The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others

From Publishers Weekly

Wayne, a seasoned biographer of studio-era stars (Eva's Men; Gable's Women; etc.), serves up fun dish on the gals from the studio that once billed itself as having more stars than there are in the heavens. She presents them all-Jeanette, Joan, Judy, Ava, Liz and more-in breathless style, paying equal attention to the undergarments they didn't wear and to the men they loved most. With the adeptness of someone familiar with her subjects and not afraid to read minds, Wayne eases in and out of the stars' thinking as they love, drink, act, divorce and attempt suicide. Throughout all these goings-on, there is the overwhelming presence of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) complained it was the pictures that got small, but this book makes the case that it was the studios that died and ruined movies. All Wayne's subjects appear to be controlled by studio head Louis B. Mayer, through both his direct actions and the influence of his thinking. As Wayne tells it, he kept lovers from marrying and dictated roles his stars resented. Yet generally, the stars remembered him fondly, e.g., Jeanette MacDonald, who said after his death, "One of the greatest sadnesses of life is to realise [sic] how much you owe someone when it's too late...." For diehard fans, there's not much new here, but what is, is choice. 16 pages of b&w photos.-- how much you owe someone when it's too late...." For diehard fans, there's not much new here, but what is, is choice. 16 pages of b&w photos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Wayne, the author of eight other celebrity biographies, reveals some advice that she received from Joan Crawford: "The bigger they are, the less they tell. Talk to the writers, security guards, chauffeurs, cameramen; the 'little people.' They knew more about me than I did." Wayne must have taken her advice, because this Hollywood Babylon-style tell-all does reveal some little-known facts about the "Golden Girls" of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including Crawford, Greta Garbo, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, and Jeanette McDonald. McDonald and Nelson Eddy, for example, really were in love. Turner was married seven times but never to the love of her life, Tyrone Power, who was in love with Garland. It goes on and on. Sadly, many of these stars are unknown to younger theatergoers, but this fun, gossipy book makes a good (if sensational) entr e to their careers and milieus. Recommended for public libraries.
Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Salinas, CA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.