HISPANIC HOLLYWOOD: The Latins in Motion Pictures...

HISPANIC HOLLYWOOD: The Latins in Motion Pictures by George Hadley-Garcia (Citadel Press: $15.95; 256 pp.). This captivating book, which is being published simultaneously in English and Spanish editions, has the picture-crammed format of other Citadel Press movie books, but in this instance the text is a genuine consciousness-raiser, a comprehensive survey of how Hollywood has depicted Hispanics on the screen from the industry’s earliest days right up to the present. Hadley-Garcia points out that even those Hispanics who have reached the upper reaches of stardom, such as Dolores Del Rio, have not escaped stereotyping; Rita Hayworth, he suggests, avoided this by changing her name (and hair color). He makes clear that on the whole, Hispanics have not fared well on the screen; despite the successes of the youthful present-day “Lat Pack,” Hadley-Garcia regards the future with a well-founded wariness.