Forgotten Hollywood

TO date, the youngest actor nominated for an Academy Award. He co starred at 8 years old in Kramer vs Kramer. 

JLJ shares the Top 10 grossing films of 1926

In this episode I spoke with author Thomas "Tom" Schatz about his latest book "Power Surge: Conglomerate Hollywood and The Studio System's Last Hurrah". Between 1989 and 2004, all the old studios either merged with other media giants or were swallowed up by even bigger diversified behemoths, leading to an infusion of money and fast-tracking the digital revolution. Yet even as CGI and piles of cash fueled a new breed of blockbusters―Batman and Titanic, Toy Story and The Lord of the Rings―an indie ethos permeated the industry. And at the crossroads of commodification and aesthetic vision, auteurs ranging from Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino to Sofia Coppola and Ang Lee became household names.

Guest host James Lott Jr talks about the number one of 1926 and its director! 

In this episode, I spoke with author Andrew Wilson about his book " I Wanna Be Loved By You: Marilyn Monroe A Life In 100 Takes". Publishing one hundred years after her birth, Andrew Wilson’s biography of Marilyn Monroe is a kaleidoscopic tour of her life told through 100 captivating snapshots.

In this episode I spoke with author Kristen Lopez about her latest book "But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition". What makes a good love story endure? Is it the courtship? The obstacles along the way? The happy endings (or in some cases, heartbreaking conclusions)? Author Kristen Lopez explores 40 beloved screen adaptations of the book world's great romances to reveal what makes these works resonate across decades. Out on July 28, 2026

Guest Host James Lott Jr talks about looking back at all parts of Forgotten Hollywood! 

There is more to read than just the WIzard of Oz. James Lott Jr is the host. 

In this episode I spoke with the author and grandnephew to Greta, Scott Reisfield. Greta Garbo didn't just change film. She changed what it meant to be a woman. Long before "feminism" entered the mainstream, Greta Garbo was showing women around the world how to live, love, work, and claim independence on their own terms. Her performances felt startlingly real at a time when acting was still theatrical and restrained. Women didn't just watch Garbo. They recognized themselves in her.

There are two answers! James Lott Jr guest hosts and explains.

Follow Forgotten Hollywood on Facebook.Buy the books on Amazon.Doug Hess is the creator and producer, he shares some news with you all! 

For Pride Month June 2026, James Lott JR guest stars. The film most often considered the first major film to feature an explicitly gay character/storyline is Different from the Others (Anders als die Andern), a 1919 German silent film. It starred Conrad Veidt as a gay violinist whose relationship with a male student leads to blackmail and tragedy. It was also made with sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld and is often called the first gay-rights film in history. For American/Hollywood film, it gets more complicated because gay characters were often coded for decades because of censorship. A major milestone is The Boys in the Band from 1970, one of the first mainstream American films to openly focus on gay male characters and gay life.

This is the debut of a mini episode called FH Mini Spotlight. For this one we are spotlighting Sydney Pollack (listen to Episode 439) and his time as an actor on the hit TV show Will and Grace for Gay Pride Month. 

In this episode, I spoke with Patrick McGilligan who was one of the editors of the book "Sydney Pollack: Collected Interviews". Sydney Pollack was a true actor's director―a filmmaker who came up through the ranks, starting as a bit-part TV performer before turning to directing. From his debut feature The Slender Thread (1965) to his final film, The Interpreter (2005), Pollack built a reputation for intelligent, emotionally resonant storytelling.

In this episode, Warren Croom joins me for a conversation with Cindy Mitchum, daughter of John Mitchum and niece of Robert Mitchum. We also speak with Joe Cornett, who is developing a limited series about the two Mitchum brothers.

In this episode, I spoke with author Marilyn S. Greenwald about her book "Jane Fonda: There's a Great Deal to Say". Since the late 1960s, Jane Fonda has identified as an activist first and an actor second, using her celebrity as a vehicle to convey her views and her advocacy. Few stars of her stature have been as simultaneously acclaimed and vilified as Fonda.

In this episode I spoke with authors Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin Jr. about their book "The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai". The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai is an accessible collection that explores the cultural, industrial, and historical impact of that beloved American sitcom. Edited by Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin, Jr., this anthology brings together a diverse range of voices that model different media studies approach to researching and critically analyzing television texts. 

In this epiosde, I spoke with Andrew Lampert about his book "Jackie Gleason: Library of the Paranormal". "I want to make hypnotic therapy and psychology my livelihood when I get out of this racket…And I'm going to spend as much time as possible investigating psychic phenomena." ―Jackie Gleason, Parade, 1952

In this episode, I spoke with author Samuel Garza Bernstein about his latest book "Roddy McDowall: An Actor's Life". As one of the very few naturally gifted child actors who graduated into adult roles with relative ease, Roddy McDowall exuded charm throughout a glorious Hollywood run that included film, television, and Broadway. John Ford’s 1941 classic How Green Was My Valley put Roddy on the map at 12-years-old. It won Best Picture over Citizen Kane and is Clint Eastwood’s favorite film of all time. But Roddy’s biggest claim to fame was yet to come.

The first  crossover episode with the podcast Have You Heard of Me. Guest Host James Lott Jr talks about 10 episodes from TV's past that tackled Memorial Day or PTSD, casualties of war, etc. We honor the fallen who served!! 

In this episode I spoke with Peter Hoffman, former CEO of Carolco Pictures, and we discussed this book "Karmic Winds: Reflections from the "Smartest Guy in Hollywood". KARMIC WINDS is a memoir of power, collapse, and reckoning by Peter M. Hoffman, a Yale-trained lawyer and Hollywood insider who once stood at the center of the independent film boom and later found himself stripped of status, freedom, and certainty.The book will be out on June 16, 2026.

In this episode, I spoke with Michael Benson about his book "Hollywood vs Nazis: How The Movie Studios Took On Nazis Infiltrating Los Angeles". The true story of Hitler’s plot to turn Hollywood’s Dream Factory into a Nazi propaganda machine—and the Jewish moguls’ clandestine operation to sabotage the Reich’s insidious reach.

In this episode, I spoke with author Tony Lee Moral about his book "A Century of Hitchcock: The Man, the Myths, the Legacy". For over a century, Alfred Hitchcock has remained one of the cinema's most influential directors. Known as the Master of Suspense, this visionary filmmaker directed more than fifty films over six decades. His thriller The Lodger (1927) marked the start of his signature style, which was later exemplified in classic films like Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963).The book will be out on June 9, 2026.

In this episode I spoke with actress Kathy Garver who played "Cissy" in the television show "Family Affairs".  The sitcom ran from 1966-1971 and Terre Haute, Indiana is the established hometown on Cissy, Buffy, and Jody Davis.  Kathy has also written 5 books and also down voice acting and audiobooks.

Guest Host James Lott Jr, spotlights the first soap opera created for Radio, Painted Dreams and its successor Todays Children. Irna Philips created both and changed the course of dramas forever! 

In this episode I spoke with William Bernhart about his latest book "The Superman Wars: A Battle For Truth, Justice, and An American Icon". Almost everyone knows about the man from Krypton who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent working with the fearless Lois Lane, fights for the vulnerable and the oppressed. But few know the truth about this indelible character’s creation.

In this episode, I spoke with mobster expert Larry Gragg about the film "Bugsy". 

In this episode, I spoke with author Mayukh Sen about his book "Love Queenie: Merlie Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian Star". A beautiful reclamation of a pioneering South Asian actress captures her glittering, complicated life and lasting impact on Hollywood.

In this episode, I spoke with author Joseph Hulihan about his book "Vietnam on the Big Screen: How the Vietnam War Changed Hollywood". America, it is said, deals with its trauma through the medium of Hollywood, and few experiences have been more traumatic than its involvement in the Vietnam War. As the last US helicopters fled the American Embassy compound during the fall of Saigon, they left behind a country devastated by twenty years of death and destruction.

In this episode, I spoke with author Robert Guffey about his Book "Hollywood Haunts the World".  In Hollywood Haunts the World: An Investigation into the Cinema of Occulted Taboos, Robert Guffey deconstructs the most powerful taboos of the twentieth century (and the initial decades of the twenty-first century) by analyzing how disturbing and transgressive ideas involving Theosophy, Gnosticism, Freemasonry, Darwinian Evolution, Surrealism, Freudian and Jungian psychology, race relations, paranoia, UFOs, xenophobia, political conspiracies, the JFK assassination, virtual reality, and alternate dimensions have been reflected in films―both American and foreign―throughout the past one hundred years.

In this episode, I spoke with author Carl Rollyson about his book "Marilyn Monroe Day by Day: A Timeline of People, Places and Events." From hefty biographies and fact-based novels to photograph collections and memoirs, more books have been written about Marilyn Monroe than any other female over the past century

In this episode, I spoke with author Matt Browning about his latest book "Gilmore Girls: Pop Culture Reference Guide". Finally understand every single pop culture joke, obscure reference, and witty one-liner that makes Gilmore Girls one of the most reference-packed shows in television history.

IN this episode I spoke with author Kathleen Brady to discuss one of her favorite Lucille Ball films Stage Door. A boardinghouse for female theater actresses gets a new arrival in the form of Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn), an upper-class woman pursuing her dreams against her wealthy father's wishes. At first, her status makes her unpopular with the other boarders, particularly her roommate, Jean (Ginger Rogers). As Terry becomes better acquainted with the other girls and their shared ambitions, rivalry -- both professional and romantic -- explodes among them

In this episode Robert Ray comes on to discuss Ben-Hur (1959) in 4K for the Easter season.

In this episode I spoke with author Rachel Walther about her book "Born To Lose: The Misfits Who Made Dog Day Afternoon". This is the plot of Dog Day Afternoon, the 1975 film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, and Chris Sarandon. It remains a high-water mark of New Hollywood, where the best acting talent of the day came together on a film that was truly exceptional.

In this episode I spoke with author Karen M. Spence about her recent book "The Companion Guide to The Godfather Trilogy: Betrayal, Loyalty, and Family". The Companion Guide to The Godfather Trilogy: Betrayal, Loyalty, and Family offers a fresh perspective, going beyond the surface to uncover the real-life context and historical inspirations behind the story.

James Lott Jr is the guest host.In the golden age of Hollwyood, Actors could not be openly NOT straight. But onscreen, different ways to let that out happened!

Guest host James Lott Jr does something a little contraversial and goes to the newest technology that is spreadung thruout the world, Chat GPT, and asks it: What Is Forgotten Hollywood?

Guest Host James Lott Jr talks about some Oscar winners from the 1970s that may have been forgotten. Congrats to all the latest winners of 2025! 

In this episode I spoke with author Kathleen Brady about the 75th Anniversary of I Love Lucy.  The 75th anniversary of I Love Lucy is October 15, 2026. The iconic sitcom, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, originally premiered on CBS on October 15, 1951. Doug Hess is the host and producer! 

In this episode, I spoke with author Chris Enss about her latest book "Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women". Discover the untold stories of the bold women who rode harder, roped faster, and stole the spotlight in early Hollywood. Since the famous “first” western movie, The Great Train Robbery, starring Broncho Billy Anderson, made its debut in 1903, cowboy heroes have continued their easily won dominance—but little has been written about the cowgirl stars and their fans.

In this episode I spoke with authors Kathy Fuller and Frank Thompson regarding their book "The First Movie Studio in Texas: Gaston Melies's Star Film Ranch".  In 1910, the Méliès Star Film Company of Manhattan set up a moving-picture studio outside San Antonio, the first in Texas. Determined to make the most authentic Westerns possible, the company filmed there for a little over a year. In that brief time, it created more than seventy single-reel films, leaving a lasting mark on moviemaking.

In this episode I spoke with author William J. Mann about his latest book " Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood". The brutal murder of Elizabeth Short—better known as the Black Dahlia—in 1947 has been in the public consciousness for nearly eighty years, yet no serious study of the crime has ever been published.

In this episode I spoke with Suzy Miles, the widow of the late filmmaker Christopher Miles. To be a filmmaker, Miles had to sidestep parental plans to enrol him in the family steelworks. He had already been filming in communist China and Argentina when he escaped to Paris where he made his first professional film.

In this episode I spoke with Anthony Taylor about his book "Classic Monsters, Modern Art." Explore the groundbreaking (and terrifying) pantheon of monsters from the 20th century’s greatest films and fiction interpreted by the world’s most exciting contemporary artists and illustrators in Classic Monsters, Modern Art!

Ethel Barrymore: Shy Empress of the Footlights unveils the captivating duality of one of America's most revered theatrical legends. Known for her poise, talent, and commanding presence on stage, Ethel Barrymore was paradoxically a woman of deep reserve and quiet introspection. This richly detailed biography offers an intimate portrait of the First Lady of the American Theatre, tracing her journey from the gilded footlights of Broadway to the screens of early Hollywood. This book explores how Barrymore's quiet strength shaped a dynasty―and how her shy soul reigned behind the curtain of fame. A must-read for lovers of theater, classic film, and untold stories of iconic women.

In this episode, I talk about my three favorite films regarding Abraham Lincoln to support "President's Day'.  They are from 1939 "Young, Mr. Lincoln, 140 Abe Lincoln in Illinois and from 2012 Lincoln.

In this episode I spoke with Susan Morrison about her book "Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live". Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world. He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery