W.C. FIELDS: A BIOGRAPHY

W. C. FIELDS A biography. James Curtis. 2003; Alfred A. Knopf.

This is an excellent biography of the great comedian W. C. Fields, from his childhood to his early success as a juggler in vaudeville, to his early film performances, and on to his various successes (and failures) in motion pictures. Curtis describes how certain of Fields' life and career experiences later informed his film portrayals. The book also examines Fields' difficult relationships with his one wife and several mistresses, as well as with his two sons, one legitimate and one not. Curtis goes behind the scenes of such memorable films as The Bank Dick and The Old-Fashioned Way and relates the touchy working relationship between Fields and Mae West on My Little Chickadee. Curtis does a great job of getting across Fields' essentially lovable but often mercurial nature, which was exacerbated by his extreme alcoholism in later years. Sympathetic, incisive and well-researched, this is one superb biography.

Verdict: You'll want to rush out and see every one of Fields' movies! ****.

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. 

INVENTING TROY DONAHUE: THE MAKING OF A MOVIE STAR A Biography

INVENTING TROY DONAHUE. A Biography. Michael Gregg Michaud. BearManor Media; 2023. 

As this interesting biography makes clear, Troy Donahue -- born Merle Johnson -- was a pure product of Hollywood. His agent, the voracious Henry Willson, changed his name and got him a studio contract. Thinking he could actually act, Donahue got big for his britches and pouted about the lousy assignments he was given. What really rankled him was that his studio, Warner Brothers -- he was one of the last of the contract players for that studio as well as many others -- kept putting him into TV series such as Hawaiian Eye when he felt he had already become a bona fide movie star in such films as A Summer Place and shouldn't have had to toil in TV. But his gorgeous good looks turned Donahue into a major star and a household name and the studio wanted to make as much off of him as they possibly could. (Ironically, Donahue claimed over and over again that he thought the TV scripts were terrible, but they were generally much better than the movies he made.) Working with Donahue in several pictures, the director Delmer Daves was able to get an adequate performance from him in certain movies but eventually even Daves got tired at having to impatiently guide him through every scene in every movie. Without Daves, Donahue floundered, giving absolutely wretched performances in such films as My Blood Runs Cold. The truth is, Donohue was simply not that talented.

Another problem was that Donahue had an addictive personality and couldn't get through a day -- especially when he had to face the cameras -- without alcohol and drugs. This may explain why he seems so utterly wooden in so many movies -- he was virtually anesthetized -- but one suspects the raw ability just wasn't there to begin with. He was able to trade on his sensitive good looks in such films as Parrish, but he was always out-acted by virtually everyone else in the cast. Donahue got engaged to Swedish actress Lili Kardell, who wound up suing him for a beating she alleged he gave her while drunk; Donahue, of course, denied it, and the studio paid her off but her own career was finished. Donahue had a brief marriage to Suzanne Pleshette, who starred with him in Rome Adventure, then had several more wives, some of whom he essentially lived off until they got sick of his ways or he had no more use for them. 

Donahue in later years

Donahue claimed to have lived in a bush in Central Park for a time when he was homeless, and hitting rock bottom, decided to try sobriety for a change. Apparently this worked, and Donahue managed to get various jobs in films, most of which went direct-to-video. He had a small role in Godfather Part 2 as Talia Shire's husband. Although Donahue still acted as his own press agent, giving out with the unlikely story that he made more money off the direct-to-video movies than he did in his Warner Brothers days, he also could be quite honest about his circumstances. He seems to have managed to make his peace with the fact that his days of Hollywood stardom were forever over, and he turned to theater, where he got mixed reviews. Inventing Troy Donahue is an interesting and informative book, with loads of info about the actor, although I think there may have been too much of a reliance on published interviews he gave where he tends to repeat the same things ad infinitum. 

Verdict: An entertaining look at the dark side of the Hollywood dream. ***. 

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. 

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. ***. 

BUZZ

BUZZ: THE LIFE AND ART OF BUSBY BERKELEY. Jeffrey Spivak. University Press of Kentucky; 2010. 

In this well-written and interesting account of Busby Berkeley, we learn that the man responsible for so many knock-out and eye-popping production numbers in vintage musicals was not a choreographer in the classic sense, but came up with often startling ideas to incorporate into -- or overpower -- the song and dance routines. Berkeley also directed numerous films, including Forty Little Mothers and Babes on Broadway. 

Whatever the man's sexual orientation, Berkeley avoided MPs in the red light district by dressing in drag; his first wife considered him a mama's boy and most of his marriages did not last long; and early in his career he eagerly took the role of a campy queen in a Broadway show. Who knows? 

His personal life had other problems, including a propensity for drink. After three trials Busby was acquitted of vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of three people. His defense team argued that regardless of his inebriation at the wheel, a tire blow-out caused the accident. (But a sober driver might have been able to handle the car after the blow out.) While some of the people who worked with Busby had positive things to say about him, others considered him a rather vile and unpleasant individual. 

Frankly Buzz will not have you admiring the man but it does help you to admire his artistry, which is well-documented in this informative and engaging tome. 

Verdict:  Solid bio of a influential and creative Hollywood figure. ***1/2. 

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. 

CHARLES BOYER: THE FRENCH LOVER John Baxter

CHARLES BOYER: THE FRENCH LOVER. John Baxter. University Press of Kentucky; 2021. 

This is an absorbing study of the life and career of Charles Boyer, a balding and stocky man, married to one woman for many years, who nevertheless became a Great Lover on the screen. Boyer's career in Hollywood began with him doing foreign versions of American productions, and he maneuvered as much as he could to become tied to a Hollywood studio. Eventually Boyer starred and gave wonderful performances in such films as Algiers, A Woman's Vengeance, History is Made at Night, Gaslight, and many, many others. Boyer wasn't always at the top of his game, as shown in Arch of Triumph, but generally he graced every production he was in. Baxter writes that Boyer outwardly accepted but inwardly resented being given supporting parts as he grew older, but his career was kept alive thanks to these roles and to TV appearances, but no matter how small the role he was always a star (witness The Happy Time, for instance). His final years were troubled by the death of his son, his wife's terminal illness, and his own health problems. Also recommended: Charles Boyer: The Reluctant Lover by Larry Swindell. 

Verdict: Absorbing read on the great star and actor. ***. 

MIKE NICHOLS: A LIFE

MIKE NICHOLS: A LIFE. Mark Harris. Penguin Press/Random House; 2021. 

In this first-class biography of the actor-director, who worked in the theater even more than he did in films, we learn how Igor Peschkowsky came from Berlin to America in 1939 as an eight-year-old. Nichols entered show business as a kind of intellectual comedian, eventually partnering with Elaine May, then began directing for the stage. He made the switch to films by helming the cinema adaptation of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? -- he followed this with The Graduate, Carnal Knowledge and others -- but continued directing for the theater, occasionally "fixing" shows behind the scenes. Nichols could be distinctly neurotic and unpleasant, and never quite made it to the front rank of movie directors, although he became a significant figure in the arts. With many interviews to bolster Nichols' story, biographer Harris explores Nichols' marriages, relationships, and career in compelling fashion. Harris also had access to Nichols and others when Nichols directed the cable adaptation of Angels in America, which was written by Harris' husband. While Harris doesn't necessarily shy away from detailing Nichols faults both as director and human being, others have noted that he does on occasion come off like a "fan-boy." 

Verdict: Even if you're not a major Nichols admirer, this bio has a whole cast of interesting supporting characters as well as the background stories of important filmic and theatrical productions. ***1/2. 

THE BRIEF, MADCAP LIFE OF KAY KENDALL

THE BRIEF, MADCAP LIFE OF KAY KENDALL. Eve Golden with Kim Kendall. University Press of Kentucky; 2002.

Since most if not all of the major stars have been covered ad nauseam, many publishers have come out with books on 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier celebrities. British actress and comedienne Kay Kendall [Les Girls; Wings of Danger), who did indeed have a brief life and career, fits into the lattermost of those categories. Kendall was talented and tragic, dying young of leukemia, which her husband and family tried very hard to keep her from knowing until nearly the end. Her husband was Rex Harrison, and Kendall would have probably been forgotten by all but her most obsessive fans, however many, if it had not been for that association with a much bigger star. Kendall's marriage to Harrison played out during a time when the latter was ascendant due to his triumphs in both the stage and screen versions of My Fair Lady. Eve Golden's entertaining and page-turning book won't necessarily have you admiring Kendall's character, although she was probably no worse than a lot of other husband-stealing, rather "trampy" and superficial starlets; Kendall also became full of herself. (Kendall stole Harrison from Lilli Palmer, who had herself broken up an earlier marriage to Harrison. Harrison claimed that he primarily married Kendall only because she was dying.) Kendall was great friends with Dirk Bogarde and his partner, Anthony Forwood. Biographer Golden does a very good job dissecting Kendall's films and performances while never neglecting her interesting personal life. 

Verdict: Good read for those interested in this talented if minor British actress. ***. 

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. ***. 

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. ****.                                                                                                                                                                                                         

GET HAPPY: THE LIFE OF JUDY GARLAND

GET HAPPY: THE LIFE OF JUDY GARLAND. Gerald Clarke. Dell/Random House. 2000.  

Here is another book that traces the life of the famous singer-actress in generally sympathetic fashion. Clarke looks at Garland's early life and her parents, her emergence as an MGM star, her struggles with diet and pills and more pills, her numerous affairs, marriages and divorces, and even her movies and concerts. There are some things in the tome that give one pause, however. The notion that Judy's mother, the homely Ethel Gumm, was trading sexual favors for consideration for her daughter, seems ludicrous, but to be fair Clarke says whether this is true or not "is impossible to say." Clarke is largely sympathetic to Judy's father, a theater owner, but there is a big difference between a man who is simply gay or bi and a married man who hits on teenage boys -- Clarke doesn't seem to get that if this was true the man was a predator. Clarke also seems too credible when presented with alleged evidence -- a letter -- that Tyrone Power was madly in love [!] with Garland. In those days (and even today) actors would have done anything to cover up even an inference of homosexuality. Clarke also states that Garland "occasionally enjoyed a frolic with another woman" but refuses to label her as bisexual -- huh? Still, Get Happy is well-written, and has some solid information to go with the more suspect material.

Verdict: Generally worthwhile if imperfect Garland bio. ***. 

A LIFE OF WILLIAM INGE: THE STRAINS OF TRIUMPH

A LIFE OF WILLIAM INGE: The Strains of Triumph. Ralph F. Voss. 1989; University Press of Kansas.

William Inge wrote several noteworthy plays -- Come Back, Little Sheba; Picnic; Bus Stop -- which were also made into excellent motion pictures. He also did an original screenplay for Splendor in the Grass, for which he won an Oscar, as well as the screenplay for All Fall Down. The Stripper was based on his unsuccessful play A Loss of Roses, and one of his one-acts was turned into Bus Riley's Back in Town, a film he later discredited. This in-depth biography looks at Inges' early years growing up in Kansas, his relationships with other family members, his struggles to find success as first an actor and then a playwright, his early Broadway successes, his friendship and rivalry with Tennessee Williams. his negative feelings about his homosexuality, and the post-success periods of the sixties and seventies in which nothing he wrote seemed to work and he tried much too hard to be hip and trendy. Inge's problem wasn't that he was gay, but that he couldn't accept it. He attended AA meanings with the writer Charles Jackson, a fellow self-hater and alcoholic, which was like the blind leading the blind. Inge's internalized homophobia probably reached its nadir in his 1965 play Where's Daddy? which was put out of its misery after only 21 performances. In this the main character, "Pinky Pinkerton," is a gay man who seduces teenage boys and tries to convince one of them to, in essence, go straight with a wife and kid! Inge lived to see Stonewall, but author Voss does not record Inge's reaction to it, if indeed he had one. Despite Inge's negative feelings about himself, he was a gifted playwright who managed to craft works that still resonate and that are still being produced today. This biography, while not without flaws and perhaps with too much (and conversely too little) preoccupation with his sexuality, gives Inge his due as both a man and an artist.

Verdict:  Insightful and absorbing biography of a great playwright. ***1/2. 

MIRIAM HOPKINS: LIFE AND FILMS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL

MIRIAM HOPKINS: LIFE AND FILMS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL. Allan R. Ellenberger. University Press of Kentucky; 2018.

Miriam Hopkins is long overdue a serious biography, and at last we've got one. Hopkins never quite made the front rank of stardom -- like such ladies as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford -- but she was a highly gifted actress who appeared in many notable films and gave some excellent performances in them. Hopkins first made her mark on Broadway, and like many actors during this period, had some reservations about "going Hollywood." Seen as incredibly sexy in her twenties ( a sexiness that faded out rather early), she was cast in a number of crappy melodramas, such as the terrible 24 Hours, but also did The Smiling Lieutenant with Maurice Chevalier and starred in more than one movie for Ernst Lubitsch. Although she gave an uneven performance as a rape victim in The Story of Temple Drake, the film brought Hopkins a lot of attention, and she was excellent in William Wyler's These Three. (Years later Hopkins also scored in Wyler's remake of this, The Children's Hour, which stuck more closely to the original plot of Lillian Hellman's play.)

Although the media has made (too) much of the alleged "feud" between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, there was much more of a feud -- if that's what you want to call it -- between Davis and Hopkins. The two appeared together in The Old Maid and Old Acquaintance, and there was decided tension on the set. Hopkins felt sure that Davis had had a fling with Hopkins' then-husband Anatol Litvak, and she was also furious that Davis had played her part in the film version of the stage play Jezebel. Hopkins also infuriated other actors and directors with her scene-stealing and other antics. As Hopkins grew older, she concentrated more on the stage, although she had one of her best roles in another brilliant William Wyler film, The Heiress. Also as she aged, Hopkins never quite understood that she was not really the mega-star that, say, Davis was, and never attracted that kind of obsessive fan attention. This excellent book also examines Hopkins' other films and stage roles; her marriages and many affairs; her adopted son, Michael; behind-the scenes on-set experiences; and Hopkins' relationship with Tennessee Williams during and after her starring in his play Band of Angels; amused by her yet respecting her talent, Williams called her a "magnificent bitch." Well-researched and with plenty of interviews.

Verdict: First-class look at the inimitable Miriam Hopkins. ***1/2. 

STERLING HAYDEN'S WARS

STERLING HAYDEN'S WARS. Lee Mandel. University Press of Mississippi; 2018.

Sterling Hayden drew Hollywood's attention when he made a name for himself as a young sailor, made a couple of films, promptly turned his back on Hollywood, worked with the Partisans in WW2 and became a war hero, briefly joined the Communist party and named names during the HUAC [House UnAmerican Activities Committee] hearings, continued working on movies while disdaining Hollywood and the whole field of acting, finished an autobiography, Wanderer, and a novel, Voyage, became a hopeless alcoholic as well as a pothead, and was basically at war with himself -- hence the title -- for most of his life. Despite his hatred of Hollywood and most of his movies, Hayden was a very stereotypical movie star in that he was completely self-absorbed, a so-called family man who really wanted to live life as a bachelor and stay at sea. He ignored a court order and took his children by his second wife (his first wife was actress Madeleine Carroll) to Tahiti on his own boat, and got only a slap on the wrist from the chauvinistic judge. Unlike other actors, such as Larry Parks, Hayden survived his brush with communism and continued to have a career, although he made movies only for the money. His performances ranged from the mediocre to the on-target but he could never be called an acting genius. Throughout his life he was completely irresponsible and self-centered, and although the book does go into the sufferings his three wives had to endure, there is little about the children, although one can imagine. If the author intended the reader to come to admire Hayden, the book creates a completely opposite effect. I could hardly wait to be done with Hayden as after awhile I became disgusted by his selfish antics.

Generally I have a policy in that I review a book for what it is and not what it isn't, but I find that I do have to make one important point about Sterling Hayden's Wars. I have noticed that books about movie stars written by people who are not film historians or even film buffs are problematic. For instance, one of the first movies Hayden made after testifying for HUAC was The Star with Bette Davis. And that's absolutely all that Mandel says about the movie, this despite the fact that Hayden plays a character much like himself, someone who has a love of sailing and had a brief movie career before walking away from Hollywood. Johnny Guitar is only mentioned in passing -- his hated co-star, Joan Crawford, isn't even in the index! -- when there was certainly plenty of things going on behind-the-scenes while that film was being made. (For more info, see Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography, co-authored by yours truly.) Hayden was a war hero, but he was not Audie Murphy; he testified for HUAC but he was not a major player; he's not the only actor to write books -- so what distinguishes him, if anything, is his movie career, which Mandel pretty much glosses over, although there is some detail about Dr. Strangelove and a couple of other movies. Most readers will look at this book because Hayden was, briefly, a movie star, so why not deal with it? Frankly, although the many chapters on the war and HUAC are well-researched, they seem to go on forever, often cover familiar territory, and almost unbalance the book.You would never know that Hayden actually amassed over seventy credits in film and on television, and you wonder how many of these Mandel actually watched.

That said, Sterling Hayden's Wars is by no means a bad book. If you don't mind that you won't actually find that much about his film career, you may find the tome rewarding. As for Hayden himself, I found myself disliking him the more I read. Frankly, some people might consider what Hayden and his third wife allowed their children to go through as being tantamount to child abuse.

Verdict: Not without some merit on its own terms, but hardly the last word on Hayden's film career. **1/2. 

KIM NOVAK, RELUCTANT GODDESS

KIM NOVAK, RELUCTANT GODDESS. Peter Harry Brown. St. Martin's; 1986.

This is the story of Kim Novak, a "manufactured" star who was signed to a contract because of her looks and then had to learn how to act on the run, so to speak. However, with the right roles and sympathetic directors, Novak was able to give good and sometimes very good performances in such films as Vertigo, Picnic, Middle of the Night, and others. On some occasions, such as in the wretched biopic Jeanne Eagels, she sunk to the level of the material. Novak had several boyfriends -- including the very married Ramfis "Ram" Trujillo, son of the Dominican president -- and got engaged more than once, but seemed to have commitment-phobia until she married British actor Richard Johnson [Deadlier Than the Male] for a union that lasted less than a year; the two remained friends. However, her later marriage to Dr. Robert Malloy has lasted over forty years. Novak apparently never wanted an acting career or movie stardom -- at least she didn't thirst for it as others did -- and when her glory days were over she didn't spend much energy on trying to make it back to the top, preferring wedded bliss and comparative anonymity over "Hollywood." The book has some behind-the-scenes stuff such as a report on William Holden's embarrassment over doing a sexy dance with Kim and her bad relationship with Laurence Harvey while doing the remake of Of Human Bondage, and some selections of her poetry indicate that she was a better actress than poet. This is a readable, entertaining, if comparatively superficial, bio of the star. Did she or did she not have a real affair with Sammy Davis Jr.? -- the book won't give you a conclusive answer, although Novak has always maintained the two were just warm friends who admired one another.

Verdict: Not a great, exhaustive book on Novak, but interesting and absorbing. ***. 

HITCHCOCK'S PARTNER IN SUSPENSE: THE LIFE OF SCREENWRITER CHARLES BENNETT

HITCHCOCK'S PARTNER IN SUSPENSE: THE LIFE OF SCREENWRITER CHARLES BENNETT. Edited by John Charles Bennett. University Press of Kentucky; 2014.

"I hate the talk of this being a young man's industry ... Not because I am an old man, but because I hate the notion you must be young to be hot ... Experience is terribly important, a tremendous help in writing." -- Charles Bennett.

This very interesting tome is essentially the memoirs of screenwriter Charles Bennett, with added chapters written by his son, John Charles Bennett. Bennett did several screenplays for Alfred Hitchcock -- Blackmail (from Bennett's play), The Man Who Knew Too Much, Foreign Correspondent etc. --  and much more work for the movies and television, along with plays and novels. While never denying Hitchcock's talent, both Bennetts seem to feel, rightly or wrongly, that the elder Bennett didn't get enough credit, and like many screenwriters, feels that directors walk off with the lion's share of the attention whether they deserve it or not. Bennett felt that Hitch was a great director, not a great writer. Bennett spends a lot of pages writing about his wartime experiences, in which he admits that he had it much better than most because of his wealth at the time. Bennett's first marriage ended when his wife left him for another man; she knew he had had numerous affairs with other women. His second disastrous marriage went on the rocks quickly but continued for many, many miserable years. The most affecting chapter in the book is one in which his son describes in heart-wrenching detail and effective prose how his childhood was all but ruined by his mother's alcoholism and emotional issues and his father's comparative neglect. Soldier, spy, writer and lover boy, the narcissistic Bennett remains a fascinating figure, but sadly, he wasn't much of a father, and the emotional scars endured by his son have clearly not quite healed. Charles Bennett, who did some wonderful screenplays for such films as Night of the Demon and Where Danger Lives, doesn't emerge for the most part as an especially likable character, but his comments on the age discrimination of Hollywood are well-taken. The chapters which describe his struggles to be taken seriously despite his advanced years make him a more sympathetic figure, at least during that period. For money, Bennett did several entertaining screenplays for Irwin Allen [The Lost World; Voyage of the Bottom of the Sea], which Allen would invariably muck around with to their detriment. When Bennett was in his nineties he was hired to write a remake of Blackmail, but the film was never made, although he briefly became a name again.

Verdict: Excellent bio-memoir from a Hollywood insider's pov and a highly interesting slice of film history. ***1/2. 

SWEETHEARTS (BOOK)

SWEETHEARTS: The Timeless Love Affair -- On-Screen and Off -- Between Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Sharon Rich. Donald Fine; 1994. NOTE: This is a review of the original 1994 edition. There is an updated 2014 edition of which I have read the new introduction and the afterword, and some of the source notes.

"[Eddy] ripped off [MacDonald's] blouse and described to her in graphic detail what he was going to do to her to make sure she never forgot she was his. Then he threw her down on the bed and raped her (my underlining)." from the book, page 116.

Where do I begin? Sweethearts purports to tell the "timeless love affair" between Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald, which seems rather odd when one participant -- according to this book -- actually raped the other. Although decades later the author addressed this bombshell on a blog post, it certainly should have been addressed more thoroughly in the book itself. What's amazing is that Ms. MacDonald seems to have no real reaction to being raped! Whether it was an actual rape or not is worth debating, but "rape" is the word the author uses.

It reminds one of old style soap opera plots where women would get raped and later on fall in love with their rapists, plots that were eventually and thankfully discarded by modern soap writers, especially women.

This section (as are many sections) of the book is also confusing. Did Eddy not go to bed with MacDonald for a long time (apparently "raping" her out of frustration) because he put her on a pedestal and didn't wish to despoil her -- despite knowing that she was not a virginal girl scout --  or because she was, as is later implied, supposedly frigid?

In any case, Sweethearts suggests in occasionally tedious detail that MacDonald [Love Me Tonight] and Eddy [Phantom of the Opera], although married to other people, were actually in love with each other, but one thing or another kept them apart. First, MacDonald quite sensibly refused to give up her career. Then, after both were married to others, Eddy's wife, Ann, threatened to destroy the both of them if Eddy left her. MacDonald tried hard to get divorced from actor Gene Raymond [Million Dollar Weekend] -- who was, according to this book, more interested in men than in MacDonald -- but this never occurred, either. Finally, when both were virtually seniors, Ann agreed to a divorce, but when Eddy found out how much it would cost him he told his supposed beloved MacDonald that "he would never marry her." And so on.

Frankly, as I read Sweethearts, which does have its entertaining sections, it came off to me as a Hollywood story somehow genetically combined with a Harlequin romance, a good old-fashioned "bodice-ripper" with misunderstandings, reconciliations, stolen kisses, unfortunate spouses, passionate trysts, and all the rest, told with rather purple prose that is almost comical. I'm not necessarily saying that the book is fiction, but it reads like it is.

The chief problem for me is that I found far too much of the book to be seriously unsubstantiated. Most of the more incredible information supposedly comes from many letters written by Nelson Eddy's mother, Isabel, or are taken from her unpublished memoirs. Apparently Isabel quoted at length from her son's diary, putting long, long sections in her letters and her memoirs. Well, maybe ...

It's somewhat amusing that there's been a mild Internet war amongst MacDonald-Eddy fans, some of whom think the book is a load of crap and others who swear by it, even its most dubious passages.

I don't know anything about Gene Raymond's private life, but I do know that if the book is true, he wouldn't be the first gay or bisexual man to be married to a famous movie star. We all know that affairs are very commonplace in Hollywood (and elsewhere). And Eddy and MacDonald could indeed have had secret feelings for one another. But after reading all 450 pages of this eventually laborious tome, I have to say my mind is not made up.

The funny thing is that I have always thought of MacDonald and Eddy as being relatively sexless, so the notion that they carried on this torrid, long-standing, on and off, horribly tortured love affair seems mildly comical, although if even half of the book is true I 'd have to say their relationship caused them much more misery than joy. What's worse, both of them come off as drama queens who only made everything worse. According to the book, Eddy also wanted to date a 15-year-old girl and flirted with Scientology. Oy vey!

Oh, along the way there are notes about the films they made together or apart and there is some interesting information there. The book has a not very revealing introduction by a man who claims to be Eddy's illegitimate son (sometimes his first name is spelled "Jon," other times "John"). The author, Sharon Rich, was a Eddy/MacDonald fan club president.

Verdict:  Your call. Just as exhausting as it is seemingly exhaustive. **.