Blue-Collar Hollywood

About this book

The images are familiar to millions of Americans: Tom Powers chasing power and money at all costs in Public Enemy; Stella Dallas suffering for her ambition; Tom Joad going off to fight for social justice in The Grapes of Wrath; the "fighting Sullivans" eagerly defending their nation in World War II; Stanley Kowalski beating his wife; Norma Rae rallying down-trodden mill workers; Tre Stiles dodging bullets in South Central Los Angeles in Boyz N the Hood.