A Darling of the Twenties: The Autobiography of Madge Bellamy [Paperback]

Madge Bellamy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0911572759 | ISBN-13: 978-0911572759

...to be cherished by anyone who appreciates the importance of preserving film heritage. --Variety

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Vestal Press (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0911572759
• ISBN-13: 978-0911572759
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #957,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Source For Rare Items, April 17, 2008

By 

Samantha Glasser "Maliejandra" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Darling of the Twenties: The Autobiography of Madge Bellamy (Paperback)

Madge Bellamy was one of the most beautiful faces of the silent era, and she made sure to keep it that way. She refused to comply with directors' wishes for her to dirty her fingernails and she cared much more about the way she looked than her acting abilities. Unfortunately, few of her films survive today, so we have little to judge her on, which is why this book is so valuable. With that said, this book is slightly disappointing. Instead of coherant explanations on events in her life or films that she worked on, Madge mainly gives a short recap and excuses her behavior based on the arguement that she does not know why she did what she did. This excuse is often given by middle school aged children who follow the crowd, not elderly film stars. Film stars tend to be a lot of egotists who carefully plan their lives and enjoy reflecting on them. It seems she is contrary to this stereotype, but it makes one wonder why she wrote the book. She might have been intelligent- she enjoyed reading a great deal- but she certainly wasn't a mature woman, even at the end of her life. Thankfully, there are some interesting stories and plenty of excellent photographs to see. They help us piece together a career that is largely lost due to the decay of time.

Also included are letters sent to Madge. These are interesting as examples of how silent stars' careers were dealt with and we get a taste of the writing style of the time. In addition, a filmography is included and an introduction is written by film historian Kevin Brownlow.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darling Book on a Silent Movie Beauty, July 25, 2007

By 

Tee (LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Darling of the Twenties: The Autobiography of Madge Bellamy (Paperback)

Madge Bellamy is not a name the average person, or even the average movie buff, would know - her fame rests on two films, John Ford's silent classic OLD IRONSIDES and especially the talkie WHITE ZOMBIE, made on the cheap in 1932 but recognized for decades now as one of the essential horror films of the era. Madge was one of those big-eyed innocent looking starlets so popular during that the silent era and was a good if unremarkable actress. She was also quite cute, beautiful even, and appealing on screen. Perhaps her greatest personal success was the silent version of LORNA DOONE, which has been rediscovered in recent years and is currently available on DVD.

DARLING OF THE TWENTIES is Madge Bellamy's autobiography published coffee-table book style with many large photos throughout the text. Opening with a warm and sympathetic introduction by the silent film historian Kevin Brownlow, Madge recounts her life from her troubled relationship with her parents, her years of stardom at Fox Studios to her fall from grace in the early years of talkies (she unwisely had a spat with the studio just as the new talkie era was beginning and despite having a hit with her talkie debut MOTHER KNOWS BEST she left the studio and was unable to keep her stardom much longer), her erratic career in 1930's talkies (I actually feel she was much more beautiful during this era judging by the photos here) to her romance scandal of the 1940's that put her back in headlines if not in movies when she shot and wounded a lover to her later decades in poverty so extreme she and her mother went rummaging through a trunk of old unopened fan letters in hopes of finding quarters once sent to pay for photographs. Madge's chaotic story came close to having a happy ending when in her last years she sold her property during the 1980's California real estate boom for what she says was more than she made during her film star years but there was one final tragic twist with Madge dying just months before her autobiography was published and unable to enjoy the new attention it would have no doubt brought her.

Far from an empty-headed starlet, Madge enjoyed intellectual pursuits and attempted (unsuccesfully) to become a novelist. Madge's willfullness perhaps made her her own worst enemy, indeed she is brutally honest about herself. "I maintained my independence, but in the process, lost many of the rewards of life...it took me eighty years to know the stranger within." Yet one cannot help but admire this courageous woman who remained strong throughout her melodramas and this beautifully designed, nostalgic book is a great success in capturing what life is like as someone who caught glory, lost it, and lived to tell.