2020, Flynn worshipped Barrymore and created this wacky corpse-swiping saga to give his idol a resurrection of sorts—temporary though it was.
Our next episode is all about vaccines. If you have a fun fact about the history of vaccination, drop it in the comments for a chance to be featured in that video. We’ll see you then!
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This version removes any potentially sensitive or inappropriate content while maintaining the overall narrative and facts presented in the original transcript.
Hollywood – A district in Los Angeles, California, known as the historical center of movie studios and film stars. – Hollywood has been the epicenter of the American film industry since the early 20th century, shaping global entertainment culture.
Filmmaking – The process of making a film, from the initial story idea through scriptwriting, shooting, editing, and distribution. – The evolution of digital technology has significantly transformed the art and science of filmmaking in the 21st century.
Labor – Work, especially physical work, done by people; in the context of performing arts, it often refers to the efforts of those behind the scenes. – The labor of countless crew members is essential to the success of any theatrical production or film.
Actors – Individuals who perform roles in plays, movies, or television shows, bringing characters to life through their performances. – Many actors spend years honing their craft in theater before transitioning to film or television.
Emotional – Relating to a person’s feelings; in performing arts, it refers to the ability to convey deep feelings through performance. – The actor’s emotional portrayal of the character’s grief moved the audience to tears.
Performance – The act of presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment; in history, it can also refer to the execution of a task or role. – The performance of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” was critically acclaimed for its innovative interpretation.
Unions – Organizations formed by workers to protect their rights and interests; in the performing arts, they often advocate for fair wages and working conditions. – The Screen Actors Guild is one of the most prominent unions representing actors in the film industry.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs; in the context of performing arts, it includes the evolution of theater, film, and music. – The history of cinema reveals how technological advancements have continually reshaped the way stories are told on screen.
Entertainment – Activities that provide amusement or enjoyment; historically, it encompasses various forms of art, including theater, music, and film. – The golden age of Hollywood is often seen as a pinnacle of American entertainment history.
Scandals – Events or actions that cause public outrage or censure; in the performing arts, scandals can significantly impact the careers of those involved. – The scandals of early Hollywood often highlighted the tension between public morality and private behavior.
