Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
directed by Matt Tyrnauer
starring Peter Bart, “Scotty” Bowers, and Robert Hofler
Altimeter Films and Water’s End Productions
WW2 was over, and Marine Scotty Bowers mustered out and headed for Hollywood. There he quickly found a job in a gas station frequented by the stars and moguls of the movie industry, and there he developed a knack for helping these high-profile stars find gay hook ups. He soon became very popular, and at $20 a trick ($200 in today’s money) he was rolling in dough. He was one of those Hollywood legends only the insiders know, but he published a 2012 memoir Full Service that few are left alive to argue.
Not just friendly and personable, Scotty was discreet and never revealed a confidence. Here’s his story, told in the first person from a man whose know everybody in the film industry in more ways than one. We follow Scotty through a typical day: signing books, attending parties, dining with his shell-shocked wife who had no idea who she was hooking up with but loves him none the less. Archival photos and footage fill in the blanks as Scotty tells all from his first voluntary enjoyments with priest to setting up Rock Hudson and his lover with plausible “roommate” situations that satisfied the audiences and didn’t rat out the studios. Later Scotty talks about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor; they were into some weird stuff that was only safe to act out in the haze of distant Los Angeles. On the side Scotty develops habit of scrounging stuff off the street; he has a half dozen rented spaces with his suspect treasures. This is the Hollywood Confidential you never saw before: explicit, shocking, and in the end, you’ll think: “I always wondered about him. Now I know.”
