Customer Reviews

Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford: A Personal Biography (Thorndike Biography)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I just finished this book and having never read any other about Joan Crawford I took it at face value; at first. Watching new DVD set The Joan Crawford Collection Vol. 2 I found that the documentaries often contradict portions of this book. For instance, according to the book Joan volunteered to do an audition for "Mildred Pierce" even though she was told she did not have to. But in the latest DVD set it's reported that one of the shocks she received when moving to Warner Bros. was having to do an audition for the part.

And where is the story of Bette Davis bringing a Coke machine on the set of "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" to irritate Crawford, the Pepsi queen? And where is the alcoholism? And what happend to her between 1964 and 1968? The book goes from one movie to the next with no mention as to what the actress was doing during those years. In fact little is said about her later years.

Even the movie synopses aren't all that accurate, read the one for "Sadie McKee" and watch the DVD, you'll see what I mean. I have to think that there's a more detailed, more accurate biography of this fine actress, as nice as this makes her out to be. I was left with the impression that Crawford believed her own myth and became her Hollywood persona, the ultimate movie star.

Any sympathetic biographer of Joan Crawford has to overcome a reader's initial repugnance for the "Joan Crawford" presented in Christina Crawford's autobiography. I admire this author for trying to even the balance, as it were, on Joan Crawford's complex character.

I liked the fact that this biography "talks" to the reader, apparently in Joan Crawford's own words. And while the author is sympathetic to Joan, I never got the impression that anything that passed between Joan Crawford and Ms. Chandler, as reported here by Ms. Chandler, was in any way false, or was said in order to perpetuate a cover-up of Ms. Crawford's "true" character.

From this biography it is easy to see that Lucille LeSeuer, aka Joan Crawford, came from the bottom up. She was an exceptionally strong woman who, with basically no support system from childhood onward, re-invented herself and achieved stardom in Hollywood.

Maybe she wasn't the most nuturing, understanding, warm & cuddly Mother she could be -- I still can't make up my mind that she was a physically abusive one -- but she herself was the receipient of a hard and unloved girlhood, which couldn't have prepared her for being a mother herself.

If it went somewhat wrong between JC and her children (and I think "somewhat" is the right term, because her younger children seemingly have no complaints), it seems appropriate to place the blame on JC's own childhood, which left her emotionally unable to establish strong, continuously loving relationships with anyone but her adoring (and distant) fans.

And one other thing I took away from this biography is, how refreshing to read about a woman who came up from nothing, with sheer hard work, guts and determination.

Charlotte Chandler's latest book may describe Joan Crawford as "Not the Girl Next Door," but from the way she writes, you'd think she had been. And as for the personal part... well, there's such a thing as too much.

And therein lie the crippling flaws of "Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford, a Personal Biography." Chandler gets lazy on the research part of biographing a celebrity, relying almost solely on conversations with Crawford to turn out a tepid, sanitized biography. It's basically a prolonged magazine interview, with no hard'n'dirty facts or revelations.

Billie Cassin was the daughter of a ne'er-do-well foster father and a slutty, cold mother, but through guts and determination, she made it to Hollywood and used her "interesting" face and love of dance to break into movies. She became a silent star, but also became one of the few actors to successfully make the transition into talkies.

And she became a megastar, often as a party girl with a heart of gold, or a poor girl who claws her way to the top. She married four times -- three actors, one Pepsi exec -- and adopted four children. But she remained in love not only with being an actress (despite the dearth of mature-woman roles in her later years) but with being a star with many fans.

All of which is well and good. Unfortunately while Crawford was almost certainly not a "Mommie Dearest," she was by no stretch of the imagination the woman painted in "Not the Girl Next Door." As Chandler tells it, she was unfailingly polite to every person she met even when enraged, perpetually ladylike, and nobody ever had a realistic, legitimate complaint about anything she did.

In fact, Chandler seems to have done no fact-digging for this book -- the main research being the plot summaries for Crawford's various movies. Otherwise, the factual information is entirely dependent on interviews with Crawford from years ago, and selective interviews from various friends, exes, family and costars -- most of whom have been dead for many years, interestingly.

And because she got this from Crawford, Chandler ends up spinning her into a secular saint -- there's no mention of her weirder antics (such as germophobia), potty mouth, alcoholism, or her ongoing feuds with her family members. In fact, there's not a single negative anecdote at all -- even her notorious feud with Bette Davis is spun down to nothing more than Davis' erratic moods.

Even her love life is whitewashed, belying the "not the girl next door" title. Chandler omits her active teenage sex life, making it seem as if she was virginal at the time of her first marriage -- the most serious involvement beforehand being "going steady." And most of her lovers are carefully whited-out into a vague, might-be-might-not-be blob.

With all this weighing down, Chandler's fluffy writing doesn't have a chance. Instead of exploring Joan's inner life, she spends a lot of time whining about "Mommie Dearest" and obsessing on details like shoulder pads. And many a trite, awkward phrase gets dropped throughout the book ("... his performance predicted a fine acting future" -- huh?). I can't even remember a single reference to the obscene nickname she gave her famous shoes.

Crawford wasn't the girl next door, but Chandler goes too far by trying to turn her into Mother Teresa rather than Mommie Dearest. Too personal, not enough biography.

So-so biography of the iconic movie star whose reputation took a serious hit with the publication of her adopted daughter's memoir "Mommie Dearest." Similar in format to Chandler's recent Bette Davis bio, "Not the Girl Next Door" is less successful, largely because the biographer's access to her subject seems to have been minimal. Where Davis apparently spent a good deal of time giving Chandler an interview, willingly cooperating with the book she hoped would follow, Crawford seems to have shared not much more than a long lunch with Chandler.

Brief synopses of Crawford's films help fill the pages of what is basically a serviceable but unmemorable bio. Give Chandler credit for at least being willing to consider the possibility that not everything Christina Crawford said in "Mommie Dearest" was God's own truth. But Crawford fans who've read earlier books, or even seen the TV "Biography" on her life, won't learn much new here.

This book was a quick read - but I don't mean that in a good way. It was all fluff! The author did not tell the story of Joan Crawford. She merely quoted pages and pages of Crawford talking about herself and a few other people talking about Crawford. There's scant evidence of any real research here. Were any biographical details confirmed? This book would have been a great opportunity for someone to really research Crawford and put to rest some of the more unfortunate rumors about her. There's no mention of her first husband (before Fairbanks) or of some of the more common fables about her. It's just a rehashing of old interviews of people who would never say anthing negative about her. I think Crawford fans want and deserve the truth told in an objective manner with independent verification of facts, timelines, and details. There's no "there there".

I always find myself disappointed in biographies of Movie Stars, and this was the same. Joan Crawford is a remarkable woman, who made herself into the person she wanted and thought she should be. Entirely told by the author in Joan's words, supposedly. Obviously alot of whitewash, which is in line with Joan Crawfords image of herself, but I could have done without the synopsis of all her movies that were included, it seemed like filler, and overall, I was disappointed.

As much as I love and admire Joan Crawford as an actress, grand movie star & all-around Iconic-Legend, I must say that this is one heck of a poorly written bio.....just a series of "in 1923, she did this & such & such".......mixed in with excerpted "quotes" from various friends and associates and to top it off, the biggest annoyance to me is the constant interruption of the so-called narrative with descriptions of Crawford's movies, which should have been listed as an appendix at the end of this book.......My favorite portion of the book was the very interesting comments by director Sherman, regarding his affair with Crawford....also, the fresh perspective on the so-called abuse inflicted on her two eldest children, which I've always felt was totally exaggerated and full of lies.......all in all, I was really expecting a thorough and detailed account of Miss Crawford and her life as I've never read a bio of her before.......obviously, by purchasing this one, I did not make the correct choice.....I'll get the Bob Thomas one now that I've finished this mediocre read......

Luigi ~ nyc

Not the Girl Next Door is not the book we Crawford fans wanted, which is a pity because Charlotte Chandler has never before let me down. Her book on Bette Davis was astonishingly good! What happened with Crawford? Don't know. All I could think of was that she had this one new angle--that Crawford wasn't so bad--and she had to hold on to it despite all evidence to the contrary. She was able to interview a reclusive Crafword daughter, one who had never spoken before to the press, and their conclusions were that a) Christopher was evil, and b) Christina encouraged his weird behavior and alienated a loving, devoted Joan.

I agree with the other reviewer who was tempted to review the hairdo in the author photograph in this book. You can't see it from here, can you, but maybe there's a Charlotte Chandler dot.com in which she displays her magnificent, Jeff Koonslike hair that occupies most of the photo space like a headdress by Carmen Miranda. She looks like a playing card, but not in a bad way, that hair makes one feel very affectionate towards her, plus it looks as though she could smuggle small cats and dogs in it, so it gives her some compassionate cachet.

The book comes alive in a lengthy description of the fairytale romance between Crawford and the young Douglas Fairbanks Jr, their attraction for each other and the thrill of being "young Hollywood" in the shadow of the two older players, her in-laws. Fairbanks' memories in old age of his "salad days" are warm and genial, but then the book grows faint and spotty and we never get an idea of who Franchot Tone was, Philip Terry and Pepsi Cola Guy blur in a haze. If this wonderful and gracious Joan is who she really was, then give me back my monster!

Why is this biography so flawless? Simple answer: The MTV Generation is learning about a New & Exciting Star!

This is an immaculate book about a perfect actress; after all, Miss Crawford wouldn't have it any other way! Joan was always such a fascinating and beautiful star who was always very kind, compassionate and generous to a fault. No Star shined brighter than her! And that is what this book is all about, a celebration of this legend's life! By the way, the book also includes lots of great pictures of Joan! Some of them I've never seen before. I especially like the picture chosen for the cover; this is a great shot of Joan from 1934 when she was at her most photogenic!

Like millions and millions of people, I am a die-hard Joan Crawford fan and have read countless books about this intriguing, accomplished, brilliant and gorgeous legend. "Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford, a Personal Biography" is the very best! Forget about everything that has been written about Joan, this is the most accurate publication, ever! Miss Crawford's true life story is finally getting told, for the very first time! Even from beyond the grave (may she rest in peace) Miss Crawford gets the last laugh.

Ms. Chandler went out of her way to include many extensive interviews with some of the people who knew Joan the best. Some of the most interesting were with Joan's friend and longtime secretary Betty Barker and longtime publicist John Springer who both rarely ever gave interviews on Joan and generously shared many new facts about her. Ms. Chandler also conducted many interviews with Joan's colleagues and movie peers. My very favorite interview was with Ms. Bette Davis who perhaps surprisingly only wanted to defend Joan's good name, "I was not Miss Crawford's biggest fan, but wiesecracks to the contrary, I did and still do respect her talent." Bette Davis continued on, saying how she felt sorry for the way Joan was stigmatized, "but I knew she wouldn't appreciate my pity because that's the last thing she would have wanted -anyone to feel sorry for her." And can I just say that I have a totally newfound respect and admiration for Ms. Bette Davis. (Prior to reading this book, I knew very little about Ms. Davis.) It would have been so easy for her to join the proverbial bandwagon, otherwise known as the "I hate Joan Crawford fan club." But this fine lady showed both class and compassion towards one of her contemporaries at an otherwise time when few others extended that same courtesy to Joan. And, had the tables been turned, Joan being the true professional and talent that she always was, would have done exactly the same thing for Bette Davis.

Besides detailing Joan's long and very descriptive professional career, Ms. Chandler also discusses Joan's personal life, as well. I learned so many new facts about Joan. I found out that for many, many years Miss Crawford paid for the medical care for many of the studios laborers who otherwise could never afford to get sick, let alone be hospitalized! Joan did this purely out of the goodness of her heart and never wanted anyone to know about her generosity. Her old friend and movie director George Cukor said about this, "Joan was always resolute, determined that the few people who knew should never tell anyone." I also learned how Joan fought nonstop for such important organizations and charities as: The United Service Organizations (USO,) The Muscular Dystrophy Association, The American Cancer Society and Easter Seals. "Not the Girl Next Door" also taught me that Joan's main goal in life was to give back to others; Joan always gave the most to those who had the very least.

In her detailed and tireless writings, Ms. Chandler describes most of Joan's pictures in such great detail. Often, when this is done in a book-format it could be rather dry and almost boring to read. But Ms. Chandler chose her words carefully and really made them pop! The synopsizes for Joan's movies weren't too long or too short. They were just right! And, for someone like myself, who is a true fan (I own every single movie with Miss Crawford,) this is a godsend because I'm very fascinated with Joan's incredibly long picture resume. Ms. Chandler also taught me a lot! For example, I never knew that Joan's character in Lon Chaney's classic picture (The Unknown) was known by more than one name. Most viewers (including myself,) knew her as Nanon Zanzi, but according to the author's incredibly tireless book, Joan's character was also known as Estrellita in some versions of this movie!

The other day I went to visit a very dear friend of mine who has been a life-long Joan Crawford fan. And he shared with me many lovely videos of Joan from her last years. I saw Joan doing charity work, Joan at the Jerry Lewis Telethons and I also saw Joan's final public appearance at the "Legendary Ladies Event" in honor of Rosalind Russell. She looked beautiful and was so kindly. Even though the event was in honor of Rosalind Russell, everyone, including the host could not stop talking about Miss Crawford! And, I also saw a very thoughtful video at Joan's funeral which was broadcast on a local NY cable channel. There were many mourners and one lady in particular said how Joan tirelessly wrote to her for more than 20 years. Watching all of this reminded me just how sweet and generous Joan always was, to everyone during her lifetime. My friend, who knows more about Joan than anyone I have ever met, also shared with me that Joan was the type of person who could make everyone love her. If you didn't like her before you met her, you fell in love with her afterwards because she was such an enigmatic phenomenon who sincerely cared about others. And, that person, the phenomenon, is exactly who is written about in, "Not the Girl Next Door."

Besides telling Joan's accurate story, "Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford, a Personal Biography" accomplishes something else that is very special and exciting! It truly shows another way of perceiving (and receiving) information in the 21st Century! Because, instead of being force-fed the same old garbage in that antiquated and obsolescent way of deciphering information (id est, if the MSM reports it then it must be true) the readers are given the opportunity to (critically) think for themselves! "Not The Girl Next Door" is really the difference between our parents and us. Because, this book wasn't written for the older generation who already has their preconceived beliefs etched in non-erasable ink; this is a gift for Joan's new fans who are open-minded enough to search out the real truth!

It goes without saying that Ms. Charlotte Chandler included many extremely extensive, never-before-published interviews with Joan. The author was able to give Joan life because her spirit and persona came beaming through loud and clear! I really felt like Joan was speaking from beyond the grave. One of my very favorite quotes with Joan, "I hate wars, but I always love the brave young men who go to fight, risking and sometimes giving all they have to our country, and I wanted to do anything I could." Aren't those such beautiful words! Another one of my favorite quotes from Joan is towards the end, on page 287: My fans write to "Dear Miss Crawford" or "Dear Joan." These are wonderful words... My only name, as long as I live and as long as my movies live, is Joan Crawford. ...Do you know what I would put on my tombstone? "I care what my fans think of me -now and forever."

The end of the book includes Joan's Filmagraphy which I enjoyed reading. I just wanted to make a few notes; in case you're a fan who is in search of all of Joan's film & TV appearances you will appreciate this. ...This book lists most of Joan's feature films and lists one of her short subjects (Joan actually appeared in a total of 5 shorts, which technically are not considered "movies" or "films." Besides "Miss M-G-M" these include: "MGM Studio Tour," "Hollywood Snapshots #11," The Slippery Pearls aka The Stolen Jools and "Screen Snapshots.") The list also did not include 4 silents that Joan made in '25 (all of which she was unbilled in:) "A Slave of Fashion," "The Merry Widow," "The Midshipman" and "The Only Thing") (note: these were all bit parts for Joan.) And this list did not mention Joan's '29 feature film, "Tide of Empire" (perhaps because Joan left the project before its completion, and this was released with another actress in Joan's original part,) nor was Joan's '30 feature "talkie" "Great Day" listed (however Ms. Chandler did discuss this movie throughout the book, mentioning that it was canceled soon after Joan began filming it.) One thing I was glad to see on Joan's Filmagraphy was her '25 film "The Circle." I don't know why, but for some reason this movie rarely shows up on any of Joan's film resumes, even though this was a staring role for Joan! Towards the end of Joan's Filmagraphy, the author chose not to included "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte." As you know this was a film that Joan left before its completion, however the final cut does include a brief clip of Joan in her original role as Miriam Deering (there is a long shot in the beginning of the movie, when Miriam gets out of the taxi upon her arrival at the Hollis plantation, that actually shows the back of Joan Crawford's head.) ...The original title of Joan's '64 project was "Royal Bay," not "Della." And, this was never actually a "TV movie" it was instead a pilot for a television program. In the late 80's, this was released onto home-video with the new title (which is roughly the more popular title,) "Fatal Confident" and in '97 it was re-released by a new distributor under the new title "Della." And, Joan's TV Appearances are mostly complete. Except these last few are missing: "Hollywood Palace" (2-7-70,) "The Name of the Game" (1-15-71,) "Journey to Murder" (1-30-71,) and "Beyond the Water's Edge" (4-27-72.) Joan's final TV appearance on WNEY from 1975 also is not mentioned as part of her Filmagraphy, nor is Joan's '68 guest staring role on "The Lucy Show" listed, either. But in fairness to the author, neither appearance could be described as a "dramatic role."

Please always remember, that there has never been a more Artistic or a more Brilliant Businesswoman, or a more Philanthropic Movie Actress, than the One & Only, World-Famous Joan Crawford. "She was a fine woman. She had two fine careers; one as an actress and one as a businesswoman and she never lost control," those are the words of Mrs. Jordan (who sadly passed on, last year,) speaking about her mother. Like Ms. Barbara Mandrell said in her hit, "I was country before country was cool," as far as Joan is concerned, she was an actress before anyone knew what being cool or being popular meant! Anyone who wants to learn about this electrifying thespian should run out and get this book.

Charlotte Chandler, whose writing is positively magic, has given us in this compelling new personal biography, "Not the Girl Next Door", something far beyond very important new information on this complex Oscar winning star. She has given us an actual "personal experience" of Joan Crawford herself.

Often times there is far more to be learned from how individuals "see themselves", and also "want to be seen", than from only the cold hard facts of their lives. If all you want to know about Joan Crawford is dates, people, and "hearsay" gossip, then looking her up in an encyclopedia of film history and reading all the slander that was written specifically to hurt her and to damage her reputation will suffice. However, if what you want is the extraordinary opportunity of sitting and listening to Joan Crawford tell you about her life, as it personally impacted her, then ""Not the Girl Next Door" is absolutely the book for you!

Perfectly set with carefully observed background description, and skillfully crafted from first-hand personal interviews with Ms Chandler, this book reads with the reality of a face-to-face encounter with Joan Crawford and those who knew her well. And because the author, mercifully, has NOT burdened her audience with endless speculative and psychological analyses of the star, readers themselves are closely drawn into active participation with the narrative and can come to their own conclusions, based upon their own understanding of Joan Crawford as she and her contemporaries speak directly to them.

Joan Crawford, whose devotion to her fans is legendary, was the quintessential "Movie Star". No one has ever worked harder to perfect her talents and her physical self, or to please her studio and moviegoers. At its core, "Not the Girl Next Door" refocuses our attention on Crawford's justly earned film career fame along with her many often unmentioned kindnesses to others, while at the same time balancing these accomplishments with the fears, insecurities, and childhood demons that we begin to perceive she always had to struggle against. Having read other books on and interviews of Miss Crawford I believe that she has revealed herself, in these largely "end of life" sessions with Ms. Chandler, in a way that we have never seen her before.

Also, importantly, in a stroke of sheer creative genius, Ms Chandler has set her own ego aside, and almost never reveals herself as "present" in the rooms where she sat and so carefully listened to those who told her their stories. It is, in fact, as if she has graciously gotten up and given her seat to her readers, and stepped out of the way so that they alone may be spoken to. In addition to what you will learn, it is the mystery of Ms Chandler's skill as a listener, and the magic of her writing as an author, that will leave you unable to put this book down.

My suggestion to you is to sit in a comfortable chair, turn out all the lights save the one you are reading with, pick up your copy of "Not the Girl Next Door" and listen quietly as Joan Crawford personally tells you her story. Thanks to the keenly perceptive talent of Charlotte Chandler, I guarantee that you will not be disappointed!!