Customer Reviews

Betty Grable: The Girl with the Million Dollar Legs

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Betty Grable was the star whose pinup photograph was the most popular among World War Two servicemen. The vibrant blonde star also set a record that has never come close to being equaled in reigning as Hollywood's female box office champ for an incredible ten years. What made movie fans throughout the world love Betty Grable?

Scottish author Tom McGee supplies the answer to that question in his entertaining biography of the popular film great. A personal friend of Grable's who had the opportunity to interview her at length on many occasions, McGee etches an enduring portrait of a wholesome, caring woman who always put warmth as a human being and loyalties to family and friends above star persona. Ego was never a problem with the popular superstar in an industry often overcome by it. When one sees such a warm and totally unaffected woman emerge in the pages of "The Girl With The Million Dollar Legs" it becomes obvious that people the world over loved Betty Grable because of the vibrance, warmth, and sweetness they saw in her.

McGee's book is also rich in photographs capturing Grable and the luminous era in which she starred. There is also a warmly affecting Foreword by fellow Twentieth Century Fox blonde glamour girl, Alice Faye. Grable and Faye became great friends with no animosity or jealousy ever emerging.

This book is a must for Grable fans and all those who love the exciting cinema era of the forties and fifties. It is so refreshing to read a movie biography devoid of trashy gossip and petty commentary.

If you are a Betty Grable fan this is the book you want. It is written by Tom McGee who knew her and used her words to write it. Not only does it have her film history and fantastic photos of her, but it shows Betty Grable as she was when the cameras weren't rolling. In this age of stars with huge egos and terrible personalities it is great to find out Betty was such a wonderful person who loved life and those around her. A true star, a great actress and a wonderful woman who many people obbviously loved for more than her legs. She, like all of us had her faults and problems. But, she overcame them as only a person with her kind and wonderful personality could. With grace and dignity, which is a novelty in this day and age. Million dollar legs, with a Billion dollar personality. Great job Tom McGee!!! Thank you for sharing the real Betty Grable with us. Sure beats the heck outta those sloppy hearsay dirt-digging books we see about her. Want the truth about Betty as a person, this is the book for you!

Just as some biographies emphasise the negative qualities and scandals of some stars, this valentine to Betty Grable does the opposite. It is a detailed and loving tribute to the star. The author became a personal friend of Grable and was able to draw on conversations with her over an extended period so we get many quotes from Grable herself. If there is any criticism to make it, it is that the book does gloss over Grable's problems. It is a pity, as the author states, that her daughters did not participate. While she was obviously a warm, modest and funny woman, it would seem that while she may have wanted to be a good mother, she really wasn't equipped to be. Her own childhood was hardly normal since she began performing at age 12. Also, there is no doubt that her husband Harry James was a louse. Grable should have been financially secure, allowing her more time for her family but she was cleaned out supporting James's gambling habits, not that her own love of the horses etc did not have a bearing too. Whether she wanted to continue to work or not, she certainly had to.

The author captures what an excellent all round entertainer Grable was and there are plenty of personal details about her films, her exploitation by Darryl Zanuck, her eventual resistance to this exploitation and her own lack of ego. There are plenty of excellent photos too.

this book is fabulous.betty grable is the most popular female motion picture star in the quigley official motion picture financial poll featuring stars from 1933 - 1999 she sang , danced and tom mcgee features her million dollar legs to great effect a best buy book

I have just read 'Betty Grable.The Girl with the Million Dollar Legs'.The best biography of a Hollywood star that I have ever read. I never had the pleasure of meeting Betty Grable but after reading Tom McGee's wonderful book, I feel as though I know her very well. Congratulations Mr. Mcgee and thankyou for sharing your memories of a legend, the great Betty Grable.

this book is a lovingly written fan letter
to many refrences to friends , betty,s box office position is unasailable . interviews with real friends and colleagues who could still be alive have been sauced. people like bob wagner,june haver ,marge champion, debbie reynolds , daughter carrie fisher. debbie herself ,sheree north,
grable,s own daughters , fayes daughters,mitzi gaynor the list goes on
good

Totally impressed with this book. Great pictures and wonderful to read. I couldn't put the book down. Author obviously loved Betty like her serious fans do!

But I had two problems with the book and could not ultimately finish it; the first came early, in the introduction, when author indicates that her family will be pleased with his efforts-which to me says that nothinhg negative about the subject will be told. I understand that to undertake the writing of a biography, which has to involve more work than possibly any other sort of book, the writer must be a little (or a lot) in love with the subject-but my 2nd problem, which actually proved so distracting for me at least, that i could not carry on, was the incessant use of exclamation points. I do not think the reader needs this added punctuation in order to realize when a sentence is of importance or is ironic...
But I am sure that for a fan of Betty Grable it is well-done and from other reviews, obviously enjoyable. I only started this book because I knew nothing of the subject, so cannot be counted as a fan-so if you are a fan, i am sure you will not mind the issues that bothered me.

This is a lovingly written biography about a famous film star from the 1940s and early 1950s. The book goes into detail about all of Grable's films and successes as well as touching on her family life. I found out many things from this book. For one, I had no idea Betty Grable was such a popular actress. For all I knew, she appeared on "I Love Lucy" and did two or three movies. I was certainly wrong! It also includes passing comments on a bevy of other stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Alice Faye. This is a must buy for you if you enjoy Betty Grable, her films, or the culture of the 1940s and 1950s!

I don't know what that person from June wrote was talking about. Tom McGee's book on the wonderful Betty Grable was both touching and factful. You could tell just by reading the book that he really loved Betty and was, well, still is her greatest fan and friend. It is a treat for all Betty Grable fans, like me, to read this book by someone who actually knew her than by someone who didn't. The pictures are wonderful to look at it, especially the pictures of her when she was a child. Wonderful book and I would recommend it to anyone who is a Betty fan and to those who need to become one! Thank you Mr. McGee for writing such a wonderful book.