Speaking of Silents: First Ladies of the Screen (Paperback)

~ William Drew (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A fascinating portrait of the early silver screen through inteviews with ten of its most glamorous stars.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Vestal Press (January 25, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0911572740
• ISBN-13: 978-0911572742
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,157,047 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Stars and Beautiful Book Graphics, July 17, 1999

By A Customer

This is a book on several actresses who achieved fame in the silent era. Of the bunch, Colleen Moore and Blanche Sweet were the only ones who were superstars, but most of the others were popular with the public then: Esther Ralston, Madge Bellamy, Laura La Plante, May McAvoy, Patsy Ruth Miller, Leatrice Joy, etc. The photos are extremely rare and the design of the book is quite lovely. Each actress gets a chapter, profiling her career and what she her life at the time of the interview (sadly, the last survivor, Laura La Plante, passed away in 1996). The best chapters are the ones with stars who are talkative: the sharply intelligent Bellamy, the vivacious Joy who seems to be her own greatest fan, etc. The more quiet stars like Miss La Plante don't offer much info and the author's writing ability does not seem strong enough to make those chapters as lively. Mr. Drew should count himself fortunate to have known such women. Certainly they all seem very gracious and were very generous with their time to a somewhat unknown author. I was somewhat dissapointed by the fact that the author failed to note which of the ladies had already passed away when the book was first published (1989) one is led to believe all of them were still alive and well. Still, a must for any silent movie lover.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ten Treasured Tales Told, June 19, 2005

By	Lisa Burks (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Speaking of Silents: First Ladies of the Screen (Hardcover)

Film historian William M. Drew celebrates the 1927 silent film season with stories about ten of Hollywood's leading actresses from that year, told in their own words. (Madge Bellamy, Eleanor Boardman, Leatrice Joy, Laura La Plante, May McAvoy, Patsy Ruth Miller, Colleen Moore, Esther Ralston, Blanche Sweet and Lois Wilson.) As Kevin Brownlow notes in his introduction, Mr. Drew continued to seek out and interview these wonderful women, by then in their 80s, even after the American Film Institute ceased its own oral history program, and lucky for us that he did. Mr. Drew captures the essence and the era in which these actresses lived and worked, their individual personalities and their memories and opinions of their films. Additionally, the book is chock full of photographs, at least one per page. "Speaking of Silents: The First Ladies of the Screen" was originally published in 1989 but age doesn't decrease its value, particularly because these shining stars, like the times they inhabited, and in many cases their physical films, have passed on. Whether or not your interest in film is the Silent Era, this is an extraordinary collection of stories that should be read, remembered and treasured.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Window into the World of Silent Movies, April 9, 2002

By	Bruce Calvert "silent movie fan" (Brady, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Author William Drew interviewed 10 silent film actresses about their careers and their memories of working in the industry. Some like Colleen Moore were huge stars; others were featured actresses that worked steadily through the era. While their stories are not quite as in-depth as Kevin Brownlow's THE PARADE'S GONE BY, Mr. Drew conducted his interviews about 20 years later than Mr. Brownlow and his actresses memories may not have been as sharp. Most of them come across as very intelligent. What is surprising is that most of them had no idea of what they were doing when they first started acting, but they were seasoned professionals when they retired. Only Madge Bellamy, the first subject comes across as a little shallow. If you are a silent film fan and you read this book, you will definitely want to see some films by Colleen Moore, Lois Wilson, Esther Ralston and others. Highly recommended.