Poisonous Biographies

Brooksie · Post by **Brooksie** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:17 am

I have just had the misfortune of encountering Irving Shulman's `Harlow: An Intimate Biography'. It was given to me by well-meaning folk who `knew I liked old movies', in the spirit of a special treat.

I got around 50 pages into it before I physically couldn't go further. What an appalling read; cheap and tawdry in nearly every way. As far as facts are concerned it makes Hollywood Babylon look like the Encyclopaedia Britannica - and yet it is lent the false veneer of believability by claiming to be based on the papers of Harlow's long-time agent.

I felt vaguely dirty when I dropped it in a charity bin soon afterwards. I even seriously considered pencilling a disclaimer at the beginning.

To avoid a Shulman moment in the future - what other early film biographies must be avoided at all costs?

(And yes - I already read the Marion Meade book on Keaton ...)

dr.giraud · Post by **dr.giraud** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:15 am

BING CROSBY: THE HOLLOW MAN is pretty much a hit job.

BixB · Post by **BixB** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:45 am

"WALT DISNEY: Hollywood's Dark Prince" is another hatchet job.

Post by **silentfilm** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:49 am

Garbo: My Story is NOT her story, but a completely fake autobiography written by Antoni Gronowicz.

FrankFay · Post by **FrankFay** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:02 am

Richard Schickel's book on Harold Lloyd isn't exactly poisonous but it's rather sour. It's pretty obvious he doesn't "get" Lloyd's films and as a person Lloyd comes off as shallow and adolescent. I think he resents that LLoyd had an easy and happy life without scandal and tragedy.

dr.giraud · Post by **dr.giraud** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:31 am

FrankFay wrote:Richard Schickel's book on Harold Lloyd isn't exactly poisonous but it's rather sour. It's pretty obvious he doesn't "get" Lloyd's films and as a person Lloyd comes off as shallow and adolescent. I think he resents that LLoyd had an easy and happy life without scandal and tragedy.

That sounds like Schickel: SOUR.

Hal Erickson · Post by **Hal Erickson** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:41 am

Anything by Charles Higham.

FrankFay · Post by **FrankFay** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:51 am

Anything by David Bret- don't even TOUCH his books or the stink will cling to your fingers

Post by **Mike Gebert** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:12 pm

Rin Tin Tin: That Son of a Bitch is a total bowser.

Post by **Danny Burk** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 1:43 pm

Mike, you're barking up the wrong tree with that one...

bobfells · Post by **bobfells** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:14 pm

VALENTINO - another Irving Shulman job.

If you like Jeanette MacDonald and/or Nelson Eddy, avoid the Sharon Rich bio, SWEETHEARTS.

westegg · Post by **westegg** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:54 pm

Off topic, but among the best show biz memoirs I've read were SWANSON BY SWANSON (by Swanson!), and Joan Benny's charming memories of her father, Jack Benny. Also, Chris Costello's book on her father, Lou Costello.

I read the infamous memoir by Bing Crosby's son, Gary (GOING MY OWN WAY, I think it was), plus that HOLLOW MAN ONE. Fortunately, I've also read the first installment of Crosby's life by Giddens (sp?); wish the second one would get published finally!

bobfells · Post by **bobfells** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:30 pm

westegg wrote:Off topic, but among the best show biz memoirs I've read were SWANSON BY SWANSON (by Swanson!), and Joan Benny's charming memories of her father, Jack Benny. Also, Chris Costello's book on her father, Lou Costello.

If you want charm and wit, don't overlook MY TEN YEARS IN THE STUDIOS by George Arliss (1940). Lots of inexpensive copies on ebay and through abebooks.com.

Daniel Eagan · Post by **Daniel Eagan** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:50 pm

westegg wrote:Off topic, but among the best show biz memoirs I've read were SWANSON BY SWANSON (by Swanson!), and Joan Benny's charming memories of her father, Jack Benny.

Also liked the Jack Benny combo bio/autobio. In it, Jack told how he was named spokesman for the March of Dimes, and repeated a stellar Fred Allen joke: "The dime hasn't been minted that could march past Jack Benny."

Brooksie · Post by **Brooksie** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:35 pm

FrankFay wrote:Anything by David Bret- don't even TOUCH his books or the stink will cling to your fingers

Funnily enough, when I heard that Shulman wrote a book on Valentino, I checked Amazon to see if it was the second worst film biography I ever read. Turned out that one was Bret's `Valentino: A Dream of Desire'.

I was lucky enough to inherit an enormous collection (200+) of film biographies from an elderly relative. Some are absolutely invaluable; others are two-page magazine spreads stretched to book length. A select few are almost unreadable. The Shulman beat them all, hands down.

westegg wrote:Off topic, but among the best show biz memoirs I've read were SWANSON BY SWANSON (by Swanson!)

I agree - I was a little disappointed to hear, postfacto, that it was ghostwritten by her then-husband, William Dufty, but it's still a terrific read.

The compliment to this thread should certainly be `What biographies are essential reading'!

Ray Faiola · Post by **Ray Faiola** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:24 am

I thought MacBride's book on Capra was pretty much a hit job. He seemed intent to tear down everything Capra stood for.

westegg · Post by **westegg** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:03 am

Adding to the more positive list is RAISED EYEBROWS by Steve Stoliar--not exactly a bio on Groucho Marx but an invaluable look at Marx's final years from a firsthand point of view, told with wit and compassion. Quite remarkable.

Chico Marx's daughter also wrote an honest and interesting memoir about her father.

missdupont · Post by **missdupont** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:25 am

I personally enjoyed McBride's book, with his indepth research. He put the record straight on the lies Capra told about Langdon and Riskin in his autobiography, where he took credit for their work when they were long dead and couldn't defend themselves.

Cari Beauchamp's WITHOUT LYING DOWN really caught early Hollywood as she examined Frances Marion's life.

Frederica · Post by **Frederica** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:04 am

Joyce Milton's biography of Chaplin, Tramp, starts out reasonably but degenerates into a screed.

Post by **silentfilm** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:25 am

I like McBride's book also. He really clears up what happened between Capra and Harry Langdon. Although Capra manufactured much of his biography (probably because he was a showman and thought it would please the public), his real-life story was just as compelling.

The problems that Capra had in his later years, with his problems with the communist hunters and his (a-hem) health problem, were just heart-breaking.

Chris Snowden · Post by **Chris Snowden** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:39 am

Hatchet-job biographies are a problem. But I'm just as leery of the fawning bios written by super-fans. Peter Noble's The Fabulous Orson Welles is one (as if you couldn't guess from the title), but a lot of books on Chaplin and D. W. Griffith also veer into that territory. Frankly, John McCabe's seminal Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy does too.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:40 am

I was disaapointed by David Menefee's biography of George O'Brien, which had little to say, although I liked his biography of Richard Barthelmess.

The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart by Darwin Porter is trash, almost a novelized version of Bogart's time in Hollywood where he's an observer of all the sex and booze scandals.

The Hollywood Blondes is junk. On page 12 it states that Clara Bow was the star of The Love Parade so I stopped reading that one. I won this book for some reason I can't remember now. But it's nicely signed by Michelle Vogel and Liz Nocera.

Harlett O'Dowd · Post by **Harlett O'Dowd** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:07 pm

drednm wrote:
The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart by Darwin Porter is trash, almost a novelized version of Bogart's time in Hollywood where he's an observer of all the sex and booze scandals.

Why use the qualifier "almost"?

It *is* a sex novel. An overlong, ridiculous sex novel, but if you read it for filth and not for fact, it can be entertaining.

(during the part where they were describing who recived that infamous Valentino sculpture - and how many were minted - I couldn't help thinking of Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs.)

Harlett O'Dowd · Post by **Harlett O'Dowd** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:08 pm

silentfilm wrote:I like McBride's book also.

FWIW, for the most part, I liked McBride's Ford book.

Haven't been yet compelled to do the Capra thing.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:49 pm

Probably most interesting in the Bogart book was that so many obscure and forgotten actors like Anderson Lawler got dredged up.

Harlett O'Dowd · Post by **Harlett O'Dowd** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:30 pm

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:
silentfilm wrote:I like McBride's book also.
FWIW, for the most part, I liked McBride's Ford book.

Haven't been yet compelled to do the Capra thing.

speaking of McBride - does anyone know him? Is he involved with this Ford film screening at the Academy in September?

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:04 pm

add Jane Ardmore's 1959 "biography" of Mae Murray... The Self-Enchanted, another novelized biography with no index or references....

Is there a real biography of Murray?

Harold Aherne · Post by **Harold Aherne** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:28 pm

bobfells wrote:If you like Jeanette MacDonald and/or Nelson Eddy, avoid the Sharon Rich bio, SWEETHEARTS.

The question of "did they or didn't they?" is a huge bone of contention in MacDonald-Eddy fan circles and how well one likes the Edward Baron Turk or Sharon Rich biographies largely depends on who one believes regarding the rumours--negative Amazon reviews of either author's work usually center on how the controversy is handled.

Still, Sharon Rich has provided interesting (if somewhat circumstantial) evidence for her viewpoint. She's also published a volume of Jeanette's late 20s correspondence and a manuscript of her 1960 autobiography.

-Harold

Brooksie · Post by **Brooksie** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:48 pm

Harold Aherne wrote:The question of "did they or didn't they?" is a huge bone of contention in MacDonald-Eddy fan circles and how well one likes the Edward Baron Turk or Sharon Rich biographies largely depends on who one believes regarding the rumours--negative Amazon reviews of either author's work usually center on how the controversy is handled.

Hoo boy - `Did they or didn't they/were they gay/were they a ghastly person masquerading as a sweetheart/did they really threaten their daughter over wire coathangers' is a whole new aspect of contentious biographies.

As long as the author looks at the evidence in a balanced way, I'm happy. What I don't like is `Was Buster Keaton illiterate? Well, probably. Why? Because I think so. Therefore it's likely to be true'.

Rob Farr · Post by **Rob Farr** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 8:21 pm

Brooksie wrote:
As long as the author looks at the evidence in a balanced way, I'm happy. What I don't like is `Was Buster Keaton illiterate? Well, probably. Why? Because I think so. Therefore it's likely to be true'.

Marion Meade.