Hispanic Hollywood. The Latins in Hollywood

Espanjankielisten maiden tähdistä Hollywoodissa. Iso koko.George Hadley-Garcia. 256 sivua, 1990.

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by George Hadley-Garcia "A Citadel Book" New York: Publishing Group, 1993 256 pp.; $16.95, English language format), paper $17.95 (Spanish language format), paper

George Hadley-Garcia's new study, Hispanic Hollywood, provides a wealth of lively anecdote and a beautifully-detailed photographic record that will interest anyone with an urge to trace the presence of actors from Spain and Latin America in U.S.-made films from their beginnings to the present. Hadley-Garcia has viewed countless films and researched the stories of scores of stars, large and small, for his study, and the results are a detailed catalogue of Luso-Hispanic influences on American film.

Apart from a pair of Brazilians, the book essentially looks at the differences in the ways Hispanics (people newly-arrived or descended from Spain or Spanish-speaking America) have been portrayed in Hollywood at different periods and makes a convincing case for anyone who did not already concede this, that the Hispanic presence there has been invaluable--if at times invisible or disguised. The author cites various instances of Hispanic actors and actresses who hid their Latin roots by changing their names in order to avoid typecasting--most notably Rita Hayworth and Raquel Welch.

Hadley-Garcia shows restraint in his storytelling, emphasizing the contributions of tragic figures like Lupe Velez instead of reveling in the grotesque details of her suicide, the way a recent sitcom did. And if he has minor problems with the Spanish at times--one example occurs on page 29, where he insists that Dolores del Rio's "real" first name was Lolita (unaware, apparently, that Lolita is a common nickname for Dolores)--in general, this does not detract from his narrative flair.

Many of the anecdotes and photos lead the reader to ponder important issues. For example, Hadley-Garcia demonstrates how many great Hispanic actors were cast in a variety of all-purpose "ethnic" roles--and the proof is given eloquently in pictures of Anthony Quinn got up as a variety of Native Americans or Orientals (94-5) or Dolores del Rio and Gilbert Roland as Cheyennes (175).

The intent of this book is not really to give a deep discussion of the issues of ethnically faithful versus cross-casting, or of the images of Latins in Hollywood. Rather, it traces the presence of Latino performers from silent films up to the nineties and does a good job of suggesting what the issues are, although it leaves it up to future books to study them in depth. Here are some of the fascinating issues that Hadley-Garcia points...