Customer Reviews

Margaret O'Brien: A Career Chronicle and Biography

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Neatly organized book on the greatest of all child stars. Includes complete listing of all television appearances - she did a ton of them!! MOB comments on all her film rolls which is fasinating. Also some very rare photos from MOB'S private collection. Author is close friend of MOB which adds authenticity to this book

This book does exactly what it promises by providing a biography of O'Brien's life and a review of her career to date. For any fan of M.B., this is an enjoyable read. What is especially interesting is that this is not a lurid tale of a former child star descending into an ever darkening pit of pain and confusion. It is the story of a survivor who might have transitioned into adult superstardom had it not been for the ever changing tastes of the viewing public and the disintegration of the studio system. I was glad to see that someone cared enough to present an honest and fair picture of Margaret's career and life while a good number of her co-stars were alive and able to be interviewed.

This book has everything about the wonderful little actress, Margaret O'Brien. Not only does it have a biographical section, but details every film she every made with a complete listing of cast, crew, synopis, a behind the scenes look at the making of the film and comments from costars and O'Brien herself. The author has put a lot of research into this book and it deserves to be read.

This book was excellent as a chronicle for the movies of Margaret O'Brien.
I really liked the input by of several of her costars,Wallace Berry was very enlightning!
I felt the biography part of the book was a little lacking. There was nothing much about her daughter! It would have been nice to see what happened after she grew up in a little more detail.

Remember "the films of" series of books on famous actors? Lotsa pictures? Every film listed in chronological order? That's the design of this much belated book (copyright 2000). And it comes with the direct assistance of Margaret O'Brien herself who wrote the Foreword.

After a brief biography, each of her films is presented, the cast and crew listed, the plot summarized with lots of behind-the-scenes revelations included. And talk about comprehensive! I was unaware (tho, hardly surprised) of the two or three movie shorts done during the war. But did you know she did a Japanese film when she was about 15 or 16? Much later, a couple films in Peru? A little-known Disney film (with Jenny Agutter)? And, fairly recently, a couple indie films (ones which I plan to avoid).

This book also includes abbreviated listings of her stage work and radio performances, and a pretty comprehensive listing of her television appearances.

Maybe because of Margaret's involvement, I felt the information was carefully sifted to avoid offending her. As an admirer, I didn't mind that. It's much more important that this compilation and updated biography become available.

Look at that face! How could you resist this book? I bet the movie critic of the 1940s James Agee couldn't have if he were alive today. And based on his reviews of Margaret's movies, he would have rested his copy of it against his copy of "The Films of Greta Garbo".

I was a bit disappointed by this; I was hoping to learn a lot more about Margaret O'Brien's life and career. The book has some nice photos of almost every project, but doesn't include a lot of information for a $40 biography. After a 40-page overview of O'brien's career, the book then has a section on each film. Each film is divided into smaller sections: stats, ratings, credits, cast, synopsis and then behind-the-scenes, reviews, nominations, co-star comments, O'brien's comments. The stats to the synopsis take up half of the pages, then the interesting stuff (behind-the-scenes and comments) take up the other half. The "Comments by Margaret O'Brien" section is usually just a paragraph, telling the reader how she felt about the picture or what made the biggest impression on her.
Though there are some interesting tidbits and stories I didn't know, there were a few stories that a Margaret O'brien fan might know already. (She and June Allyson were the 'town criers', Wallace Beery wasn't very nice to her, she was asked to join a ballet troupe because she was so talented, etc.) But overall, I felt as though I could've found a majority of this information by looking it up.
The book does have a nice section in the back--a bibliography, endnotes, mag/tv references--so you can do your own sleuthing and do some reading and research on your own.

This book was disappointing for biography as it was very brief. It is, however, a great pictorial history of her career.

For the price of this book I really thought it would be jam-packed with information,sadly it lacked this and I was left with more questions about her life than answers. It was very disappointing.