In the 1920s and 1930s a uniquely Mexican American entertainment culture flourished across the US Southwest. Spanish-language newspapers regularly offered theater listings, coverage of favorite performers, cultural criticism, and serialized novels that thematized entertainment culture. Gabriel Navarro (1894-1950) whose work appeared in La OpiniĆ³n (Los Angles)and other regional newspapers, was a key figure in this milieu. His observations in his columns and his fictional works covered a range of topics, from the lives of Hollywood well-known Mexican actors to the plight of Mexican extras and the formation of amateur film clubs. Navarro allowed his readers to participate in the construction of a Latina/o Hollywood, and he urged Hollywood not to overlook its Latina/o audiences. This volume brings together three works of fiction and thirty-four articles that represent Navarro's extensive body of film and cultural criticism. Together, they present a lively look at the film culture that emerged in the Mexican immigrant community in the Southwest. The introduction by Colin Gunckel and Laura Isabel Serna situates Navarro's writing within the context of Mexican-oriented journalism and cultural politics of the era.
"There Are No Hispanic Stars!" offers a new window to a vibrant Los Angles migrant "culturescape" that provided a space for the contestation of identity and the production of belonging across borders.