Customer Reviews

Margarita Fischer: A Biography of the Silent Film Star

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As a film historian I had heard of Margarita Fischer. Something about her dropping the "c" in her family name due to anti-German feelings during World War I (she was actually of Swiss not German ancestry we now learn). That and the fact that her final film, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" from 1927 was directed by her husband, Harry Pollard, and an unmitigated disaster. That was about it, and I was astonished to learn that someone had taken the trouble of actually publishing a full-length biography. Having now read "Margarita Fischer" I am grateful that Theresa St. Romain took that trouble, because she has crafted one of the best silent film biographies in recent memory. Despite very little scandal surrounding Miss Fischer, who married once and was widowed, and the usual parcity of surviving films, this biography is so well-written and with so much insight into Miss Fischer and her times that you will go to the end of the world to obtain a copy, any copy, of a surviving Margarita Fischer film. And isn't that exactly what any author dealing with this subject matter would wish? Highly recommended!