Supposedly Warner Bros Studio archives document that a girl called Sheila Brown played the role of the Changeling Prince in the 1935 film adaption of Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream and NOT a seven year old Kenneth Anger ! However, the publicity photos of the character astride a small white pony certainly look like a young Anger. Ironically even Anger’s own claim (in the book) to have been a child prodigy has come under scrutiny. The title, in Anger’s typically Crowley-esque style, attempts to parallel the detailed intrigue of Hollywood’s bygone Golden Era of the 1920-1930’s with the lost civilisation of Babylon.

While much of the book’s contents has been routinely refuted over the last 60 years, it still remains a fascinating and titillating snapshot of bitchy gossip, hearsay and urban legend from Tinsel town’s golden era. This was a cheap news stand style paperback, that was banned allegedly within 10 days of publication and thereafter was sold in a brown paper bag. An English language edition didn’t appear until 1965. What is less known is the infamous work began life as a 1957 magazine article printed in France, followed in 1959 by a book, again only published in French. Kenneth Anger’s book Hollywood Babylon has never ceased to be a source of controversy and outrage ever since it was made publicly available in 1975 by Rolling Stone’s printers Straight Arrow.

The story of Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon text © Paul Drummond 2021 Blog The story of Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon

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