A STAR IS BORN: JUDY GARLAND AND THE FILM THAT GOT AWAY

A STAR IS BORN: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away. Lorna Luft and Jeffrey Vance. Running Press; 2018. 

"Every song was attenuated to such a length that I thought I was going mad ... after we had endured montage after montage and repetition after repetition, I found myself wishing that dear enchanting Judy was at the bottom of the sea." -- Noel Coward.

This generously illustrated coffee table tome, co-written by Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, takes an exhaustive look at A Star is Born and especially examines why a film that won much critical acclaim and should have had boffo box office, died on the vine after the studio cut the running time in order to fit in more screenings. This was to be Garland's big comeback film, and while she did do a couple of movies afterward, her days as a major film star were over. The book looks into the previous versions of the story, as well as the Barbra Streisand version (which was a commercial success), and recounts Garland's career and personal life both before, during, and after the making of A Star is Born. Luft is blunt about her father, Sid Luft, and his abilities (or lack thereof) as a producer. The final sections of the book delve into the reconstruction of the film, which is now available on DVD so the reader/viewer can judge for themselves if the film -- and Garland -- are overpraised or not. The section on Garland's gay fans is somewhat unintentionally comical and a bit dated all told. But this is a very good bet for Garland fans! And while I quite understand where Noel Coward was coming from (see quote above) I can't say that I agree. Some of the other individuals involved in the film, such as James Mason, might have come in for a little more praise. 

Verdict: Attractive, well-written volume on a classic motion picture and its tormented star. ***.

ALL MY YESTERDAYS: EDWARD G. ROBINSON

ALL MY YESTERDAYS: An Autobiography. Edward G. Robinson with Leonard Spigelgass. Hawthorne; 1973.

"For male actors it is possible, though not easy, to slip gradually from leading man into character roles. For me, it just came naturally, since I was never Tab Hunter ..."

In this posthumously published autobiography, the great actor, who became a star with Little Caesar, writes frankly of his life and career and relationships with friends, actors and other co-workers. He gives candid, honest -- but not mean-spirited -- assessments of such co-stars as Bette Davis and Kay Francis, and describes his love of art and how he set out amassing his great collection of masterpieces. He also writes about the brutal days when he was unfairly accused of being a communist. Robinson died before he could complete his recollections, so the book was finished by his collaborator Spigelgass, who provides some interesting footnotes and a compilation of Robinson's opinions on various subjects. He also writes of Robinson's divorce, how he lost most of his great art treasures, and his troubled relationship with his only son.

Verdict: Compelling reading from a great star and superb thespian. ****.

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG (2009). Written, produced, and directed by Aviva Kempner.

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is primarily a biography of Gertrude Berg, who played the much-beloved character of Molly Goldberg on the long-running radio/TV series The Goldbergs. (Her neighbor would yell out of her window, "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg.") But it is also an evocation of a particular time in history, and a look back at the radio, television and motion picture industries as they were during a different era. In addition, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg also covers everything from WW2, the holocaust and anti-Semitism to the often tragic consequences of the blacklist in the fifties and its effect on many careers in show business. Berg, born Tilly Edelstein, became "the first woman to build a media empire." She wrote but originally had not intended to act on the radio show The Rise of the Goldbergs, but she was so suited for the lead role that she got it, and continued to play the part when it debuted as the TV series The Goldbergs on 1/10/49. Philip Loeb was excellent as her husband, but due to his liberal and labor causes he was branded a communist and CBS dropped the show when Berg refused to drop Loeb. However, Loeb finally had to leave the series when it became apparent that no other network would air the program as long as he was a part of it (he later committed suicide). 

The Goldbergs continued with first Harold Stone, and then Robert Harris, as Mr. Goldberg, but it lost much of its audience when the family moved from the Bronx to the suburbs. Although focusing on a Jewish family, it was the universal themes on the program that made it a hit with so many. Berg later wound up doing more than one project with, of all people, Sir Cedric Hardwicke! The movie is bolstered by interviews with the late Berg's relations, co-workers, and many people both in and out of the industry who were greatly influenced by her. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is charming, sad, and altogether excellent. NOTE: The DVD release of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg contains many extras, including a few episodes of the series itself. 

Verdict: This is a superb documentary on every possible level. ****

YUL BRYNNER: THE INSCRUTABLE KING

YUL BRYNNER: THE INSCRUTABLE KING. Jhan Robbins. Dodd, Mead; 1987.

Yul Brynner was a man who liked to make up stories about his past life, resented reporters digging into his private affairs, and loved creating an air of mystery about himself. So it's no wonder that this biography fails to get that deep inside  the man, although it is also a problem that there seem to be no major interviews with the people who knew him best. In this book Brynner comes off as a talented if childish man who has many admirable qualities -- a distaste for prejudice and a love of children, for instance -- but was also insecure (giving him a superiority complex), boastful, and a bit selfish. He was married four times, apparently discarding each wife as he found a new lover, but the book never really goes behind the scenes in any of these marriages. Brynner's most famous role was as the king in Rodger's and Hammerstein's The King and I, which he played in Broadway, London and touring productions as well as in the motion picture adaptation. He himself felt that Hollywood did not make the best of his abilities, although he gave excellent performances in such films as Anastasia in which he was "dynamic and sexy." The book is entertaining and provides an overview of Brynner's career, but it is rather superficial all told.

Verdict: Hopefully not the last word on Brynner. **1/2. 

BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY (2021)

BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY (2021). Director: Jeffrey Schwarz. 

Finding herself without too many opportunities despite her (Oscar-less) triumph in Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson decided she would turn the movie into a Broadway musical. To that end she hired two young songwriters, pianist and composer Dickson Hughes and lyricist Richard Stapley, who were a romantic couple at the time, to work with her on the project. The fact that she apparently knew the two men were lovers didn't prevent Swanson from developing romantic and sexual feelings for the very handsome Stapley, but these feelings were not reciprocated. (Although Swanson was not unattractive, she had never been a great beauty, what with those teeth and chin, and probably even much younger hetero men might not have wanted to share the sheets with her!) Director Jeffrey Schwarz examines this triangle situation via archive footage (including Swanson doing a number from the show on Steve Allen), a video interview of Stapley taped by a friend, and Schwarz's audio interview with Hughes, as well as commentary from people who knew the two men (now deceased). Interspersed with these is some attractive animated footage illustrating some of the scenarios. 

Richard Stapley

Richard Stapley was an English actor who went to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming a major star. He had a good role in The Strange Door with Boris Karloff and Charles Laughton but wound up in stuff like Jungle Man-Eaters from the Jungle Jim B movie series. The documentary doesn't quite make it clear why he and Hughes broke up, but Stapley went back to England, changed his name to Richard Wyler, got married (his second wife, who seemed to have really been just a beard), became a macho motorcycle racer, and starred in several Eurospy movies as super-spy and super-stud Dick Smart. Swanson was never able to secure the rights to Sunset Boulevard -- in 1974 she starred in the amusing telefilm Killer Bees -- but Andrew Lloyd Webber had no such problem. Once Webber's show debuted in London, Hughes got to work. He couldn't do a show based on the movie, but he could do a show that depicted the attempts to make a show based on the movie. Using the songs that had already been written, and using himself, Stapley and the now-deceased Swanson as the main characters, he mounted "Swanson on Sunset" at a small venue in LA. What happened next is revealed in the documentary.

Hughes, Swanson, Stapley

The most interesting aspect of Boulevard may not be the whole business with Swanson and Sunset Boulevard, but the relationship between the two men, the cruelty of the vagaries of Hollywood, the terrible price often paid by people who relentlessly pursue stardom and deny their own true selves as they do so. Stapley did not age well, but he returned to Hollywood and kept plugging away practically until the day of his death. Hughes didn't get the major Broadway show -- and we don't learn if he had any long-term relationships after Stapley -- but he seems to have been happy enough in his life. One commentator seemed to feel that Stapley's letters to his boyfriend reveal a deep love, but we don't know how Hughes felt, possibly because he didn't want to talk about it. Was he heartbroken when Stapley walked out of his life, or did he feel "goodbye to bad rubbish." There is an implication that Stapley, like a lot of good-looking Hollywood types, could be an opportunist who thought of his career -- what there was of it -- above all else. What we hear of the songs written for the aborted show indicate that they were pleasant and adept show tunes if not quite on the level of, say, Richard Rodgers. Jeffrey Schwarz also directed the superb Vito, and many others. 

Verdict: With Swanson as a springboard, this is an interesting look at Hollywood dreams turned to dust. ***. 

LADD: THE LIFE, THE LEGEND, THE LEGACY OF ALAN LADD

LADD: The Life, The Legend, The Legacy of Alan Ladd. Beverly Linet. Arbor House; 1979. 

Although it may seem hard to realize today, once upon a time Alan Ladd was a major star who for many years consistently topped popularity polls, appeared on magazine covers, and was considered one of the most bankable players in Hollywood. Although many of his co-workers would disagree, critics often thought he was less a fine actor than a personality who had "It," that indefinable something that added up to chemistry in spades. His fans were both men and women. Because of his short stature (although he was hardly the only short star in Hollywood), perhaps he was seen as attainable by women and non-threatening to men. 

In any case, Ladd toiled in many B movies and minor roles until achieving stardom with his first big picture, This Gun for Hire, teaming him for the first time with Veronica Lake. Following what seems like a dishonorable Hollywood tradition, Ladd dumped his first wife in favor of his second, an aggressive woman named Sue Carol who was also his agent. (Not the first or last time in Hollywood in which relationships have been career moves.) In spite of this Ladd essentially portrays the star as a "nice guy" who even started a campaign to get people to write letters to hospitalized WW2 vets who had no families. Ladd came off as cold or disinterested to many of his leading ladies -- Lake, Sophia Loren -- and it may have been because his wife was keeping a sharp lookout. Ironically, the one co-star he fell for -- although apparently it did not lead into an affair -- was the bland, utterly sexless June Allyson! June Allyson!  What was he thinking of?! (True his wife was no beauty.)

Ladd in Shane

Ladd finally achieved some critical acclaim with the western Shane, but that was virtually his last triumph, although he was quite good in his final picture The Carpetbaggers. Neurotic as hell, always lacking confidence, Ladd became more and more of a nervous wreck the older he got, and when he inevitably started slipping at the box office, it got worse. He also had that certain bloated appearance of the alcoholic and looked older than his years. Ladd had numerous minor "accidents" which may have indicated that he was drinking quite awhile before people began to notice, and there was a highly suspicious incident in which he "accidentally" shot himself in the chest. There is still uncertainty over whether his death at fifty was suicide or an accident. 

Ladd came to regret turning down the role played by James Dean in Giant because it was supposedly not the lead, but director George Stevens hated working with Dean and also regretted that Ladd didn't play the part; Ladd's wife may have had something to do with that. In the book the widow claims that Ladd was a very happy man with a very happy marriage, but the book is riddled with details that call all of that into question. Linet paints Ladd's life as a tragedy, but he had many good years, four loving children, reached the heights of stardom, and had plenty of money even when he began slipping. He is hardly the only movie star who takes to heart "you're only as good as your last picture," and despite his early death made out better than some. One suspects that his problems were often self-inflicted. Ladd is a very good and sympathetic biography but one flaw is that it rarely analyzes Ladd's films or his performances. 

Two of Ladd's children were in the business. The late Alan Ladd Jr. became head of 20th Century-Fox years after his father's death, and David Ladd was a child actor who appeared with his father in The Proud Rebel, among other films.  

Verdict: Page-turning bio with many interviews with friends and family members. ***1/2. 

BURT LANCASTER: AN AMERICAN LIFE

BURT LANCASTER: An American Life. Kate Buford. Knopf; 2000. 

Tracing his pathway from the rough streets of New York's Harlem to a stint as an acrobat to his making his mark in motion pictures rather quickly, pretty much attaining stardom in his first film The Killers, this well-written and very absorbing biography offers a fascinating portrait of a complex individual. Lancaster was driven to succeed, something he achieved, but not without cost. Some friends and co-workers describe him with lavish affection while to others he was cold, distant, and occasionally cruel. While his wife nearly drank herself to death, Lancaster apparently did little or nothing to help her while he had numerous affairs and a long-time mistress (a passed-out spouse can be a convenience). On the plus side, Lancaster was dedicated to his art and tried his best to make worthwhile pictures instead of just appearing in junk for money (although eventually he would have to do that as well). 

Although Lancaster was not a kid when he became a bona fide movie star, he was young enough -- and it happened quickly enough -- for such rapid success to go to his head. There was one shocking report of violence against women while under the influence. The term "bisexual" is used over and over again in the book, but  Buford never really deals with it head on or provides any solid evidence of homosexual relationships, although eyebrows were raised in certain instances. Lancaster did have several gay friends and co-workers, and did an ad for AIDS awareness -- "Think Before You Act -- Don't Get Aids." Lancaster had several children but his relationship with his children isn't really examined that significantly (and we never learn the contents of his will). 

Whatever good or bad points Lancaster had, he made some memorable, or at least, famous motion pictures during his career, and gave some solid performances. From Here to Eternity, Come Back Little Sheba,  The Swimmer (my favorite Lancaster film and performance), A Child Is Waiting, Elmer Gantry, and many, many others. However Buford is not a film critic, so don't expect in-depth analysis of his films, although she does go behind the scenes of many of the movies. 

Verdict: Imperfect but notable bio that delves a bit more than others into the life of this enduring star. ***1/2. 

STRAIGHT SHOOTING Robert Stack

STRAIGHT SHOOTING Robert Stack with Mark Evans. Macmillan; 1980. 

Robert Stack was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Written on the Wind, appeared in many other film and TV vehicles, but will always be best-remembered as Eliot Ness on The Untouchables. Stack seems to come from the old school of macho-type actors who feel they must do something braver than emote for the camera, so he writes about going on safari and similar  experiences. A champion skeet shooter, Stack spends a chapter writing on the sport, although this is not as interesting as his musings on show biz. Although born in the U.S., Stack was raised in Europe and didn't speak English for quite a few years. A more cultured man than you might imagine, Stack was introduced to opera at an early age. Stack writes of his relationships with women and his happy marriage, as well as his friendships with the likes of Carole Lombard and Clark Gable. Stack goes behind the scenes of such films as The Bullfighter and the Lady but doesn't even mention co-starring with Joan Crawford in The Caretakers, for shame -- that might have been interesting! Stack has a tendency to cover old Hollywood folklore, which most readers will already be familiar with, too much, as he had a long career and doesn't need to pad the book, but his biggest gaffe is thinking that the film Detective Story (with Joseph Wiseman) was an episode of The Untouchables! (Wise appeared twice on the show but not in the role he played in Detective Story.) One suspects that it was Stack's co-author who keeps him up to date on such matters as Gay Lib; the actor was not thrilled when a comedian thought he was a "faggot" early in his career. Stack, who died in 2003, actually reprised the role of Eliot Ness in a telefilm that aired eleven years after this book was published. 

Verdict: Interesting if imperfect look at the career of the man who gave Deanna Durbin her first screen kiss! ***. 

THE QUEEN OF TECHNICOLOR: MARIA MONTEZ IN HOLLYWOOD

THE QUEEN OF TECHNICOLOR: MARIA MONTEZ IN HOLLYWOOD. Tom Zimmerman. University Press of Kentucky; 2022. NOTE: This review based on uncorrected galleys. 

Born in the Dominican Republic to a well-heeled family, Maria Montez married a much-older man whom she up and left flat after seven years to pursue her dreams of a career as an actress -- this despite having no discernable talent. Montez lived off a wealthy man's yacht for months, then during her stay in Manhattan managed to secure Bob Hope's agent "Doc" Schnurr. based solely on her looks. She was attractive but had to be carefully photographed, as her features could come off as heavy and unflattering. In general she looks much better in her technicolor movies than she does in still photographs. 

Montez made up so many stories about herself that no one believed her when she claimed to be engaged to a fighter pilot in the British air force -- people assumed he was a fictional entity -- but the man actually existed and did have a relationship with Montez, although they may or may not have been engaged. 

One critic wrote that Montez had "the regality of an
usherette." Once she began actually starring in movies (for a big but still second-string studio, Universal) Montez wanted to be "taken seriously." Her chief attribute when it came to thesping was radiating a haughty superiority, but she was no Hepburn. Refusing to appear in a western that she thought was too similar to her other films, Montez went on suspension even as Yvonne De Carlo replaced her and was groomed, in fact, to be her replacement at the studio. Universal eventually offered her a bone, the lead role in Tangier, but the picture was considered a stinker and those certain qualities that Montez exhibited in her earlier films were missing -- as Zimmerman puts it, she was merely "ordinary." She parted company with Universal and moved to France with her new husband Jean-Pierre Aumont and the two appeared in the terrible Siren of Atlantis. Zimmerman suggests that Montez showed some genuine acting ability in her later independent films, but she was still trading in on her trademark haughtiness. Montez  died in her bathtub at age 39.

Maria

The Queen of Technicolor is not always well-organized, with the earlier chapters jumping back and forth in time and covering the same material more than once as if the book needed to be padded. A chapter on Montez' home front activities during WW2 seems to go on forever. The book improves with the later chapters, but occasionally reads like a fan boy's career study instead of a serious bio, although  Zimmerman has, admirably, done a lot of research. Was Montez a heartless opportunist who got breaks in Hollywood that should have gone to much more talented people, or should she be admired as someone who tenaciously went after her goal and succeeded for a time, although now she is basically a half-forgotten Hollywood footnote? You can decide. In any case, her Arabian Nights is a genuinely good movie. 

Verdict:  For obsessive Maria Montez fans primarily, but also an interesting slice of Hollywood life. ***. 

FOREVER YOUNG: A MEMOIR Hayley Mills

FOREVER YOUNG: A MEMOIR. Hayley Mills. Grand Central; 2021.

In this very well-written and completely absorbing memoir, Hayley Mills begins by telling us that not only wasn't she at the ceremony, but she wasn't even aware of it when she was given a special Oscar for her first Disney film, Pollyanna.  She then writes of her early years, her family -- including father John Mills and sister Juliet Mills and her possibly alcoholic mother, who was also an actress -- and her first film, the British independent Tiger Bay, in which she co-starred with Horst Buchholz and developed a major crush on him. She signed a contract with Walt Disney, a man she greatly admired (she says nothing whatsoever negative about him) and appeared in such films as The Parent Trap, In Search of the Castaways, Summer Magic, That Darn Cat and others. Her first adult role was in The Family Way, which was directed by the much older Roy Boulting, whom she married. Boulting put her in unmemorable and inappropriate vehicles such as Twisted Nerve and their marriage was ultimately unsuccessful. Mills doesn't neglect her films or acting career, but the strength of the book is how well she delineates the feelings she was going through as she became famous at a very early age and other life-and-career-changing events that occurred afterward. 

Verdict: One of the best show biz memoirs ever written. ****. 

AGE OF CAGE

AGE OF CAGE: Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career. Keith Phipps. Henry Holt; 2022. 

Author Phipps makes it clear right from the beginning that this is not a biography of actor Nicolas Cage. Certainly there is plenty of material in both the man's career and occasionally chaotic private life to turn out a full bio, but instead Phipps has chosen to do a career study, describing the changes in Hollywood and the film industry over the years that impacted on Cage's career, and when he went with the flow or bucked the trends. Whatever you think of Cage -- nowadays many people see him as a name to avoid when it's listed in the cast -- he had some major successes, an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas, made some odd but forthright choices (such as the voice he affected in Peggy Sue Got Married), and is generally considered an intense and talented thespian who has given some very interesting performances. Cage's marriages, divorces, and tax and financial troubles are briefly mentioned, but not covered in detail, as the book focuses exclusively on the work. Phipps examines all of Cage's output, from major films to direct-to-video releases, and discusses which ones are worth your attention. Cage is the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, but he changed his name when charges of nepotism got too frenzied (the name change hardly worked). Cage is a big comic book fan who wanted to play Superman, but for multiple reasons it never happened. 

Verdict: Whether you're a fan of Cage or not, this is a breezy, entertaining and well-written look at the ups and downs of an interesting Hollywood career. ***. 

OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND: LADY TRIUMPHANT

OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND: LADY TRIUMPHANT. Victoria Amador. University Press of Kentucky; 2020.

The author of this bio, a life-long De Havilland fan, tracked the actress down in Paris, begged to meet and interview her, and even showed up at de Havilland's doorstep without an invitation (eventually she was invited). Normally I'm very wary of bios written by obsessive fans, questioning their objectivity, but to be fair to Ms. Amador, her portrait of the reclusive Miss De. Havilland seems fair and balanced for the most part. The book looks at the actor's youth, her rather quick ascent in Hollywood, her most famous roles (such as Miss Melanie, of course) and movies, and insightfully examines her acting style and approach to different parts -- when De Havilland was less than special she's not afraid to say so. The book also recounts her ultimately successful legal battles with the studio. her famous "feud" with her sister, Joan Fontaine (which actually gets its own chapter), and her marriages and affairs (according to the diva herself, she did not sleep with Errol Flynn although she certainly wanted to). 

The portrait that emerges of De Havilland is not without warts, as the lady has often come off as quite affected and too oh-so-proper to be believed.  However this book will give the interested reader the basic facts and then some behind the career and life of the actress whose most interesting aspect was her appearances on film in such movies as Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, The Heiress, Lady in a Cage, The Dark Mirror, and many, many others. Inexplicably Amador supports De Havillamd's foolish, ill-advised and ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit against the producers of Feud: Bette and Joan. Admittedly she was portrayed, briefly, by an actress who was nothing like her and she would never have made comments about her sister in public, but that is hardly suit-worthy, and trying to change the laws about public figures would have been opening a can of worms that would have had terrible repercussions for journalists -- and biographers. Amador has added a new chapter after her subject's death that goes on and on and on perhaps a bit too much.

Verdict: Very good read for De Havilland fans and Hollywood observers in general. ***1/2. 

ANNE BANCROFT: A LIFE

ANNE BANCROFT: A LIFE. Douglass K. Daniel. University Press of Kentucky; 2017. 

Anne Bancroft was typical of a lot of what we might call "second tier celebrities." Bancroft was accomplished and celebrated, an Oscar-winner, and had a highly successful career, yet for most of her life she was not really "bankable." Her husband, Mel Brooks, may have even become the bigger "name" at one time. In spite of this, Bancroft managed to amass many credits on TV, on the stage, and in films, with her most famous movies being The Miracle Worker (recreating her stage role) and The Graduate. This excellent biography covers her entire life and career from girlhood to death, and does so with intelligence and sensitivity. Author Daniel also analyzes Bancroft's technique in different roles, and doesn't shy away from recording times when she was off her game, at least according to certain critics. Bancroft toiled in B movies like Gorilla at Large and The Girl in Black Stockings, before entering a new phase and new admiration on Broadway and elsewhere. On the stage Bancroft tackled challenging roles in works such as The Devils and Mother Courage. The book is bolstered with many comments from people who knew and worked with the woman. Bancroft's first movie was Don't Bother to Knock, where she was upstaged by Marilyn Monroe but gave the better performance. She wisely turned down such projects as Myra Breckinridge and Mommie Dearest. 

Verdict: Excellent on every level and a good read as well. ****. 

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ORSON WELLES? Joseph McBride

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ORSON WELLES? A Portrait of an Independent Career. Joseph McBride. University Press of Kentucky. 

What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? is not a biography of the famous actor and director, but rather a study of his career and an attempt to correct misconceptions about the man that have proliferated both before and after his death. McBride is often successful at this, and sometimes not, and the book -- while well-written and well-researched -- occasionally has a petulant "fan-boy" tone to it. Film buff McBride became acquainted with Welles and was even cast in The Other Side of the Wind as a nerdy film geek (a talented writer, the less said about his acting the better), and spoke and dealt with him on and off over the years. McBride argues against some of the assertions made against Welles, but at other times makes clear that these assertions are often true. Welles clearly was a narcissist, and clearly expected those under his spell to do what he wanted, come hell or highwater. However, McBride argues that Welles was not some corpulent figure of fun but an artist who not only made some successful and brilliant films, but, like a true artist, kept on working right up to the very last minute of his life. McBride dissects many of Welles's lesser-known film projects, and does make it clear that Welles's career did not begin and end with Citizen Kane. One suspects he's just too close to The Other Side of the Wind to see how really bad it is. To his credit, McBride doesn't shy away from examining Welles's flaws, and even goes into the man's ambivalent feelings about his sexuality. 

Verdict: Whatever you think of Welles, this is an interesting and thought-provoking read. ***. 

HITCHCOCK AND THE CENSORS

HITCHCOCK AND THE CENSORS. John Billheimer. University Press of Kentucky; 2019. 

This fascinating volume looks at the work of the brilliant Alfred Hitchcock, and focuses on how his films -- and the episodes of his TV shows that he directed -- fared with the censors. The book is divided into sections on his British films; his films with Selznick; the films he did after he ended his association with the producer; his golden period, which included such as Vertigo and North By Northwest; the TV years; and the final period when he regained some lost ground with the critics with Frenzy (but who also did such interesting works as Marnie and Torn Curtain). 

After going into the formation of the production code, the book relates the censors' initial reaction to scripts that Hitch submitted and the changes they recommended, as well as the often clever way that Hitch would get around those changes. Censors were especially worried by the lengthy kisses of Notorious, the depiction of a toilet flushing in Psycho, possible lesbianism in Rebecca, the too-efficient Nazi of Lifeboat, the gay murderers of Rope, a potentially suicidal priest in I Confess, and much more. While examining the censorship of Hitch's films and both its positive and negative effects on the movies, Billheimer takes a fresh and interesting look at the Master's films in general. 

Verdict: Excellent tome for the serious Hitchcock admirer and film enthusiasts in general. ***1/2.  

JAYNE MANSFIELD: THE GIRL COULDN'T HELP IT

JAYNE MANSFIELD: THE GIRL COULDN'T HELP IT. Eve Golden. University Press of Kentucky; 2021. 

Let's face it. Jayne Mansfield, a triumph of tenacity and publicity, didn't have much of a career. She did only a couple of films for major studios, but the rest of her film "career" consisted of a few Grade B to Grade D stinkers, each one more embarrassing than the one before. Focused almost exclusively on being famous for being famous, she loved her children without necessarily being a great mother, and was said to be kind to everyone, although the wives of the men she had affairs with would probably disagree. Had she lived she would undoubtedly have descended into a morass of alcohol and sleaze or wound up on Dr. Phil in her dotage. 

Biographer Eve Golden makes a case that Mansfield was her own worst enemy. Using her most obvious assets, she became a publicity-hound of the first order, and it was this that eventually turned her into a national joke, a boob not just in name only. Her own frenetic publicity-seeking ensured that no one would ever take her seriously, and the very few performances that some people thought had merit were either ignored or not even seen by her detractors. Although she was often compared with Marilyn Monroe, Monroe managed to give some fine performances in genuinely memorable pictures, and she was too adorable to be really vulgar. This was not the case with Mansfield. Frankly, Mansfield has more in common with Anna Nicole Smith than Monroe. Her marriage to Micky Hargitay was based more on hormones and press clippings than anything else, although it may be true that he, at least, genuinely loved Jayne or at least became attached to her. Can narcissists ever really love anyone but themselves? 

Mansfield died in a horrible accident in which two others were killed (but rarely mentioned), the teen boy who was driving (and who had a child and fiancee), and Mansfield's latest boyfriend, a ground slug who left his crippled wife to be with the blond boob. But her life had pretty much become a disaster even before the accident -- she spent more time opening supermarkets than appearing in movies, her nightclub act was seen as a joke by most sensible people, and her brief days of stardom at 20th Century-Fox, the studio that dropped her, were long since over. For much of this book you have to slog through pages and pages of Mansfield's appearances at store openings and other venues to get to the meat, but in spite of that the book is generally entertaining and readable. While clearly being a fan, Golden maintains some objectivity, tries to explain Mansfield's motives and character, separates facts from fan press fiction, and does her best to present the actress as someone deserving of a certain sympathy if not a reappraisal. If some readers may feel that she doesn't quite succeed at some of these goals, it's not for lack of trying. 

Verdict: Interesting, rather exhaustive (and sometimes exhausting), look at a show business casualty and tireless self-promoter. ***. 

LUCY AT THE MOVIES

LUCY AT THE MOVIES. Cindy de la Hoz. 

Before she became a super-star with I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball was an honest-to-goodness movie star who appeared in dozens of films, beginning as a chorus girl and extra, moving on to supporting player, and finally emerging as a star in her own right of such films as The Big Street, in which she was teamed above the title with Henry Fonda. Ball displayed her comic gifts – although she was more than "just" a fine comedienne – in film after film, bolstering mediocre efforts and complimenting good ones such as Street, in which she gives an affecting, memorable portrait of a spoiled, frightened singer who is scared she'll never walk again and takes it out on everyone around her, especially the man who is devoted to her. This book looks at every film that Ball appeared in before, during, and after Lucy, everything from The Affairs of Annabelle to Mame. You'll even read about the film she once made with Boris Karloff! Ms. de la Hoz supplies synopses, sample reviews, her own background notes and critique, and loads and loads of photos. This is a huge, heavy, coffee table book on thick paperstock. 

Verdict: Lucy fans should pounce! ***1/2.

MUSIC BY MAX STEINER

MUSIC BY MAX STEINER: The Epic Life of Hollywood's Most Influential Composer. Steven C. Smith. Oxford University Press; 2020. 

Gone with the Wind, Now Voyager, King Kong, Of Human Bondage, Charge of the Light Brigade, White Heat, The Fountainhead, Johnny Belinda, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Mildred Pierce, Since You Went Away, Casablanca, The Letter, Dark Victory, Jezebel, Angels with Dirty Faces, A Star is Born (1937) -- this barely scratches the list of the 241 scores composed by the great Austrian-born Max Steiner. This excellent, well-researched, and very thorough biography examines Steiner's family and early life in Vienna, his early years working on Broadway, the first pictures that he began scoring, up to his triumphs on such as Gone With the Wind (for which he did not win an Oscar and should have) and scores that did win Academy Awards, such as Since You Went Away, Now, Voyager and The Informer. Steiner clearly understood the importance of underscoring to bring out the emotional sub-text in motion pictures, a style that was later implemented by many other composers in Hollywood. At first, some people thought it was strange to hear, say, a symphonic orchestra in the middle of the desert, but eventually audiences came to appreciate the music blaring from the speakers while the actors did their thing onscreen. Music By Max Steiner looks at his various, often troubled, marriages, his problems with the studios and producers such as Selznick, his gambling and profligate spending which left him deeply in debt until, lo and behold, he actually composed a hit song with his theme from A Summer Place. The book also looks at the sad, tragic and all-too-brief life of his handsome only son, Ronald, who committed suicide at 21 (and was possibly gay). Steiner's music has complemented many great movies and enriched movies that even Steiner wished he hadn't had to work on, but although he occasionally wrote a less-than-compelling score, that didn't happen very often. My favorite Steiner theme: the sensitive and lovely waltz that signifies the relationship between Olivia de Havilland and George Brent in In This Our Life. (Author Smith doesn't comment on this, but with so very many movies to choose from it's inevitable that some of your favorites will be overlooked.) The book gets rather technical at times but that shouldn't blunt your enjoyment even if you're not a musicologist. 

Verdict: Excellent biography of a gifted composer whose life and work richly deserves to be re-examined. ****.                                                                                                                                                                                                         

FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN

Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange

FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN (8- part 2017 mini-series).

"I can't go into rehab -- I've got the Dean Martin roast!" -- Bette Davis. 

Movie legend Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange of American Horror Story: Asylum) goes to see another movie legend, Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon of The Other Side of Midnight), and offers her the title role in a film version of the novel "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" During filming with director Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina of Prick Up Your Ears), long-simmering resentments and rivalries resurface, and while the two women resolve to have a united front against the twin demons of ageism and sexism, jealousies and insecurities only drive them farther apart. It all culminates when Davis gets an Oscar nod and Crawford doesn't ...

The real Bette Davis and Joan Crawford

Well, this incredibly entertaining and absorbing mini-series could have been a campy and horrible mess, but with intelligent writing and some excellent acting it emerges as a very memorable mini-series. (Feud was not available for viewing while Olivia de Havilland sued the production -- she lost -- but it is now back on Amazon Prime: $11.99 to own all eight Standard Definition episodes.) Let's get one thing out of the way. Feud is highly exaggerated and fictionalized, the actual "feud" between the two ladies being very over-stated to say the least. For much of their lives, Davis and Crawford were busy with careers, children and several bad marriages, and probably didn't think about each other all that much. It was the whole Oscar business -- Davis lost while Crawford accepted the coveted statuette on winner Anne Bancroft's behalf -- that undoubtedly started the "feud," and led to unpleasantness on the set of Baby Jane follow-up Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

Now, as to the mini-series itself, once you get past the fabrications and dramatic licenses taken, it manages to go beyond its initial premise and explore the struggles of aging women played out against an industry where an old woman is simply considered a 'hag." The feminist angle is explored but never overwhelms the production, nor does it necessarily excuse the ladies' bad behavior, which could often be chalked up to extreme sensitivity on any number of issues. Of the two lead actresses, Lange comes off the best -- the real Crawford was much better-looking than Lange in her nearly grotesque make up, and had much more authority -- but otherwise Lange proves herself a fine actress and gives a commendable performance. Of the two icons, Davis was imitated much more than Crawford, so Sarandon had a dilemma: how to play a real person without coming off like a drag impersonator. Sarandon succeeds in making Davis seem real, but her performance is also a little dull -- for lack of a better word -- in comparison to Lange's. However, both women are good, although neither of them have the kind of intense power, personality or sheer charisma of the real Crawford and Davis. And when they recreate scenes from Baby Jane? neither are as good as the original stars.

Feud benefits from some superb supporting performances: Alfred Molina as Robert Aldrich; Stanley Tucci as Jack Warner; Alison Wright as Aldrich's assistant Pauline Jameson; Molly Price as Aldrich's wife, Harriet; John Rubinstein as George Cukor; and especially Jackie Hoffman as Crawford's maid and companion, "Mamacita," and a scene-stealing Judy Davis [Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows] as Hedda Hopper. On the other hand, Catherine Zeta-Jones doesn't remind me of Olivia de Havilland at all (although you would think de Havilland would have been flattered that she was played by a much younger and beautiful actress.) And Kathy Bates makes a rather mediocre Joan Blondell. The sections showing them being interviewed about the feud could easily have been jettisoned.

Dominic Burgess seems to think that because his character, actor Victor Buono, was gay that he should play him more as a stereotype than he was in real life. While Buono is a colorful character, it's strange that Feud completely omits Maidie Norman, the black actress who played the murdered maid Elvira in Baby Jane? and who had a very interesting life -- was it because she was a lifelong Republican? Feud is perhaps more sympathetic to Joan than it is to Bette, and suggests that her daughter Christina's hateful memoirs were not entirely accurate, if at all.

It's interesting that the writers for this series must have done research by poring over bios of the two screen idols -- books such as Fasten Your Seat Belts: The Passionate Life of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography -- but none are given credit, and that even includes an exaggerated tome entitled Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud!

Verdict: Fascinating, amusing, dramatic, even poignant look at old Hollywood and how stars desperately cling to every inch they've gained while at times losing their humanity in the struggle. ***1/2. 

GRANT WILLIAMS

GRANT WILLIAMS, Giancarlo Stampalia. Bearmanor; 2018.

It is made clear from the beginning that this is not a traditional biography of the actor Grant Williams -- most famous for The Incredible Shrinking Man -- but a career study put together from assorted press clippings and interviews with a couple of co-workers and acting students. Stampalia was hampered by Williams' extreme privacy during his life, as well as the absence of living co-stars and others who were willing to contribute anecdotes. However, Stampalia adds depth to his manuscript with his analyses of Williams' acting approach to various roles, and whether his performances worked or not, and why they did or didn't. He goes on for some length on The Incredible Shrinking Man -- but there are also notes on all of Williams' film, TV, and radio appearances. Although it would be easy to see Williams as a closeted gay or bisexual man suffering from Catholic guilt -- and this may certainly have been the case --  Stampalia argues that this assessment is by no means certain without solid proof. If Williams failed to reach major stardom it may have been, as Stampalia suggests, that he was more interested in being a good actor than in being a movie star. However, even his TV and "B" movie career might have suffered because of his heavy drinking and possible alcoholism. Williams became a regular on Hawaiian Eye and gave a notable performance in the thriller The Couch. Stampalia makes a strong case for Williams' acting talent -- he did a creditable job playing Peter Tchiakovsky on a episode of The Magical World of Disney -- although it is also true that the effect the actor frequently exuded was one of handsome blandness. Stampalia is perhaps more erudite then other writers of movie star fan books, so he can be forgiven the occasional foray into pretentiousness. The book is bolstered with lots of interesting photographs.

Verdict: Intensive study of a comparatively minor film player who kept his secrets to himself. ***.