Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend ReviewThis book was never meant to be a "biography" in the tradional sense - nor is it meant to be an examination of the Garland psyche.
It is simply what the title says it is: A Day by Day chronicle of Judy's life. Everyone knows she was a workhorse - especially at MGM. This book shows that and more.
No, this book is not for the "new to Garland" people who want to read a bio about her - it's more for people who enjoy perusing through raw data and seeing not just how much Judy worked, but also just how "anal retentive" MGM was in keeping track of her every move. ESPECIALLY when she was labeled as "difficult."
It's great to read the long entries that have details about various milestones in her life, and it's also a great "quick reference" guide for those fans who want to find data easily (and don't have to wade through some biographer's personal opinions about that data).
If you don't like reading that she was late on a particular day while filming "Meet Me In St. Louis" - then fine - skim over than and concentrate on the lengthy and detailed entries.
I for one am glad Scott put this book out - and from what I have read, it could have been several hundred pages more (too bad it isn't). Scott has put the data out there for all to see and form their own opinion on Judy's career.
Forget all of the nasty posts/reviews - this is simply a record of her life/career in (as stated above) raw data form.
A fun book for Garland fans and fans of old Hollywood. So, put on one of the new CD's of Garlands Capitol albums and page through this book and simply have fun!
Thanks Scott for putting all of this data in one easy reference point!Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend Overview

Want to learn more information about Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

John Huston: Courage and Art Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy John Huston: Courage and Art? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on John Huston: Courage and Art. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

John Huston: Courage and Art ReviewI am currently reading the Huston bio, and Jeffrey Meyers really tries my patience. I have read the Viertel books, and Huston's own autobiography "An Open Book", and most of the books listed in Meyers' bibliography throughout the years. There isn't really a lot that's new here. I especially find Meyers' comments and quotes from his previous writings really irritating. I mean, what does D. H. Lawrence have to do with Huston? That's kinda cheap. And the Hemingway Prologue is 15 pages too long.
Still, I am slogging through it skipping the aforementioned boring parts (and glad I got it from the library instead of paying for it!). If you've never read anything about Huston before, this is as good a book as any. One other thing, is Meyers wearing a fez in his photo?John Huston: Courage and Art OverviewFrom the acclaimed biographer of Ernest Hemingway, Humphrey Bogart, and Errol Flynn comes the first complete biography of the legendary John Huston, the extraordinary director, writer, actor, and bon vivant who made iconic films such as The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Asphalt Jungle, and The African Queen—and lived one of the most vibrant, eventful lives in Hollywood history. An actor in the 1920s and scriptwriter in the 1930s, John Huston made his dazzling directorial debut in 1941 with The Maltese Falcon. His career as a filmmaker spanned some fifty-seven years and yielded thirty-seven feature films. He made most of his movies abroad, spent much of his life in Ireland and Mexico, and remains one of the most intelligent and influential filmmakers in history. With equal attention given to Huston's impressive artistic output and tempestuous personal relationships, biographer Jeffrey Meyers presents a vivid narrative of Huston's remarkably rich creative life. The son of the famous stage and screen actor Walter Huston, John Huston was born in Nevada City, Missouri, and suffered from a weak heart that forced him to live as an invalid for much of his childhood. One day, however, he impulsively left his sickbed, dove over a waterfall, swam into a raging river and began to lead a strenuous life. He became an expert sportsman as well as a boxer, bullfighter, hunter, soldier, gambler and adventurer. Though he didn't finish high school, he was a man of true genius: a serious painter and amusing raconteur, playwright and story writer, stage and screen actor, director of plays on Broadway and operas at La Scala, autobiographer and political activist who crusaded against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anticommunist witch hunts in Hollywood. He was a discerning collector of art and connoisseur of literature, food and wine. Passionate about horses and women, he had five successively younger wives. Meyers chronicles Huston's extraordinarily peripatetic life and examines his rise as a great masculine artist in the formidable tradition of Melville, Conrad and Hemingway, whose persona, ethos, prose style and virile code had a powerful influence on his life and work. Thirty-four of Huston's thirty-seven films adapted important novels, stories and plays, and Meyers perceptively describes how Huston brilliantly transformed the written word into the cinematic image. Huston's dominant theme is the almost impossible quest, tempered by detachment and irony. His heroes sacrifice honor in pursuit of wealth but fail in that venture, are mocked by cruel fate and remain defiant in the face of defeat. Based on research in Huston's personal and professional archives, and interviews with his children, friends and colleagues, this is the dramatic story of a courageous artist who, Meyers persuasively argues, is "one of the most fascinating men who ever lived."

Want to learn more information about John Huston: Courage and Art?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood ReviewOne wishes they could write as elegantly and as engagingly as Emily Leider does about the subject of her latest biography, Myrna Loy. Leider's impeccable research coupled with her elegant prose make for a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Myrna Loy is a much beloved star from Hollywood's golden age. Publicity at the time declared her to be a perfect wife on screen and it was assumed she was as much off screen as well. Leider informs us this was not the case. Leider chronicles Loy's life and film career with just the right touch. There is a nice balance between the biography and the chronicle of the film career. Unlike so many other biographies of the last few years, this is not padded out with recaps of film plots. Leider's prose, in so many ways, reflects or mimics the manner, the lightness, the quirkiness of Loy's own voice as she tosses off quips with William Powell. It's a pure delight to read.
Loy's life was very full and really devoid of scandal like so many other stars of the day. Perhaps this might make people overlook Loy as the subject of a biography. They should not, Leider's excellent detective work uncovers some secrets that Loy kept under wraps or only hinted at in Loy's own excellent autobiography Being and Becoming. Leider also fills us all in on Loy's interesting life as an activist. Myrna Loy was really much more, much deeper than Nora Charles and this book tells you why. I'm beyond grateful she portrayed Nora Charles as delightfully as she did, but I'm more grateful to read about and learn from her life off screen. Not a perfect wife, but quite a life. If you're a fan of Myrna Loy and her films, this is a must read.
I forgot to add a comment on the judicious use of photos in the book, most are shots I'd not seen. Some incredible portraits, like the Ted Allan portrait used on the cover.
Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood OverviewFrom the beginning, Myrna Loy's screen image conjured mystery, a sense of something withheld. "Who is she?" was a question posed in the first fan magazine article published about her in 1925. This first ever biography of the wry and sophisticated actress best known for her role as Nora Charles, wife to dapper detective William Powell in The Thin Man, offers an unprecedented picture of her life and an extraordinary movie career that spanned six decades. Opening with Loy's rough-and-tumble upbringing in Montana, the book takes us to Los Angeles in the 1920s, where Loy's striking looks caught the eye of Valentino, through the silent and early sound era to her films of the thirties, when Loy became a top box office draw, and to her robust post-World War II career. Throughout, Emily W. Leider illuminates the actress's friendships with luminaries such as Cary Grant, Clark Gable, and Joan Crawford and her collaborations with the likes of John Barrymore, David O. Selznick, Sam Goldwyn, and William Wyler, among many others. This highly engaging biography offers a fascinating slice of studio era history and gives us the first full picture of a very private woman who has often been overlooked despite her tremendous star power.

Want to learn more information about Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...