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

Jane Ellen Wayne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0786713038 | ISBN-13: 978-0786713035

Garbo and Crawford. Ava, Hedy, Judy, Liz epitomized Hollywood's golden era. With a trembling lip or sultry eye, with a tear or song or husky whisper, these women held moviegoers across America in their sway from the hard times of the 1930s through the booming postwar years to the early sixties. They were royalty and box office, and led pampered public lives—furs, jewels, designer gowns; limousines, flash bulbs, handsome escorts—that captured the national imagination. They also signed seven-year contracts with a morals clause, and the more they slipped, the more the secret abortions, efficient cover-ups, legal legerdemain, and dropped charges bound them to the wizard in their Oz, Louis B. Mayer. The slips are here along with the successes. Here, too, are the Blonde Bombshell Jean Harlow, Million-Dollar Mermaid Esther Williams, Sweater Girl Lana Turner, and bad girl Ava Gardner ("She can't act. She can't talk. She's terrific," declared Mayer after her screen test). From Jeanette MacDonald and Norma Shearer to Princess Grace and Dame Elizabeth Taylor, the sixteen portraits in this lively, photograph-filled volume, each accompanied by the star's filmography, tell the tales that have long lay hidden behind the gossip and the glories of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's glamorous golden girls.

Editorial Reviews

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 412 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers (December 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786713038
• ISBN-13: 978-0786713035
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #765,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( G ) > Garland, Judy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Your favorite actresses...dragged through the mud!, April 24, 2005

By 

Dave (Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others (Hardcover)

Unfortunately, it seems to be an increasingly popular trend today to try and destroy the reputations of deceased screen legends who can no longer defend themselves. This is certainly not the first of its kind, and it's obviously not the last either (too bad!). This book has many brief chapters, each one filled with the worst scandals (abortions, adulterous affairs, criminal activities, etc.) of a specific female screen legend, such as Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly. Elizabeth Taylor, Hedy Lamarr, and several others.

The sections on Lana Turner, Greta Garbo, and Hedy Lamaar were especially infuriating, filled with rumors that even the National Enquirer would hesitate to print. For example, according to this book, Mickey Rooney and Lana Turner had an affair in the late 1930's which resulted in Lana having an abortion. Lana Turner already denied this rumor, and the very idea of a beautiful goddess like Lana Turner going for baby-faced Mickey Rooney is, quite frankly, disgusting and totally unbelievable. It also hints strongly that she had an affair with Clark Gable, although in her memoir she wrote that they had no chemistry off-screen. While some may find this kind of book entertaining, I think it's in poor taste. The book also describes Hedy Lamarr's orgies and bi-sexual relationships, and basically tries to pass her off as an arrogant nymphomaniac (the author does the same thing with Garbo).

This book quickly summarizes the screen careers and lives of these great actresses yet goes into great detail about their sexual activity (and preferences). Don't be too naive when reading about the many imperfections of these famous actresses. After all, there is some truth to many of the scandals mentioned, but there are also plenty of rumors that no one could posibly prove to be true. And after all, the author is merely rehashing what you've already read in previous books written by better authors. I suggest that instead of reading this trash you buy a well-researched biography.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars All glitz, no glamour, March 5, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others (Paperback)

In their own time, these "golden-age Hollywood" stars were protected by ruthless P.R. men and a media veil of silence. Now most of their failings are common knowledge. And in "Golden Girls of MGM : Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, and Others," Jane Ellen Wayne only soils their names more by making them dull.

Wayne opens each chapter with a coyly feeble teaser. She then gives a brief description of the women's lives and how they got into the movie biz, and what they did when they got there. Among these actresses: much-married Elizabeth Taylor, deceptively icy Grace Kelly, busty Lana Turner, fiery ex-Sinatra wife Ava Gardner, mysterious Greta Garbo, tragic Judy Garland, and some weren't quite so juicy (Katherine Hepburn, Hedy Lamarr, Esther Williams).

Why bother with one trashy biography when you can have a bunch all in one book? Be assured that Wayne will give you a detailed description of every lover, abortion, suicide, police-cover up and failed marriage that went on under Louis B. Mayer. Despite all this dirt, Wayne seems to be scared to have any strong opinions about anything (Joan Crawford is painted very blandly). You'll find every rumor -- true or not -- reported in various other trashy bios. Insights? New information? Decent writing? Not a trace.

"Golden Girls" fails even as a guilty pleasure. In a word, it's boring. Very boring. Gossip about stuff like affairs, abortions, failed marriages and massive scandals are related in the driest prose that Wayne can manage. She glosses over major events in these actresses' lives, but gives detailed transcripts of uninteresting personal conversations. It only makes her inept attempts at being coy painful. And it takes a special kind of ineptitude to make Katherine Hepburn so boring.

The worst kind of trashy biography is a dull one. And "Golden Girls of MGM : Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, and Others" is very boring indeed. Wayne can't even manage to make this a naughty pleasure.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How do books like this get published?, January 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others (Hardcover)

This is nothing more than a cut-and-paste job, gathering the most salacious factoids from far and wide with no regard for accuracy.

The author's lack of command of the facts is astonishing. You know you're in trouble by the first chapter when she has Jeannette MacDonald's honeymoon cruise ship docking at "the pier in Pasadena."

And it goes downhill from there. If you want a quick, trashy read and don't mind poor research, inept writing and utter disregard for the facts, this is your book. But if you want to learn something significant about these women and their careers, you will do far better elsewhere.