There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood
In 1971, Aaron Touissant is nearing death from cancer when he sends an archivist of Hollywood history his account of the tragedy of charismatic Hollywood star Xavier C. Barlow years earlier. As a child bullied for being a sissy, Aaron practically lived at his Ohio town’s only movie theatre that admitted Black people, even assisting the projectionist. When the Korean War begins, he is seventeen and lies about his age to enlist in the U.S. Navy and escape his brutal father and brother. He becomes the aide of ace Black fighter pilot Horace Dixon and, eventually, his lover. After the war, Aaron accompanies Horace to Hollywood where the pilot’s life story is to be filmed by Skyline Studios. When the movie plan fails, Horace returns to Chicago, leaving Aaron bereft. He becomes a security guard at Skyline Studios and then a fixer, assuring that stars stay in the closet. Marrying a virtuous young woman, he honors his marital vows without disclosing his affair with Dixon. Skyline expects magnetic young Xavier Barlow to become their next Sidney Poitier, so he needs careful watching, and Aaron is assigned to the job. In time Aaron becomes his friend, keeping his attraction to the handsome star in check.
Newson has penned an erotic (sometimes explicit) and revelatory exposé of the underside of Hollywood in the late 1950s and the passions and dangers of gay society in Los Angeles. Xavier looks forward to the day when Black people will be equal and gay people open and accepted. Aaron, who suffered from the treatment of Black people in the navy and is keenly aware of the risks in Hollywood, has smaller dreams. His complicated emotions along with the double-bind experienced by Black performers give depth to the story and provide a unique angle on Black queer history. Recommended.
