Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era

by Turner Classic Movies

Book Overview

Sexy, stylish, and powerfulfrom Lillian Gish to Katharine Hepburn, Myrna Loy to Lauren Bacall, Jean Harlow to Grace Kelly, each of the legendary actresses featured in this book left an indelible mark... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811852482
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.3" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

"Oldies" but still "goodies"

I recently read this volume as well as its companion, Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era, and thoroughly enjoyed both while agreeing with others that the selections may have been biased if executives within the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) organization were involved in the decision as to whom to include and whom to omit. For example, Ann Sheridan (who appears in films shown on TCM) but not Shirley Temple (who doesn't). That said, both volumes offer a Foreword by Robert Osborne and an Introduction by Molly Haskell and have the same reader-friendly format which consists of a brief but adequate bio of the given actress followed by "Style Notes" and "Behind the Scenes" sections. Here are a few brief excerpts. From the brief bio of Katharine Hepburn: "Her film work kept her a star despite frequent breaks to pursue theatrical projects and care for [Spencer Tracy] as his health declined. She put her salary on the line so he could play opposite her in his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). He died 17 days after filming was complete. Katharine won an Oscar for the film, but she said she could never watch it because the memories were too painful." From the brief bio of Vivien Leigh: "Filming Gone with the Wind was a terrible experience for Vivien. She connected well with the film's first director George Cukor, but he was fired after a few weeks. Victor Fleming, a good friend of Clark Gable's, took over, and Vivien felt like a second-class citizen. Fleming's only direction to her was `Ham it up!' She secretly went to Cukor each Sunday to work on the next week's scenes. One week she accidentally ran into Olivia De Havilland, who was playing Melanie. She was doing the same thing." From the "Style Notes" of Lauren Bacall: "When she became pregnant in the late 1940s, she designed a maternity wardrobe that was decades ahead of its time: suits and skirts that capitalized on her changing figure rather than concealing it." From the "Style Notes" of Ava Gardner: "The sultry, appraising gaze that [she] often gives on camera is really a squint - she needed glasses but could not wear them in her pictures." From the "Style Notes" of Marilyn Monroe: She "didn't wear anything to distract from her curves, so she wore no underwear. Often she was sown into her tight-fitting gowns." From "Behind the Scenes" of Joan Crawford: She "would go head-to-head with anyone to keep her star status, but she met her match in Bette Davis when the longtime rivals were cast as abusive sisters in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) Bette kicked Joan in the head so hard during a fight scene that she required stitches. When Bette had to drag Joan across a room, Joan loaded her pockets with weights, causing an injury to Bette's back that lasted for days. Baby Jane was a hit and the two were paired again for Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), but after three weeks of the rematch, Joan threw in the towel and quit the film." Olivia De Havillan

Leading Ladies

I enjoyed "Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era," but was shocked not to have featured several actresses that were part of the studio system. I understand not all actresses can be included, but some actresses were unjustly omitted. Studio-era leading ladies Deanna Durbin (Universal), Jennifer Jones (Fox), Luise Rainer (MGM) and Shirley Temple (Fox) were not even mentioned. How about Mary Astor, Anne Baxter, Leslie Caron, Ruth Chatterton, Jeanne Crain, Dorothy Dandridge, Marie Dressler, Alice Faye, Joan Fontaine, Janet Gaynor (Oscar's first Best Actress), Betty Grable, Helen Hayes, Judy Holliday, Miriam Hopkins, Veronica Lake, Janet Leigh, Ida Lupino, Anna Magnani, Patricia Neal, Merle Oberon, Geraldine Page, Eleanor Parker, Eva Marie Saint, Simone Signoret, Jean Simmons, Margaret Sullavan, Claire Trevor, Shelley Winters, Joanne Woodward, Teresa Wright and Jane Wyman. There are many omissions. I sincerely hope Robert Osborne, Molly Haskell and TCM include them, among others I omitted, in a second edition.

Beautifully illustrated guide to Hollywood's most glamorous

This book, from Turner Classic Movies publishing, is very concise overview of 50 of the screen's leading ladies. Some choices are without question, obvious, like Rita Hayworth, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford. Some choices are odd (Debbie Reynolds??) However, each lady gets two pages of representation, with amusing anecdotes about their lives and careers. I have been a lifelong fan of Golden Age Hollywood, and I found out a few things I never knew, like Hedy Lamaar co-writing a patent for a radio signal scrambler that was used during WWII (her first husband was an electronics expert) This book is great for those who are just learning about this era and the women who made it fascinating. I would also recommend this for those who are big fans, like me, and think they know it all about old Hollywood. This book will surprise and delight you. Quality of the book is superb, it is in a trade paperback format so it is easy to browse. Great for the short attention span crowd as well as true Hollywood scholars.

A DELIGHTFUL LOOK AT THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD

Claudette Colbert,Greer Garson,Myrna Loy,Ann Sheridan,and THE MOST UNFORGETTABE LEADING LADY, MAUREEN O'HARA are just five of the 50 actresses profiled,in this paperback book,written by TCM host Robert Osbourne,with an introduction by Molly Haskell.One may question the selections made by Mr.Osbourne,but when I discovered that MAUREEN and Ann Sheridan were included,I knew I had to have this book.Each actress is profiled witha 4 page spread,including a full page photo,another page deals with the actresses essential films,as determinded by Osbourne,there will be some quibbles here,another page includes a brief semi-bio,and the fourth concludes with notes,quotes,and style.For any old film buff this is a good addition to your library.John Springers" "They Had Faces Then", from about 25 years ago is also a must have.If I have any problems,with the book,is that it doesn't have enough text or pictures,especially color photos.

Must-Have Book If You Love Classic Actresses

This book is wonderful! It really does feature all of the greatest classic actresses - Clara Bow, Norma Shearer, Marion Davies, Myrna Loy, Gene Tierney, Lana Turner, Jean Harlow, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Mary Pickford, Irene Dunne, Joan Crawford, and many more. There are lots of photos and interesting trivia about all the actresses. The book devotes four pages to each actress which includes at least one full page photo. The photos alone are worth the price of the book! There are also complete filmographies for every actress in the back. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves classic actresses.