Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era [Paperback]

Turner Classic Movies (Author, Contributor), Molly Haskell (Introduction), Robert Osborne (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2006

Sexy, stylish, and powerfulfrom Lillian Gish to Katharine Hepburn, Myrna Loy to Lauren Bacall, Jean Harlow to Grace Kelly, each of the legendary actresses featured in this book left an indelible mark in film history and define roles for women on and off the screen. Produced by Turner Classic Movies, this playful and definitive guide to fifty unforgettable actresses mirrors the focus of a month-long film festival on the channel. The life and accomplishments of each actress is celebrated in an insightful career overview, accompanied by an annotated list of essential films, filmographies, behind the scenes facts and style notes, Academy Award wins and nominations. Full of delightful trivia, film stills, posters, and glamorous photos, Leading Ladies pays tribute to the most charismatic, enduring, and elegant actresses of the silver screen.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Osborne is the prime-time host and anchor of Turner Classic Movies and a columnist-critic for the Hollywood Reporter .

Molly Haskell is co-host of TCM's "The Essentials" series and the author of several books on women and film.

Turner Classic Movies is widely considered the definitive resource for classic films, featuring movies from all the major studios, unedited and commercial free.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; annotated edition edition (March 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811852482
• ISBN-13: 978-0811852487
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Oldies" but still "goodies", October 30, 2006

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Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era (Paperback)

I recently read this volume as well as its companion, Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era, and thoroughly enjoyed both while agreeing with others that the selections may have been biased if executives within the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) organization were involved in the decision as to whom to include and whom to omit. For example, Ann Sheridan (who appears in films shown on TCM) but not Shirley Temple (who doesn't). That said, both volumes offer a Foreword by Robert Osborne and an Introduction by Molly Haskell and have the same reader-friendly format which consists of a brief but adequate bio of the given actress followed by "Style Notes" and "Behind the Scenes" sections. Here are a few brief excerpts.

From the brief bio of Katharine Hepburn: "Her film work kept her a star despite frequent breaks to pursue theatrical projects and care for [Spencer Tracy] as his health declined. She put her salary on the line so he could play opposite her in his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). He died 17 days after filming was complete. Katharine won an Oscar for the film, but she said she could never watch it because the memories were too painful."

From the brief bio of Vivien Leigh: "Filming Gone with the Wind was a terrible experience for Vivien. She connected well with the film's first director George Cukor, but he was fired after a few weeks. Victor Fleming, a good friend of Clark Gable's, took over, and Vivien felt like a second-class citizen. Fleming's only direction to her was `Ham it up!' She secretly went to Cukor each Sunday to work on the next week's scenes. One week she accidentally ran into Olivia De Havilland, who was playing Melanie. She was doing the same thing."

From the "Style Notes" of Lauren Bacall: "When she became pregnant in the late 1940s, she designed a maternity wardrobe that was decades ahead of its time: suits and skirts that capitalized on her changing figure rather than concealing it."

From the "Style Notes" of Ava Gardner: "The sultry, appraising gaze that [she] often gives on camera is really a squint - she needed glasses but could not wear them in her pictures."

From the "Style Notes" of Marilyn Monroe: She "didn't wear anything to distract from her curves, so she wore no underwear. Often she was sown into her tight-fitting gowns."

From "Behind the Scenes" of Joan Crawford: She "would go head-to-head with anyone to keep her star status, but she met her match in Bette Davis when the longtime rivals were cast as abusive sisters in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) Bette kicked Joan in the head so hard during a fight scene that she required stitches. When Bette had to drag Joan across a room, Joan loaded her pockets with weights, causing an injury to Bette's back that lasted for days. Baby Jane was a hit and the two were paired again for Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), but after three weeks of the rematch, Joan threw in the towel and quit the film." Olivia De Havilland replaced her.

From "Behind the Scenes" of Audrey Hepburn: "Initially, Gregory Peck turned down the male lead in Roman Holiday (1953) because he didn't want to play second fiddle to an unknown actress. Director William Wyler persuaded him to take the role, yet when Peck realized how wonderful Audrey was going to be in the part, he insisted that the studio give her billing equal to his. They became lifelong friends."

It would be unfair to expect more of this volume than what it was intended to be: An entertaining, often informative discussion of 50 actresses of the studio era, most of whom are "unforgettable." More a quibble than a complaint, I wish those who organized the material in this volume had also identified (preferably in an annotated bibliography) the biography of each actress which is generally regarded as most accurate and comprehensive.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Attractive conversation piece far from being definitive, April 4, 2006

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Devin Melancon - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era (Paperback)

A pretty good casual reference for classic film buffs, with stunning photos, bios, must-see lists with quick sypnoses, and trivia tidbits and quotes. Not the definitive reference TCM would like you to believe it is, nor a prurient gossipfest, but simply a fun addition to a film buff's library.

The big problem here, however, is the book's claim that the 50 ladies selected are the "most unforgettable." You'll read the title, perhaps think to yourself "quite a bold statement," then you'll be in awe when you read some of the names included...Louise Brooks, Lena Horne, Hedy Lamarr, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Sheridan, Esther Williams.

Robert Osborne says in his introduction that the staffmembers who put this together debated passionately over which stars to include, so it is all but obvious that these ladies are personal favorites of some of those behind this project. No offense meant, but these ladies simply have no business being in this book.

I have met many a fellow fan of studio-era films, and no one I've met who ever saw Alice Faye, Patricia Neal, Jean Simmons, Margaret Sullavan, and even Marie Dressler has ever been able to forget seeing their performances. In my opinion, this is a much truer illustration of "unforgettable," and any of these ladies would have made much better choices than the 6 mentioned earlier. And I am still scratching my head over the ommissions of Betty Grable and Shirley Temple.

One could go on arguing forever about "this one should have been chosen instead of this one," but the basic point is that with such a questionable selection of the top 50, for TCM to pretend that this book is definitive is silly.

And for those who are wondering which 50 actresses did make the book, here they are: Jean Arthur, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, Bette Davis, Doris Day, Olivia de Havilland, Marlene Dietrich, Irene Dunne, Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Greer Garson, Lillian Gish, Jean Harlow, Susan Hayward, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Lena Horne, Grace Kelly, Deborah Kerr, Hedy Lamarr, Vivien Leigh, Carole Lombard, Sophia Loren, Myrna Loy, Shirley Maclaine, Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, Maureen O'Hara, Mary Pickford, Debbie Reynolds, Ginger Rogers, Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, Ann Sheridan, Barbara Stanwyck, Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor, Gene Tierney, Lana Turner, Mae West, Esther Williams, Natalie Wood, and Loretta Young.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-Have Book If You Love Classic Actresses, April 9, 2006

By 

MrsSchmidlapp (Hollywood, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era (Paperback)

This book is wonderful! It really does feature all of the greatest classic actresses - Clara Bow, Norma Shearer, Marion Davies, Myrna Loy, Gene Tierney, Lana Turner, Jean Harlow, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Mary Pickford, Irene Dunne, Joan Crawford, and many more. There are lots of photos and interesting trivia about all the actresses. The book devotes four pages to each actress which includes at least one full page photo. The photos alone are worth the price of the book! There are also complete filmographies for every actress in the back. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves classic actresses.