Patsy Ruth Miller

[Harold Aherne]

Has anyone read PRM's autobiography My Hollywood--When Both of Us Were Young: The Memories of Patsy Ruth Miller? It was published in 1988 and some online sellers have it available for not-quite-inexpensive prices; I was wondering whether anyone found it worthwhile. She certainly had a varied career and life, including marriages to Tay Garnett and John Lee Mahin, a close friendship with Kay Francis, and more than 70 films.

Kevin Brownlow wrote an obit for her in 1995 for the Independent and he noted that The Girl I Loved--a Charles Ray picture that Patsy counted among her fondest memories--survived incomplete at the Royal Belgian Film Archive and he arranged a tape transfer for her. This is one title that I'd certainly love to see as well; it was Ray's last picture before Miles Standish and it received some enthusiastic reviews in 1923. Does anyone know if it's been repatriated?

-Harold

[salus]

I'm surprised she didn't seek work in the new medium of TV. She was still fairly young in the 50s and 60s.

[bobfells]

I have a copy of Patsy's autobio and it is very well written. It's the second half of a double volume, the first part being the Chaney HUNCHBACK script. Miller became something of a playwright in later life and her talent and charm shows through the pages of her autobio. Her memories of working with Charles Emmett Mack on his last film, THE FIRST AUTO (1927), are touching. He was killed in a car accident during filming. He had asked Miller to go along with him on the fatal ride. Also, her observations of John Barrymore and his buddies getting soused at Ciro's are memorable. She seemed to become better looking as she got older. Her final films made for Warners in the early 30s show her looking more attractive than she did a decade earlier. Oddly, she makes no mention of her final film, QUEBEC (1951). The book has many excellent photos, presumably from Miller's own collection. It is especially pleasing to find the she had a "life" after her screen career ended. Recommended if you can find a copy that's priced right.

Patsy Ruth Miller & Tay Garnett

[fwtep]

I have the book and it's really good. I got it and read it way back when it came out, so I don't remember much except that I very much enjoyed it (and she autographed it for me).

[Claus H.]

The book is great fun, and her perspective of writing (small-town pluck vs. the big machine of LA) makes for engrossing reading. The Micha Auer story alone is fabulous.

I got mine off the Bay for about $35, and that felt like a perfectly fair price for it. The "Hunchback" script with stills just adds extra icing. Lovely book.

[akorniej]

I liked Patsy Ruth's book a lot, too, and think it's well worth having. It is beautifully illustrated. I corresponded with the man who helped her work on the book and apparently a lot of the visual material which came from her personal collection was never returned to her by the publisher including a stunning signed portrait of Nazimova. The book is as much a collection of reminiscences and anecdotes as a biography but it's a nice large format and well produced.
Andrew