Ava Gardner Books

It's not often that I venture forth to offer a review on Amazon, but I was so upset with this book that I had to speak up. I checked this book out of my University library to help with research for a film exhibit I am working on. I was hoping to find an at most academic and at least intelligent, or reliably informative retelling of the lives of these famous actresses within, how they were perceived by the viewing public, and the effect they had on the film industry during their tenures as stars. What I got was a sensationalist account concerned only with detailing every sexual encounter these women ever had, and taking delight in citing most of them as gay or bisexual, something that is not offensive to me but seems particularly overemphasized in this book.

Why is it important to know that several of these women didn't wear underwear on the set? This book is full of lascivious quotes from male film stars about the sexual appetites of all of these women, and time and time again I found myself questioning the legitimacy of these sources, not to mention the bias of what these men were saying considering attitudes about women at the time. Perhaps even more offensive, in Wayne's account none of these women are allowed to succeed on their own without men. Instead Wayne depicts their careers as driven primarily by sex, and there is no real examination of how these women succeeded based on their own talents or business savvy. They need men to land roles in films, they need men to fulfill whatever emotional void is in their life, and don't forget they prey on men like the vamps many portrayed on screen to fulfill their rampant sexual appetites. But I kept asking, over and over, so what? The dreaded question that every historian or biographer should strive to answer to justify the time and money spent into publishing any paper or book. The drivel presented here doesn't even attempt to answer this question.

There's no denying that none of these film stars were saints, but what does this book honestly add to any serious or intelligent discussion of film? Whether or not these actresses were as oversexualized as Wayne takes delight in portraying them, they are fascinating subjects who captured the imaginations of millions through their revolutionary presence on screen, whether through sheer talent, manipulation of their images, or both. They were acting during one of the most fruitful times for women in Hollywood in many cases, when women were allowed to be sexual and independent creatures who strove for what they wanted in their roles on screen. But instead of even attempting to point this out, Wayne is almost offensively interested in cataloging everything that supposedly went on in their bedrooms.

This book read like the worst of gossip columns with no analysis that even the more disappointing biographies I have read for this project made sure to offer. Further, the endless catalog of love affairs reads like a laundry list, making the writing bland and boring no matter how tantalizing the questionable subject matter attempts to be.

i have read the book and i keep wondering if any of this really true. it is just pure specualtion. idle gossip. but it was fun reading it. why was so much attention given to grace kelly when she only made a couple pictures with MGM. katharine hepburn was a much bigger star and the author gave her a couple of pages. just not enough.

Miss Wayne clearly did not investigate the rumors that fills this book. Many of her facts are not validated and that many more are known to be just rumor. The typographical errors abound, i.e. Wiltshire Boulevard in Los Angeles - it is Wilshire Boulevard. Her dates are deplorable - i.e. Esther Williams and Fernando Lamas were married for 22 years from 1969 until his death in 1982 - that's 13 years, Miss Wayne!

As an avid collector of classic movies and the literature of the Golden Age of Hollywood, this book has no value to this or any other collector!

While we all know that these celebrity histories relate many falacies, some shocking tid-bits are true. For instance, it has been well known that Mickey Rooney, as baby-faced and non-sexual as he may seem, was quite the ladies' man. As a 16 year old he had an affair with a much older Norma Shearer (quickly broken up by Louis B. Mayer to avoid scandal). As for Hedy Lamarr, read about the admitted bi-sexuality and orgies in her own words... "Ecstacy and Me," her autobiography, does not hide that she acutally is an arrogant nymphomaniac, and she seems to be rather quite proud of it! We all agree that there are false rumors that are attributed to these actors and actresses, but let's not forget that a lot of them brought sensationalism and scandal on their own. That is what makes their stories so fascinating, and that is why we read them.

Jane Ellen Wayne's book "The Golden Girls of M-G-M" will not be everyone's cup of tea. The author seems to take serious advantage of the fact that most of these women are no longer around to protect their reputations, and thus this book is full of vulgar details more at home in the National Enquirer than a deceptively-stylish biography tribute book (which this purports to be). Though to be fair, Ms Wayne is somewhat sympathetic to each of the ladies she features here, but the book is riddled with typographical errors, misspelled names and wrong information. This book will probably never help Miss Wayne ascend the upper-echelon of biographers.

Covering as much dirt as possible, each actress gets a chapter (Jeanette MacDonald, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor). There is also a `Naughty-But-Nice' section in the back, comprising of mini-chapters devoted to Hedy Lamarr, Katharine Hepburn, Esther Williams, Debbie Reynolds and June Allyson.

There are so many wonderful biographies available on these ladies, but I'm afraid this isn't one of them.