Gene Tierney: A Biography (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Christina Cassini (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Extensive filmography...memorable quotes...rare photographs" -- — Turner Classic Movies

"Extensive filmography...memorable quotes...rare photographs." -- Turner Classic Movies

"Michelle Vogel is a very good writer...the images are superb, even breathtaking. Beautiful...extraordinary." -- Classic Images

"Worthy" -- Canyon News

"Big screen worthy of a biopic." --Canyon News

"Extensive filmography...memorable quotes...rare photographs." --Turner Classic Movies

"Michelle Vogel is a very good writer...the images are superb, even breathtaking. Beautiful...extraordinary." --Classic Images

Product Description

Called the most beautiful woman in movie history, Gene Tierney starred in a number of 1940s classics, including Laura, Leave Her to Heaven and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Her on-screen presence and ability to transform into a variety of characters made her a film legend. Her personal life was a whirlwind of romance (she married a count, was engaged to a prince, and was courted by a future president) and tragedy (her daughter was born with severe retardation and Tierney herself struggled with mental illness). After years of treatment, including electroshock therapy that erased portions of her life from her memory, she triumphantly returned to Hollywood in the biggest comeback of any star in history.

This, the first complete biographical work since the actresses' death on November 6, 1991, covers everything from her birth in 1920; through her rise to fame, turbulent love life, fight with mental illness, and triumphant return to Hollywood; to her retirement in her 40s and death. Beginning with a foreword by her daughter, Christina Cassini, an extensive filmography provides the cast and crew of each film and television appearance, production and release dates, running times, and a brief synopsis. Additional information covers locations, box office take, awards, behind-the-scenes details, and memorable quotes. The work includes many rare photographs from both on and off screen.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 247 pages
• Publisher: McFarland (March 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786420359
• ISBN-13: 978-0786420353
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #998,231 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An Undistinguished Portrait, June 3, 2005

By	J. Michael Click (Fort Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Michelle Vogel's long-awaited book about the life of Gene Tierney is a monumental disappointment, both as a biography and as a reference guide to the actress' distinguished forty-year career on stage, screen, radio, and television. In terms of recounting the story of Tierney's turbulent life, there's very little new material here for readers familiar with the existing Tierney literature, and unfortunately, the author offers few fresh insights into the actress' personality. Most of the book simply recounts events and conversations already covered in Tierney's 1979 autobiography; a perusal of the Bibliography also discloses that the author included many old movie fan magazine articles among her sources.

Factually, the book is riddled with errors in terms of dates and chronology. For example, throughout the text, Vogel refers to award years according to the dates the ceremonies were held rather than the period for which work is being honored. Thus, Vogel states: "Gene lost the 1946 Academy Award for Best Actress to Joan Crawford ..." when in truth, Tierney lost the 1945 Academy Award for Best Actress to Crawford at the ceremony held on March 7, 1946. Similar discrepancies appear throughout the text. A more serious gaffe appears in a photo caption (and is repeated in the filmography) where it falsely states that "Hudson's Bay" was filmed before "The Return of Frank James"; curiously, this error is (correctly) contradicted within the text. Conversely, Vogel fails to mention or explain why "Dragonwyck" (filmed February - May 1945) was pulled from its scheduled September 1945 release date (after having been favorably reviewed by the press) and was shelved by 20th Century-Fox until Easter 1946; and she completely omits any mention within the text of Tierney's appearance on an episode of "G. E. Theatre", which served as the actress' 1960 comeback vehicle after years of treatment for mental illness.

While the photographs in the book are adequately reproduced, many of them - including the bulk of the film scene stills - will already be familiar to dedicated Tierney fans, and do not justify the book's high suggested retail price. Nor does the filmography serve as an adequate selling point; it is filled with errors and required more careful proofreading prior to publication (release and premiere dates are frequently incorrect; top-billed Jean Simmons and Victor Mature have been dropped from the cast listing for "The Egyptian"; cast and production credits for Tierney's television appearances are not included, etc., etc.). Overall, this book is regrettably not recommended. Gene Tierney and her legion of fans deserve much better than what is offered here.

31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Pictures, But Largely Superficial and Disappointing, May 29, 2005

By	A Reviewer (Bethesda, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

The strengths of the book are the pictures of Gene Tierney and the filmography in the back with some interesting tidbits. However, the book is largely superficial, and contains relatively little information beyond that included in Ms. Tierney's autobiography published in 1979.

One of the major disappointments is that beyond her former husband, and a few people in Houston where Gene settled in retirement, the author apparently conducted very few, if any, interviews of people who worked with and knew Ms. Tierney. Yet there are many actors, actresses and other film professionals living today who worked with and knew Ms. Tierney. They could have shed a lot more insight on what Gene was really like, as well as her acting ability and style.

The book, in general, lacks much, if any, analysis of Gene's acting talent and style or the qulaity of her films. There were many themes that could have been pursued, such as why the quality of her roles declined sharply after 1948, as well as her relationships with her co-stars, but in general, this was not done. There was also relatively little about her life after 1960, beyond what was already included in the 1979 autobiography. (Ms. Tierney died in 1991.) In addition, the author did not include notes on sources of information, as would be expected in a more thorough book.

As someone who was eagerly awaiting the publication of this book, I was disappointed. There's just not much depth in the book. Without the filmography and the index, the book is less than 200 pages.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Well-intentioned ... but not very illuminating, July 13, 2005

By	Mr. D. J. Manners (The Great Southwest, USA) - See all my reviews

In the movie LAURA, Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) remarks of the artist who painted the portrait of Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney): "Jacoby was in love with her when he painted it ... but he never captured her vibrance, her warmth." That is an apt description of this illustrated biography of Gene Tierney. The author is clearly a devoted fan of the actress, but the book covers very little new ground. Having been a neighbor of the actress when she lived on Willowick in Houston, I was especially hoping that the three decades Miss Tierney spent in Texas - and her many charitable activities and contributions to the city she adopted as her home - might be more fully covered. I had also been anticipating a more in-depth look at her process as an actress, and greater critical assessments of her performances on stage, screen, radio, and television, and how her life informed her work. Those stories about Miss Tierney are yet to be told, and it is very unfortunate that this golden opportunity was missed within these pages.