The 1930s was a decade of tran­si­tion for Amer­i­ca, climb­ing back from the depth of the Depression.

It was a time of Due­sen­bergs and Duke Elling­ton, the New Deal and Nazis. A time of Amelia Earhart and MGM, the Lind­bergh baby and Lou Gehrig at the bat; Mutiny on the Boun­ty and Mus­soli­ni on the balcony.

There was the rat-a-tat-tat of Fred and Ginger’s feet, and the rapid-fire guns of the Span­ish Civ­il War.

Amer­i­ca worked and played, putting the hor­rors of the Great War and the Stock Mar­ket Crash behind them—never dream­ing of the world war and con­fla­gra­tion to come.

Through it all there was Hol­ly­wood, the Dream Fac­to­ry, where any­thing could and would happen—

A cow­boy could be a singer, a tap dancer could be a gang­ster, and Franken­stein could find a bride.

Fresh-faced girls would leave their Mid­west farms and take Grey­hound bus­es to LA, dream­ing of stardom.

And Joey Elliot’s con­fused lit­tle life would take an unex­pect­ed turn, lead­ing to a career and a future beyond any­thing he could ever have imagined …