Although there were other movie columnists like Sheilah Graham and Jimmy Fidler by far the reigning two were Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper. At first Louella reigned alone with the backing of the Hearst newspaper syndicate and a radio show Hollywood Hotel. She had the studios in an uproar lest she report some indiscretion that one of their stars did. Their answer, create their own columnist to print their spoon fed publicity.
What Louis B. Mayer played here by Richard Dysart did is find the divorced much younger discarded trophy wife of stage immortal DeWolf Hopper who was struggling to make it as a character player. Hedda Hopper with some strong right wing opinions and a young son William Hopper to support seemed to be the right one. Dysart got the other studio moguls to go along.
It was their worst nightmare. Hedda got free of their control and they had two women now as the reigning purveyors of gossip and self appointed morals police of tinsel town. And the two couldn't stand each other.
Elizabeth Taylor who certainly had her life dissected by columnists plays Louella Parsons. Louella was a short dumpy woman and while Taylor gave it her best shot, I could never see Liz Taylor as short and dumpy. Parsons had a great source for gossip closed to all but her. Louella's husband John Martin was a doctor and his specialty was venereal disease. In his hands he held the celebrated privates of Hollywood. Why people went to him, God only knows. He's played here and underplayed by Jon Cypher.
Jane Alexander as Hedda Hopper is nothing short of outstanding. I remember Hedda Hopper in her last years on her favorite venue which before her death was Art Linkletter's House Party show. Alexander really got her down perfectly. By that time television had relegated print columnists as relics of a bygone era. Hopper had to go where the audience was. Hopper was a leading proponent of the Blacklist. That aspect of her was brought out in the film Trumbo.
Malice In Wonderland is an outstanding made for television feature. I wish it would come out on DVD and/or Blue Ray.
