13 Surprising Facts About Old Hollywood

The golden age of film defined Hollywood for more than a generation. And while Old Hollywood may evoke romantic images of soft-focus stars, the era was also marked by a certain "make it up as you go" spirit that could lead to folly (or worse).

The surprising facts about Old Hollywood in this episode of the List Show run the gamut, from the amusing to the appalling. You'll learn what "The Black Box" was and why a film crew dumped asbestos on Judy Garland.

[grahamrankin]

I was one of the Polio Pioneers who were some of the first kids to get the Salk vaccine shot. I was 7.

[waynemarvin]

The return of Erin! Great way to begin the month.

[johnstevenson]

I remember Jackie Cooper relating the story of the fake shooting of his dog. He said he never forgave him for that. Neither would I.

[nicolechafetz]

I DON’T KNOW HOW I’VE MISSED YOU GUYS ALL THESE YEARS! (Oh yeah. I recently retired from litigation and have more time on my hands.)

I ADORE YOUR SHOW!

I’m trying to catch up on past years!

One of the facts I learned in one of your videos is that Edison and Ford were besties!

I never knew!

But it made me think about historical figures who lived at the same time! Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that certain people knew each other or lived at the same time. Like Marilyn Monroe and Einstein.

Like one of the facts that blew my mind when I first heard it was that Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank were born in the same year!

Maybe you could do a show about famous and historic people who knew each other and or who were alive at the same time.

Thanks,
A New (Enthusiastic) Fan!

[Riz]

Not to mention MGM was really cruel to Judy Garland back in those early days

[nicepperson]

Fun fact: actors and directors own certain letters of the Hollywood sign. Steven Spielberg owns one, and Groucho Marx owned one. After Groucho died, one of his good friends bought it. That friend was Alice Cooper.

[themaskedcrusader]

Fun fact about vaccines: They work! Through vaccine efforts, the World Health Association declared that Smallpox was officially eradicated on May 8, 1980. Though polio cases still exist today, advancements in the polio vaccine (e.g: the creation of an inexpensive oral polio vaccine) have reduced the number of annual worldwide cases from approximately 350, 000 in 1988 to 140 in 2020

[TheRizzleB]

Try moving the prompter back a bit. I’m distracted by watching Erin read.
Also looks like you don’t know what to do with your hands. Love the channel, love the info, just critique to make it even better!

[Weretyu]

If I recall correctly, the first smallpox vaccination was basically someone taking pus from a sore on someone who'd been infected with cowpox and putting it in an incision on the person being vaccinated.

[Montoya]

Switching off a 60W light bulb for one hour saves enough electric to power a 60W light bulb for an hour

[cornbreadfedkirkpatrick]

Let me get back to you I've got some "dirt on old Hollywood wink.

[julesstephenson]

Very interesting stuff. As horrible as it was for a lot of people involved, old Hollywood is very intriguing to me. And sidenote: while I have no problem with the current personalities at Mental Floss, I still really miss John Green. That’s just me though

[CaptainJack]

Not directly about vaccination, but there's a great scene in "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" (1994) where a character is giving vaccinations in the very early days of the practice (Professor Waldman, played by John Cleese). He's attacked and killed by someone who is afraid of the inoculation. A bit prescient, perhaps.

[graphosxp]

3 second kiss? In the 1947 film "Dark Passage", Agnes Moorehead's character is visited by Humphrey Bogart. Bogart sits opposite Moorehead and Moorehead responds by picking up a couch cushion, dropping it on the floor in front of Bogart, bringing herself down on her knees in front of his lap. so yeah, their was no sex in these movies, but they were plenty dirty ;)
and be sure to checkout Fante & Mingo (Lee Van Cleef & Earl Holliman) in The Big Combo (1955). Two gangsters that share a bed!

[Apophis]

Ah! New graphics! How... new! Not particularly a fan of the shortened intro however.. I like that tune!

[The_Other_Ghost]

Native Citizens of Antartica are the race who has never used vaccines or spoken against them in english.

[PhosphorAlchemist]

The idea of vaccination, while popularized and refined by Western doctors, comes from ancient practices of inoculation and intentional low-level exposure.

Speaking of intentional exposure, pox parties were an unconventional but not-uncommon way to control when children got chicken pox before the varicella vaccine was available in 1995. Because chicken pox was so universal and most dangerous to adults or very young children, sometimes people would arrange an intentional exposure. The practice is still (rarely) done today, mainly in communities that oppose vaccination. However, I'd say the advantage is to getting the varicella vaccine -- it provides life-long protection from not only chicken pox but its later-life resurgence known as shingles. Fortunately there are also vaccines against shingles now.

[mercuryfever]

Now I can't enjoy watching Hitchcock movies anymore! 😡

[allonzehe]

Vaccines: Why does the HPV vaccine come in multiple doses? I asked my doctor and even she didn't know, though she did say all three (for adults) shots are the same stuff, it's not different strains. So why three? Or two in the case of kids.

[Jasmine-jilf]

Jus imagine if the guidelines were still in place about lustful long kissing on camera… what a diff world we wud live in 😳