Carole Landis: A Tragic Life In Hollywood (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Before she was a glamorous actress, before she was a war-time pin-up star, even before she was Carole Landis, she was Frances Lillian Ridste, an insecure young girl from Wisconsin. She was strikingly beautiful, talented, and on her way to becoming a movie star, yet she spent her entire life searching for love. Though she appeared in more than 60 films during her short career, Landis was better known for her extraordinary beauty and many romantic relationships than for her acting or comedic timing. Like many starlets of the time, Landis worked her way up from uncredited bit parts (and according to rumors, from the casting couch) to leading roles in such films as Topper Returns (1940) and My Gal Sal (1942) over the course of her 11-year career. She spent more time visiting troops during World War II—traveling hundreds of thousands of miles and coming near death twice—than any other Hollywood star. Despite her seemingly glamorous and carefree life, Landis was unable to build a lasting relationship, a fact that contributed to her suicide at 29. This work examines Landis’s life and career in Hollywood, focusing on how her movie career affected her short, unhappy life.

About the Author

E.J. Fleming is also the author of The Fixers (2004), The Movieland Directory (2004) and Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites (2000). He lives in Barrington, Illinois.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers (May 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786422009
• ISBN-13: 978-0786422005
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #854,071 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fans Will Love This Book And Will Fall In Love With Carole Again, June 7, 2005

By	MrsSchmidlapp (Hollywood, California) - See all my reviews

This is without a doubt the definitive biography of Carole Landis. It was the first full-length biography written about Carole and in my opinion it's the best. The author did a lot of research on Carole's life and he discovered a ton of new information (like who Carole's father really was). There are many wonderful photos and some one-of-a-kind World War 2 candids you won't see anywhere else. I have been a fan of Carole for years and was shocked at how much I learned about her. By the end you will know the name of every man she dated, every address she ever lived at, her complete medical history, and even her favorite books. You will get to see all the different sides of Carole Landis - the star, the patriot, the feminist, the daughter, the friend, the seductress, and the victim. You get an in depth look at her romances with Busby Berkeley, Jacqueline Susann, and her four husbands. After reading it you will understand Carole's casual attitude towards sex and why she was plagued by vicious rumors throughout her career. I was very happy that several chapters were devoted to Carole's tireless efforts during World War 2. We are also finally given a detailed account of Carole's final hours and the events that took place after her death. The author is not afraid to put the blame for Carole's death on her lover Rex Harrison (it wasn't murder but the way he treated Carole led her to take her own life). In fact I think the only people who won't like this book are Rex Harrison fans. Carole is portrayed in a very sympathetic light but the author also makes her take responsible for many of the bad decisions her life (rushing into marriages, turning down good film roles). You will like Carole, you will want her to succeed, and you will be heartbroken by the way her story ends. I think the title of this book says it all - her life was truly tragic. The focus here is mainly on Carole's turbulent private life but you also get a good look at her career and her important films roles. There are a lot of juicy behind the scenes stories about the making of One Million BC and Moon Over Miami. At the end of the book you will find a complete filmography with notes. Of course this book is not perfect - there are some caption errors and I found it to be too critical of Carole's mother. Overall this is a wonderful biography about an unforgettable Hollywood icon and you will not be disappointed if you read it. Fans of Carole will fall in love her all over again and if you are just discovering Carole you will become her biggest fan. I hope that a movie producer read this book and decides to turn Carole's tragic story into a movie.

I also recommend EJ Fleming's book The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine which has a chapter about Carole and was the beginning of his research for this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story of a real tragedy, August 29, 2005

By	Roxanne (Maine) - See all my reviews

My sister gave me this book because she knows I love old films. I didn't know much about Miss Landis when I started reading but by the end of the book I was in tears. This is the heartbreaking true story of a woman who wanted to have it all. She was abused by all the people in her life until she couldn't take it anymore. Carole Landis was one of the Hollywood's greatest tragedies. I have still never seen one of Carole's films but I have become a fan of Carole, the person.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading, August 10, 2005

By	Aunt Charlotte (Boston) - See all my reviews

First, let me state my caveats as to why I am not giving this book five stars, and get it out of the way. Being a McFarland book, it was never really "edited," resulting in a fair number of typos (the funniest of which involves a theater catering to "blue color families"). And the author falls prey to--and mentions--every Kenneth Anger-inspired scandal he can squeeze in, even if they have no bearing at all on Carole Landis' life and career. Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Wallace Beery, Lupe Velez, Virginia Rappe (whom he flat-out calls a "whore")--all the old unfounded rumors are here, simply to spice up this book.

That being said, this is otherwise an excellent, well-researched bio of a neglected figure. Fleming writes well, and--unlike so many biographers--actually discusses in-depth Landis' films and performances, not settling for just dishing her private life. She was, after all, an actress, and her acting is indeed covered in-depth.