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! ***. 

CHANGE LOBSTERS AND DANCE

CHANGE LOBSTERS AND DANCE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Lilli Palmer. Macmillan; 1975.

Apparently without a ghostwriter, Lilli Palmer [Body and Soul] writes affectingly of her life and a bit of her career and writes so well that she proves as talented an author as she was an actress. Palmer tells of growing up a Jew in Berlin, leaving the country for France and then England when Hitler reared his ugly head, her early struggles to have a career as an actress and winding up as part of a singing act in sleazy nightclubs, her work in theater and films, and her marriage to Rex Harrison. From an insider's pov, Palmer tells of the effect Harrison's affair with Carole  Landis [Out of the Blue], a suicide, had on her and her husband's lives -- they essentially had to flee Hollywood for New York until My Fair Lady changed everything -- as well as the major impact of his affair with co-star Kay Kendall [Les Girls] , whom Harrison had to take care of as she was dying, a fact that was kept from her.  It was difficult for Palmer to continue co-starring with Rex Harrison in "Bell, Book and Candle" in London after he fell in love with Kendall, but the producer wouldn't let her out of her contract. She lied and told Harrison that she would return to him after Kendall's death, but told him the truth afterward. Palmer then had a happier marriage to Argentinian actor and author Carlos Thompson [Raw Wind in Eden]. Palmer provides interesting portraits of such folk as co-stars Gary Cooper, Clark Gable and close friend Laurence Olivier, as well as of Noel Coward, Greta Garbo, Helen Keller, and the malicious Hedda Hopper, but the best sections relate her impressions as anti-Semitic feelings grew in Germany, and her reactions when she returned to make films in her homeland many years later, wondering which of her co-workers were Nazis and which weren't.

Palmer goes behind the scenes of a couple of her movies, but most of her film work is only mentioned in passing. (She doesn't even mention stuff like The House That Screamed.) Interestingly, second husband Thompson did not want her appearing on the New York stage because, as she puts it, "I couldn't possibly ask him to sit around and twiddle his thumbs for a whole year ... " this coming not long after Thompson spent two years away from Palmer researching a book! Sadly, Palmer died of cancer about ten years after this book was finished, and Thompson committed suicide four years later.

Verdict: Absorbing and very well-written memoir. ***1/2. 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COMIC BOOK MOVIES

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COMIC BOOK MOVIES. Wheeler Winston Dixon and Richard Graham. Palgrave Macmillan; 2017.

This is indeed a very brief overview of comic book and comic strip adaptations that comes off more like a long article than a book. Chapters look at characters from the DC Comic universe, such as Superman and Batman; the characters of the Marvel Universe, such as Iron Man and the Fantastic Four; Japanese anime; and independent films such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The book is breezily written for the most part, makes some good points about these movies, but in some ways comes off like a well-done term paper. There are no photographs. It's strange that the publisher didn't invest in some pictures and thicken the book's page count.

Verdict: Publish or perish? **1/2.

RED: THE TEMPESTUOUS LIFE OF SUSAN HAYWARD

RED: THE TEMPESTUOUS LIFE OF SUSAN HAYWARD. Robert LaGuardia and Gene Arceri. Macmillan; 1985.

Reading this book I was reminded of how grateful I am never to have been continually in the orbit of any self-absorbed and difficult movie star, as Susan Hayward is not someone I would have liked to have known personally. Hayward was a good actress who could be excellent in some roles and merely indifferent in others. According to this very readable biography, Hayward never got over the fact that her family, her mother especially, favored her sister Florence and thought she would become the star. When it didn't work out that way, Florence virtually starved while Hayward made millions and cut off all contact with her. Hayward cast off first husband, actor Jess Barker, when his career didn't reach the same level hers did, but seemed to love second husband Eaton Chalkley, who ran her career (some would suggest right into the ground) and is depicted as a racist, obsessive quasi-Catholic, heavy drinker, and possible closet queen. Hayward was nominated for Oscars several times, and finally won one for I Want to Live! As she got older, she often regretted her film choices, although she did get attention for appearing in Back Street, Where Love Has Gone, and Valley of the Dolls, among others. A funny incident has Hayward being very bitchy with Celeste Holm when the latter was going to replace her in Mame, and Hayward is generally described as being cold and distant with her co-workers. There were people who were devoted to her, however, and she made some friends without ever growing terribly close to anyone. She admitted more than once that she "wasn't a nice person." The authors include many interviews and anecdotes, and describe Hayward's final days -- an awful death due to multiple brain tumors -- in nearly excruciating detail. Hayward will be remembered as a feisty star with charisma, personality, and genuine talent, which the authors clearly have an appreciation of.

Verdict: Graphic, uncompromising look at Susan Hayward. ***1/2.