Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood

by Donald Bogle, Flynn Earl Jones (Narrator)

In Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams, Donald Bogle tells–for the first time–the story of a place both mythic and real: Black Hollywood. Spanning sixty years, this deliciously entertaining history uncovers the audacious manner in which many blacks made a place for themselves in an industry that originally had no place for them.

Through interviews and the personal recollections of Hollywood luminaries, Bogle pieces together a remarkable history that remains largely obscure to this day. We discover that Black Hollywood was a place distinct from the studio-system-dominated Tinseltown–a world unto itself, with unique rules and social hierarchy. It had its own talent scouts and media, its own watering holes, elegant hotels, and fashionable nightspots, and of course its own glamorous and brilliant personalities.

Along with famous actors including Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Hattie McDaniel (whose home was among Hollywood’s most exquisite), and, later, the stunningly beautiful Lena Horne and the fabulously gifted Sammy Davis, Jr., we meet the likes of heartthrob James Edwards, whose promising career was derailed by whispers of an affair with Lana Turner, and the mysterious Madame Sul-Te-Wan, who shared a close lifelong friendship with pioneering director D. W. Griffith. But Bogle also looks at other members of the black community–from the white stars’ black servants, who had their own money and prestige, to gossip columnists, hairstylists, and architects–and at the world that grew up around them along Central Avenue, the Harlem of the West.

In the tradition of Hortense Powdermaker’s classic Hollywood: The Dream Factory and Neal Gabler’s An Empire of Their Own, in Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams, Donald Bogle re-creates a vanished world that left an indelible mark on Hollywood–and on all of America.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: History, Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, African American, Biography, Race

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Donald Bogle is one of the foremost authorities on Black representation in films and entertainment history. His books include Running Press's Hollywood Black; the groundbreaking Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks; the award-winning Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams; the bestselling Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography; and Brown Sugar, which Bogle adapted into a PBS documentary series. He was a special commentator and consultant for Turner Classic Movies’ award-winning series Race and Hollywood. Bogle teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He lives in Manhattan. — Running Press

Reviews

[Edward Champion · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a deeply frustrating book about an essential period in Black history that falls short on scholarship (Bogle often just parrots points from one source for several pages) and depth. That the great innovator Oscar Micheaux, an independent filmmaker who four-walled theatres himself and made films specifically for Black audiences, only warrants a minor mention should tell you everything about how superficial this volume is. Bogle is best when he's describing Black life -- such as the valets and maids who aspired to be actors, but who were often busy covering up the dirty laundry of the white actors who employed them. Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge rightfully get a lot of real estate here, but Bogle has this annoying tendency to write more like a celebrity gossiphound than a scholar. So this is one of those books I would categorize as "information mining." I do hope to find a book that provides a more rigorous overview of this period than Bogle's.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very detailed chronology of the back stories and contexts within which Hollywood evolved from the African American perspective. This includes not just the well known actors but also the studio system, night club scene, the film industry, musicians, choreographers, and host of other lesser know key players and roles integral to the development of Hollywood. Also included is a chronology of the connected among mediums such as film, tv, radio, press in developing "Hollywood" as we know it today. Good and informative read.

[Michelle Mccrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fantastic book. Too bad California is broke now, there's so much glorious history to be rebuilt and reclaimed downtown especially Central Avenue and its glamorous black past. Donald Bogle is a true master of Hollywood history.

[Cary Lackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, if not THE best, books I’ve read this year! Very engrossing look into Black Hollywood from its beginnings in the silent era, to the end of the 1950s. The author paints a vivid picture of not just the movie stars of the decades reviewed, but of the fabric of Black LA that was supported the stars during those segregated times. Very highly recommended!

[Russell Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood by Donald Bogle is a fascinating look at a segment of societal history that few of us have ever much thought of, much less explored. Bogle takes us into the world of the black performers who worked in Hollywood from the 1920s through the 1950s. He offers us a thoroughly researched account that is not only based on books and articles but peppered with quotes from the many, many interviews the author conducted with those who were there. What we see is eye opening. We are told how black performers broke into films and how many of them became stars. We also see how some of those stars faded because of the lack of opportunity, for the traditional film studios were as prejudiced as society at large. But some of those stars shone brightly, and though often relegated to the roles of servants, they kept their dignity and pushed on to become wealthy and successful. Among those were Hattie McDaniel, the Queen of Black Hollywood, who became the first person of color to win an Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone With the Wind; Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, who gained fame and fortune playing Jack Benny’s wise servant on radio, films, and TV; and Dorothy Dandridge, who was the most beautiful of the black stars and went on to make her fame in such films as Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun, and Porgy and Bess. Bogle also examines the career of Sammy Davis Jr., showing how he became popular among white Hollywood society and overcame the prejudice surrounding him because of his enormous talent. But we see how Davis was shunned by his fellow blacks because he seemed to enjoy the company of the glittering white stars more than his compatriots. And there is where the wealth of this story lies: in the stories of how the black stars kept to their own for the most part, out of choice and necessity, forging their own society filled with night clubs and home parties. Today, the famous all-black hotel is gone, the night clubs shuttered, the exclusive gatherings of blacks only are largely gone. As the general society changed and African-Americans became more and more accepted in the general populace, little by little their community fell to the wayside. It’s a sad tale in a way, for amid all the social progress, there is the leaving of a way of life that was rich in its own way. This is the strength of Bogle’s book. We, many of us anyway, who thought that urban blacks in that era were poor, downtrodden, shiftless people are treated to a tale of people who were determined to be happy and successful within the constraints of their situation. Bogle’s book is entertaining, informative, and eye opening, everything one would want in a history book.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, accessible look into an overlooked chapter of Hollywood’s history. Beginning in the 1910s and ending in the 1950s with the advent of the Civil Rights movement (and, by extension, the desegregation of Hollywood and Los Angeles), Bright Boulevards traces the early days of Black Hollywood from its community and social aspects to its stars.

My two very small quibbles would be that, one, it would have been nice to have an index to help keep all the names straight (and to provide some background – there’s an assumption that readers will automatically recognize names and their accomplishments). Also, the 1950s section focuses too much on Dorothy Dandridge. While somewhat understandable given that Dr. Bogle wrote a biography about her, I would have liked to know more about how black society and rank-and-file actors adjusted to post-war Hollywood. The early sections nicely balance between the three (society, stars, and the general populace), and I was particularly interested in knowing more about how the changing roles for black actors affected bit players, dancers, and extras.

Overall a great read. Highly recommended.

[Shianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent look into the history of Black movers and shakers in Old Hollywood. Although I found the book informative, like another commenter stated, the book's faults derive from the authors focus on the social aspect of those a part of Hollywood, rather than the historical aspect of those in film itself.

[Monica Lay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing And Informative

This book is extremely important to read. It's chock full of information and is like an encyclopedia of old black Hollywood. Donald Bogle is a great storyteller.

[Steven Spector · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed yet joyfully readable work that fills in so many gaps, it must return to Home Depot to purchase the necessary additional caulk.

[Kelly M Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. The picture he painted of early black Hollywood are beautiful! Well researched and we'll presented. He's a master of this genere

[Sugarpuss O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers here; I think Mr Bogle would've been better served if the subtitle of this tome was The Story Of Black Los Angeles, rather than of Black Hollywood. That being said..... I did enjoy this book. It gave a BIG PICTURE view of what Black LA/Hollywood was like back in the day. There is so much more to LA than just Hollywood & the Studios, and this fills in the day-to-day (or should I say night-to-night) of what went on back in the teens through the 50s.

Don't get me wrong, I was really looking for more of the movie making side of Black Hollywood--and much less about the furnishings of these star's homes-- but I will definitely be looking at movies from this era with a newfound knowledge & understanding of what these men & women went through in order to scratch out a career in a town that really didn't want them there. And a fresh respect for those such as Madame Sul-Te-Wan, who's path took her from BIRTH OF A NATION, to the last hurrah of Black Hollywood's PORGY AND BESS. Now that's a career!

[Gabby M · Rating 4 out of 5]

When people think of Old Hollywood, the stars they think about are almost certainly the white ones. They got the image-making, the publicity pushes. But actors of color did exist, and they had a rich social world of their own. Donald Bogle’s Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams explores the largely-unexamined world of Black Hollywood, from the very first movies until about the 1950s. Nellie Crawford rechristened herself Madame Sul-Te-Wan after landing roles in D.W. Griffiths movies and acted consistently for decades. Ernest “Sunshine Sammy” Morrison became a child star, but left the industry for the stage. Lena Horne got the glamour-girl treatment, but was unable to find major roles because of racism. Sammy Davis, Jr scandalized the town by marrying a white woman.

If you’re looking for a book that will be mostly about movies themselves, this will disappoint you. It does, of course, deal with the roles that were offered to Black actors, and the tension within the community about taking maid/servant roles just to have a chance to be onscreen. But that’s really not the focus here. In this book, Bogle is really trying to look at the entirety of the world of vintage Black Hollywood, and while that does encompass work, it’s mostly the neighborhoods where Black actors and their families lived, the clubs they patronized, the connections they made to each other through marriage and friendship. And it wasn’t just actors…Black singers, dancers, musicians, and businesspeople were all in and around Los Angeles, keeping things chugging along while getting barely any credit.

I found this book really compelling! The way Bogle introduces people and doesn’t feel the need to tell their whole story right away, lets them wind in and out of the larger whole depending on which part of the milieu he’s looking at in any given moment, really creates a sense of momentum. A history of this kind, with a lot of people involved and looking broadly at a place in time, could get bogged down in too much description, but it really strikes the right note on level of detail: enough to create a well-developed picture, but not so much that the whole thing gets dragged down. I really enjoyed learning more about the Nicholas brothers, Hattie McDaniel, Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge, and actors who I’d known nothing about at all before I picked this up. If you have any interest at all in vintage Hollywood or the history of people of color in the entertainment industry, definitely check this out!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasic read. I knew some of these stars, but not most, and thats sad. I began to look up their individual stories and encourage others to do so as well to keep their hard work and spirits alive! Not only did I learn about old Hollywood and black Hollywood, but LA's history. I could picture the neighborhoods and streets and see it transform in my mind as I continued to read the book. I wished I could have seen some of these clubs! It's important to read of the racism that existed, how it changed from generation to generation, and how stars pushed to make their dreams happen despite everything they were against.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and ultimately limited in its scope. The book focuses mainly on the silent era through the 40s before changing gears and speeding through the 50s and 60s. I’d love to read a followup for at least the second half of the 20th century if not more recent years.

I worked in Hollywood for over 20 years and thought I knew quite a lot of history, but now I know a huge and vital aspect of the industry was sorely lacking in my knowledge.

Highly recommended for film industry buffs and anyone wanting to learn more about African Americans in early Hollywood.

[Deva Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowledge

Knowledge opens doors to years gone by. This book lead me into a world of knowledge. It let me into a world my parents spoke of when I was a child. It let me into a world I witnessed because of my curiosity. It it sad that racism is still at the forefront of country. I send prayers to everyone who was demeaned, destroyed, and disrespected. I will continue the fight!!!!

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource when searching for the African-american Hollywood experience from the beginning when the first black appeared in a film, Central Avenue history, and many other tales and historical information about black Hollywood. Includes some addresses of some of the famous actors who lived in the famous mansions within the Adams District aka Sugar Hill.

[Stephen Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating history

Los Angeles attracted plenty of black folks even in the early days. Their talent and dedication slowly, falteringly, opened up the studios the clubs and the suburbs. But along the way so many interesting people came and went. I found myself looking up pictures and names, finding movie clips I never knew existed.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of why I didn't like this so much isn't really the fault of the author. However, I was hoping for something about black roles in Hollywood movies, instead this book is more about black social lives in Hollywood.

[Valerie Taylor Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history of the first 60 years of black Hollywood taking a look at black actors, the geographic boundaries of black Hollywood and its shift over the years, black studios, and how black Hollywood existed in a segregated environment.

[ERIC HALL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal book that describes the first 50 years of black hollywood and early development of California. When Hollywood came to California, it brought an entire industry with it. This book is a must read for black history aficionado's like myself.

[Pamela Greer]

Great Book about some of the great African American trail blazers in tv and film and the struggles they endured just because they were black.

[Audreyg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much a listing of who showed up at which nightclub, but the first part is particularly fascinating.

[Betty Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It certainly is not "a must read" as the cover touts, but it was an interesting recap of race relations in Hollywood.

[Heather G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

In depth but I wanted more. It seemed like a very quick wrap up when the 60's-90's would have been very interesting too but it was a very informative book.

[Jillybb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donald Bogle has carved out an interesting niche — Black Hollywood at the start of the industry. Plus ca change.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting
Loved that it focused on more than just actors, also told the stories of all those working behind the scenes, both professionally & personally

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bogle's book is less about "race movies" as they used to be called than the social/professional world of blacks in Hollywood, from actors to shoeshine guys to singers to servants (though a lot of servants parlayed their connections into successful careers). Unsurprisingly like the rest of the country the obstacles were steep, with constant, frequently unfulfilled optimism that This Is The Year The Barriers Go Down (though in the 1940s and 1950s a lot of them, from professional to social, did). If at times gossipy (see Hattie McDaniels' new house and new husband!) overall very interesting.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fascinating, informative, and significant. When studying black history, it’s essential to read about the racial divide in Hollywood. From the inception of movies, the racism that often goes unnoticed is glamorized or glossed over because it is Hollywood. The author provides very few details about the films themselves, but he chose to focus on the stories going on behind the scenes... This is definitely a book from which you can learn and remember valuable lessons.

[Shannon Lionheart · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are several good reviews of this book already but it is a modest look into the history of Black Hollywood. I found the book educational, like another reviewer stated, the book's faults derive from the authors focus on the social aspect of those a part of Hollywood, rather than the historical aspect of those in film itself.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really wonderful history of Hollywood that I'd not really thought about. Very rich in detail and what a time! So much tremendous talent. This should be read by anyone with an interest in Hollywood history.