Hollywood Blondes: Golden Girls of the Silver Screen

Book Description

Hollywood Blondes: Golden Girls of the Silver Screen examines the lives and careers of Tinseltown's most memorable blonde bombshells. Twenty-two classic actresses are profiled including Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow, Carole Landis, Betty Grable, Marie McDonald, Thelma Todd, Lana Turner, Jayne Mansfield, Barbara Payton, Veronica Lake, Grace Kelly, Alice Faye, Mae West, Carole Lombard, and Judy Holliday. Each chapter has a complete filmography. There are more than one hundred rare photographs featured throughout the book.

Customer Reviews:

Great news for the Marie McDonald fans.......2007-09-28

I was beyond thrilled when someone told me there was a chapter about Marie McDonald in this book. I have been a huge Marie fan ever since I saw her in Promises Promises but there is not a lot of information about her out there. Thank goodness for Hollywood Blondes! This has to be the most detailed and accurate look at Marie's turbulent life. I thought they picked some stunning photos of Marie too. I wasn't surprised when I learned the authors started MarieMcDonald.org

I also like the other chapters in Hollywood Blondes. It was a good mix of bombshells from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

A True Winner.......2007-09-25

I didn't like this book - I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!! If you think the stars today live crazy lives you should see the messes these classic stars got themselves into. I like to consider myself a classic film expert and I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I learned. There is a lot of information packed into this book. There are tons of quotes sprinkled throughout the book which made you feel like you were hearing the actresses tell their own story. Adding a detailed filmography at the end of every chapter was a great idea too. Also most books like this give you one or two pictures of each actress but this one is filled with dozens of great photos (some were a little dark). The best part for me was discovering actresses like Carole Landis and Barbara Payton who I didn't think much about before.

You can tell the authors have a lot of respect for these actresses because they are all written about in a mostly positive way. I hate books that treat the stars like they were saints but Hollywood Blondes doesn't do that. It gives you all the real dirt about their bad marriages, their drug problems, and their sad endings. Fanatics probably won't like seeing their idols exposed but you have to face the fact that celebrities are human beings. These blondes may have been gorgeous and talented but they were also very flawed women. After reading it you really feel sorry for them yet you still want to run out and rent their films.

I did find some factual errors but that is true with every book. There are definitely not as many errors as some of these other reviewers claim. The Jayne Mansfield and Jean Harlow chapters were actually two of my favorites. I am looking forward to Michelle Vogel and Liz Nocera's next book!

Michelle Vogel Hits Another Mark.......2007-08-16

This book is sensational. From the gorgeous cover to the well written text. Vogel andher co-author, I do not know but am now a fan of, have really been great in their work. This book went into why Hollywood Blondes lived such tortured lives. Sure there are things in here, that some reviewers can and will disagree with. But it's unfair and tasteless to claim facts are wrong and you (the reviewer) knows more about a star like Jean Harlowe than the writer. Maybe the writer got information from someone other than you. Maybe if you are such a Jean Harlowe nut, you should write a book yourself. I found this book to be more than 99% accurate, sometimes writers have their own way of doing things and finding research and you shouldn't assume they didn't do their homework. These authors most certainly DID do their homework and the book is written brilliantly! I enjoyed the Lana Turner chapter most of all. The way Vogel writes it, gives you the feeling of almost being in the room as an observer in many dramatic and shattering scenes played out in this blonde beauty's life. Great job, Ms. Michelle Vogel. Looking forward to your next book.

Young Kid Who Appreciates Old Films.......2007-06-26

My mom and I have been reading one chapter of this book each night. Now that I'm on vacation from school we watch a movie from the actress we read about the night before the following day. My mom has always talked about these actresses and I've enjoyed knowing more about their personal lives. It gives me a better understanding of their acting when I know who they were in real life.

All the famous ones are covered in "Hollywood Blondes" - My favorites are Marilyn Monroe, Judy Holliday, Betty Grable and Jean Harlow. The detailed filmographies have helped us track down which movies we want to see too. It's a real bonus to have the filmographies of each actress after their chapter.

Not all of the movies are available anymore but old movies are being found and restored all the time so hopefully some of the lost films will become available in the future. If you're a fan of the blonde actresses from many years ago, whatever your age, this is a really fun and enjoyable book to read :) :)

If you think famous people of today like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Nicole Ritchie have their problems, after reading this book, it seems that old Hollywood celebs had the same pressures, addictions and problems. Many of the women in this book were addicted to drugs and alcohol. They had so many marriages and men in their lives, I found it hard to keep up and there were even some murders! I also found it interesting that as beautiful as they all were, their self esteem was very low. Probably the reason why they used drugs and alcohol to feel better about themselves.

Well, that's it. I just really liked this book and wanted to let you all know about it. Thanks!!!!!

Hollywood Blondes Doesn't Deliver The Goods.......2007-06-11

Hollywood Blondes is the title of a new but highly superficial and unoriginal book on the flaxen actresses of the silver screen by Michelle Vogel and Liz Nocera. Weaving the reader in from silly hair color commercial catchphrases, to the history of how blonde hair was revered throughout the ages, (throughout the centuries women have use horse dung, horse urine, and saffron to lighten their hair) to the introduction, these two self-proclaimed "film historians" do themselves in and let the reader know what they are in for....which certainly is NOT knowledge of famous blonde actresses.

From telling the readers about the psychological effects that blondes are supposed to be lovelier, and that only a few percentage of the world's population are naturally blonde, one gets the idea that they are over-wording just to use up more space in the book.

I will limit myself discuss the Jean Harlow chapter and add a couple of notes here on other actresses I am familiar with, so others can write their reviews on other stars they know more about.

While Jean Harlow's hair did become damage from over-bleaching, it wasn't true that, "She had no other choice but to wear a platinum blonde wig in her last seven films." In fact, Harlow was not a platinum blonde since 1935. She opted for a platinum colored wig in 1935's China Seas, as she was letting her own hair grow in. The only two films that she wore wigs after that were in Riffraff----the movie that introduced Harlow to the world as a "brownette"in 1936, and in Wife vs. Secretary. Harlow wore her own natural hair color of honey blonde hair in her other films from 1935 on, including Saratoga, her last film in 1937.
Here are some mistakes about Jean Harlow that were written on this book.

--Jean Harlow was not born in St. Louis, Missouri. It was Kansas City Missouri. Betty Grable was the one born in St. Louis.

--Harlow's mother was never referred to as "Mama Jean"; she was known as "Mother Jean."

--Jean's grandfather, Skip Harlow, was not an architect; he was a real estate broker.

--Clara Bow did not make a film called The Love Parade with Harlow. It was The Saturday Night Kid, in which Jean had a minor part.

--Charles McGrew did want Jean to have their child at the time she was pregnant.

--Howard Hughes was never "infatuated" with Jean; he was never interested and neither was she. There was no romance between the two.

--Canine star Rin Tin Tin did not die "cradled in her (Jean''s) arms." That is just a myth added to the Harlow legend.

--MGM Mogul Louis B. Mayer was not "obsessed" with Harlow; he never offered her a mink coat to have sex with her. That is a tall tale fabricated by novelist, Irving Shulman, who wrote an unaccountable, undocumented, un-researched, and false account on her life.

--Paul Bern, Jean Harlow's second husband, did not buy Jean "a mansion on Easton Dr, in Benedict Canyon." after they got married. That house was already his.

--Jean was never suspected of "being the killer" in Paul Bern's death; that is a plot from one of Jean''s movies.

--Jean did not "witnessed" Dorothy Millete killing Paul Bern. Jean was at her mother's house where she had spent the night.

--It was not "one of the biggest mistakes" for Jean to turn down King Kong, as we know it Fay Wray did nothing but scream and scream in it since the star of the picture was and will ever be: Kong!

--The character of Lola Burns in Bombshell is not patented after Jean Harlow, as the writers claim, but after Clara Bow. However, this was Jean's favorite role.

--While John Barrymore was in Dinner at Eight where Harlow was featured, Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford were not. The authors were thinking of Grand Hotel, in which Jean never appeared.

--Jean did not buy" a big mansion." She purchased the lot and her mother build it. It was called the ``White Palace," not "the big white house."

--MGM never tried to "destroy all copies" of Harlow's novel Today is Tonight. Mother Jean sold MGM the book after Jean''s death. MGM bought it help out Mother Jean economically.

--Reckless was not "loosely based on Jean and Paul Bern's real story." It was a script patented after Broadway star Libby Holman, whose husband, Zachary Smith Reynolds, had killed himself the same year that Bern did.

--Jean and her mother did not move in "a modest bungalow on North Palm Drive." It was a beautiful, Spanish styled, two-storied large home in Beverly Hills.

--Jean did not "collapsed into his (Clark Gable''s) arms" on May 24. The time was May 29 and the actor was Walter Pidgeon.

--Gable did not call "William Powell who took Jean home." She was driven in a limo back to her house by herself.

--William Powell died in 1984 not "1980."

--Mary Dees was not Jean's "long-time stand-in." Dees was hired to complete Saratoga. She never met Jean Harlow.

--Mother Jean did not die in "the same room at Good Samaritan Hospital," and she did not die on June 7th either; Mother Jean died of a massive heart attack on June 11, 1958.

As for Marilyn Monroe, the authors inform us that, "Without a doubt, Marilyn Monroe's persona was a creation of men, for men." That's part of the Monroe legend but it isn't true. By taking on Harlow's favorite color of white dresses to Lana Turner's hair styles, and Betty Grable's make up, Monroe presented her own version of the dumb blonde in the 1950's.

The misquote attributed to director Billy Wilder, where Marilyn said she was the only blonde in the films, didn't happen in Some Like It Hot (1959). The incident to what the writers are recalling was from Something's Got To Give (1962), Monroe's last and uncompleted film, and the director was George Cukor. If people watch Some Like It Hot, they can see that Monroe was in an all-blonde-girls-band. Another misquote attributed to Colombia Pictures' mogul Harry Cohn; he never said "Get me another blonde!," when he heard that Monroe had died in 1962. Monroe made only one film at Columbia when she was a starlet in 1948. She was never a contract player at Columbia; they had their own bombshell in Kim Novak. Any Monroe fan knows that she attained stardom at 20th Century Fox Films with the release Niagara in 1953, and had been that studio's contract player from 1951 till 1962.

According to the authors, Jayne Mansfield was "the poor man's Marilyn Monroe." In all my years of researching the library's microchips newspapers on Mansfield I never read that she was referred to that way. Mansfield was a Broadway star, given a highly-paid contract by Fox. Mansfield was that studio's premiere blonde star of the late 1950's. The only two films Monroe made at Fox, after her departure, were Bus Stop in 1956, and her last, Something''s Got To Give. Jayne''s market value at 20th Century Fox was twenty million dollars in late 1950's and early 60's money, which is about one hundred million in today''s money.

In a grave error the authors state that Lana Turner's Cheryl Crane "...shot and killed her (Turner's) gangster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato..." and then telling us that "Cheryl stabbed him with the knife" in the Lana Turner chapter. At this rate one wonders, who did this book's editing? I found most of the chapters that I read to be careless, rehashed stuff from similar and equally badly written books. The authors use unverified websites as reference, quote sensationalist books, and worse, misquote a lot and resort to tabloid-trash writing. I would advise any reader to skip this book at all costs, not even for the photographs, which are studio-standard photos that any fan is probably familiar with. The writers just didn't care or know about reporting fresh, insightful, and true accounts of these stars' lives.

Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow

Average customer rating:

An enjoyable quick read
Platinum Blonde Life
Gives some misinformation, but still captures Jean's spirit.
The Platinum Girl gets the Golden touch
Worth having, but Golden Misses the Gold.

Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow
Eve Golden
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1558592148

Customer Reviews:

An enjoyable quick read.......2007-06-01

In this quick-moving and well-researched biography, Ms. Golden paints a compelling picture of Jean Harlow's short life. Though her life was tragically short, the story itself isn't short, and is never uninteresting. As with many stars over the years who have died before their time, there have been numerous rumors and urban legends about Harlow, particularly in a trashy 1964 "biography" written by Irving Shulman. Ms. Golden debunks all of them, such as how she was allegedly beaten by her second husband Paul Bern on their wedding night, that Bern killed himself because he was impotent, that Jean had orgies and drug parties, and that she died because her mother was a Christian Scientist and kept her imprisoned at home as she was dying. She keeps a professional tone throughout, never descending into either of the two extremes of fanatical fawning and sugarcoating or mean-spirited degradation and slander.

Jean comes across as one of the more normal celebrities, someone who was more like the girl nextdoor in real life than a glamorous sex kitten. She had a relatively stable normal childhood in spite of her parents' eventual divorce, and was first bitten by the acting bug during her family's first stay in Hollywood. She eventually broke into the business after her return in the late Twenties, but the disapproval of her husband and grandfather compelled her to cancel the contract she'd been offered by Hal Roach Studios; luckily, she was able to return to acting not too long afterwards and got another big break, and this time wasn't forced to abandon her career just as it was starting. Though she wasn't always given stellar material to work with and grew to resent how she was more often than not cast as a ditzy blonde or a dangerous or "immoral" type of woman, she proved that she was capable of serious acting and was more than just another blonde. In addition to covering her acting career, Ms. Golden covers how she was also very devoted to her mother, had three marriages and a possible fourth on the horizon, became close friends with many of the other stars of the time, was an animal-lover and a passionate Democrat, and did some writing on the side, even writing a novel that was posthumously published. One can only speculate on how her career might have continued to soar had she lived past 1937. The book is also full of gorgeous photographs.

However, the book isn't without its errors, such as how Jean's mother is constantly called "Mama Jean" instead of "Mother Jean" and the misidentification of the 1931 Laurel and Hardy short 'Beau Hunks,' which Jean appears in via a photograph (and is soon revealed to have broken the hearts of all of the men in the Foreign Legion), as 'Beau Chumps.' There were also some subjects that perhaps could have been delved into a little more deeply, such as Jean's stepfather Marino Bello, the non-acting part of her life (particularly since Ms. Golden emphasises how normal she was), and some of the apparent contradictions in her life, such as how she sought to live a normal life and to be seen as more than just a blonde bombshell, while maintaining a taste for things such as expensive jewelry and clothing. All in all, though, I found it to be a fast-paced compelling biography.

Platinum Blonde Life.......2004-03-09

She became famous for playing a smoldering succession of bad girls, and the platinum look now mainly favored by Gwen Stefani. But Jean Harlow wasn't the person the public believed her to be, as revealed by "Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow." It's serviceable, but not too much more.

Jean Harlow was born into an unhappy but not horrific family (her original name was Harlean) and jumped into a teen marriage while still at school. Her marriage disintegrated as her star rose (nude photos didn't help), where her striking face and platinum hair made her a fashion icon -- something not hurt by legendary weird rich guy Howard Hughes. Two marriages, one husband's mysterious suicide, one scam and many movies later, the Platinum Girl suddenly died of kidney failure.

Eve Golden keeps a professional attitude towards Jean Harlow. There's plenty of focus on her mind, fears, hopes and her professional life. On the other hand, there's little of her sex life, and what Golden does dip into, she does to debunk (the freaky story about Harlow's brief marriage to her second husband). A tone of professional and personal respect -- but not fannishness -- permeates the book. A particularly nice touch is her emphasis on Harlow's early love of writing, which prompted her to write a novel later in life.

Harlow lived a comparatively peaceful life, with some tragedy and scandal but not a huge amount. A really good writer could manage to keep it moving. But Golden isn't a particularly adept writer; she gets rather tedious at times (enough about bleaching hair!), and fails to elaborate about some points like Harlow's slimy stepfather. She emphasizes Harlow's "normality" in the opening chapter, but doesn't really follow up on that. It seems like she's trying to get us to continue reading.

"Platinum Girl: The Life of Legends of Jean Harlow" is a nice but unimpressive work that describes the basics of Harlow's life. While the professional attitude towards Harlow's too-short life is refreshing, the mediocre writing bogs it down.

Gives some misinformation, but still captures Jean's spirit........2003-11-04

I thought Platinum Girl was well written, in that it is easy to read, and draws you into the life of one of the greatest stars of all time. However, Ms. Golden does give some incorrect facts; as one reviewer pointed out, Jean Harlow's mother was called "Mother Jean" and not "Mama Jean," as Ms. Golden constantly refers to her. Also, when she talks about Jean's grave, she says her name is written in Jean's handwriting. I have visited Jean's grave, and that is not true. She also says that the people who work at Forest Lawn will tell you where she is buried. Again, not true. The employees at Forest Lawn will NOT tell you anything about the location of any celebrities buried there.
Misinformation aside, this book is still a good read. I loved the pictures and how they were placed throughout the book. One photo in particular stood out and still stays in my mind weeks after I read the book; a photo from Jean's second wedding, to Paul Bern. It is a group photo, and her mother is in the photo, absolutely glowing on her daughter's happy day. What shocked me was how much she looked like her daughter. It was like seeing what might have been, had Jean not died so tragically at 26.

The Platinum Girl gets the Golden touch.......2003-05-04

Eve Golden is a writer who knows Hollywood, especially classic Hollywood in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. For anyone who read Moveline magazine back in it's heyday, Eve Golden wrote witty video reviews along with other contributions.

Golden turns her attention to Jean Harlow and the result is stunning. The tragic, short life of the wisecracking blonde from the Mid-West is told without being too sugar-sweet and refrains from wallowing in gutter like a cetain 1960s biography of Harlow. Jean Harlow was a nice person with a longing to be more than just the blonde bombshell the public saw, not a nymphomaniac who needed a navy fleet and an ocean of booze to get through the night.

The layout of the book and the photographs are amazing. Reading this in hardcover is knowing you're reading some very special beyonf the usual as-told-to film/tv/ star tat that crowds the Biography sections.

For the film buff or newbie that wants a worthwhile read that's not hard on the eyes, "Platinum Girl" is a clear winner.

Worth having, but Golden Misses the Gold........2003-01-31

I much prefer David Stenn's "Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow" over Ms. Golden's biography. While her book has a wonderful array of sumptuous photos, it is not enough to make up for factual errors and there are numerous factual errors in this book. She states that Marino Bello was in Los Angeles during the 1920s with Mother Jean but that was a totally different man. Bello did not enter into Mother Jean's life until Harlean (Jean Harlow) was at Ferry Hall School for Girls in Lake Forest, Ill. Golden consistently refers to Harlow's big white house on Beverly Glen Boulevard as the house on Club View Drive. I cannot help but to find this as inexcuseable. Mother Jean, as she was called, was never called Mama Jean. Yet, Golden uses "Mama Jean" throughout the entire book. Harlow called her mother Mother or Mommie. Everyone else referred to her as Mother Jean or Mrs. Bello.
There is too much gleaned from movie magazines from the 1930s. I have had contact with several women who attended school with Harlean at Ferry Hall and the school was far too strict to allow the pranks that Ms. Golden writes about. They never happened! I cannot imagine where such information was ever obtained.
This is in no way the definitive biography on Jean Harlow. The defamation of Jean Harlow by Shulman's fictitious and lurid tome is insightful. "Platinum Girl" has its moments but the tangents of Hollywood History seem to this reader as easy filler. Jean Harlow had a tragic life. She was a kind and sensitive girl and was dominated by her Mother. This biography misses that fact and calls Harlow's life a "success story". In terms of becoming a greatly beloved star who transcended her sex symbol image, then it is a success story. Jean Harlow was insecure and passive. She did what the studio told her to do because it was what her mother wanted her to do. Jean Harlow didn't long to become a big star--her mother wanted her to become a star because Mother Jean wasn't able to break into films during the years of 1923-1925. Mother Jean lived vicariously through her daughter, whom she called The Baby. Thus, Jean Harlow never really knew who she was. She was unlucky in romantic love and when told to fight to live, she said, "I don't want to." She died shortly after uttering those words.
Jean Harlow was MGM's most beloved star by the cast and crew and all who knew her. Yet she was plagued by a domineering stage mother, drank to excess, and gave less love to herself than she deserved. Statistical errors aside, Golden paints a far more happy story of Jean Harlow than what was actually true. Read both and decide--but don't bother with Irving Shulman's so-called biography!

Average customer rating:

Probably the best portrait of Harlow written
Lacks substance (personal details).
Book Celebrates Harlow's Short Life
Top Shelf
Still Not "Over" This Book - It's That Magnificent

Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow
David Stenn
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385421575
Release Date: 1993-09-01

Book Description

"HARLOW." Her name epitomizes an era, a decade of Depression in which harsh reality created a demand for lush film fantasy and no Hollywood star was as luscious or fantastic as Jean Harlow. She was M-G-M's most bankable asset, a blonde bombshell whose bleached hair, voluptuous body, and bawdy humor inspired a fervent cult following that remains to this day.

Despite Harlow's blinding fame, the events of her life have been obscured by a fifty-year haze of secrets, lies, and silence. Until the publication of this book. After years of research, critically acclaimed biographer David Stenn unearthed the truth behind the improbable rise of this tow-headed tomboy from Kansas City, her huge success, and her tragic fall.

After fifty-six years, David Stenn persuaded Harlow's family, friends, colleagues, and employers to break their silence and provide previously sealed legal, financial, and medical records, which solved the mystery of her death. His account is confirmed by scores of exclusive interviews with eyewitness sources, including Harlow's nurses during the last days of her life.

Exhaustively researched and compulsively readable, Bombshell stands as the definitive Harlow biography. This edition contains a new UNSEEN SCENES section of never-before-seen photos of deleted scenes from Harlow's biggest hits. This book is a must-have not only for every Harlow fan, but anyone interested in a truly riveting story.

Customer Reviews:

Probably the best portrait of Harlow written.......2006-08-29

David Stenn connects with his subject... well researched, well written, and a real enjoyment to read, it gives you Jean Harlow as others close to her knew her, and dispels a lot of the myths about her that the Hollywood rumor mills and others have kept alive over the years. Fascinating portrait of an interesting woman whose career was much too brief, and to whom others to this day owe their livelihoods because she went there first. Highly recommended, along with his other book on Clara Bow, "Running Wild."

Lacks substance (personal details)........2006-05-25

Same problem as any biography: Lacking in personal details(more later). I read the book twice in a period of five years and I came away with the taste of cardboard in my mouth both times. The book Does Not get better the more you read it. After reading the book you will know the actress as well as if you were looking at a cardboard cut out of her. What did she like to eat? What was her favorite drink? What did she like to do? What did she think of Hitler? Did she use dental floss? What did the hospital room look like? Get the picture! The story is in the details-but biographers still don't know that.Is it so hard to find personal info? What about the Ferry Hall letters? In all fairness to the author maybe they weren't available at the time. But did he even look? What are the ordinary details of her ordinary life! Whatever they are you won't find them in this book.

Book Celebrates Harlow's Short Life.......2006-05-03

I am often annoyed with how excessively boring and prolix biographies are. I used this book for a history presentation and read it in one night. Having known nothing of Jean Harlow before I began reading, this book gave me a good knowledge of her life, her death and the insecurities that plagued her because of her mother's overbearing personality. This book was easy to read, especially for someone who finds biographies daunting, and interesting. It also included several pictures that highlighted the beauty of Jean Harlow wonderfully. I would recommend this to anyone interested in Jean Harlow's life and especially to those looking for an interesting and easy to read book, especially for a report.

Top Shelf.......2006-04-25

This is a wonderful book by a wonderful writer. Stenn obviuosly feels for his subjects. His equally compelling book about Clara Bow is full of the same empathy that runs through this one. He meticulously outlines Jean's life and history, so by the time she is dying, you actually feel like you understand why she seemed to just give up. It's a wonderful book and we highly recommend it.

Still Not "Over" This Book - It's That Magnificent.......2006-03-15

I read the paperback edition of this book at least 2 years ago. And I was stunned to learn absolutely unknown facts about the following: Jean Harlow's outstanding acting ability; her hilarious sense of humor; how beloved she was by everyone (except Joan Crawford...) including Clark Gable and virtually every guy on the set from cameramen to gaffers; she was so endearing and kind to everyone that she was called "Baby"...in the most heartrending and respectful way; she was tiny - barely 4 feet 11 inches tall and despite her incredible beauty did not take it seriously; she tried desperately to please everyone and above all perhaps she was the most loyal friend anyone could have. The end was so heartbreaking, it still makes my eyes brim.

Average customer rating:

Best book i ever bought

Films of Jean Harlow
Michael Conway , and Mark Ricci
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B00005VWMP

Customer Reviews:

Best book i ever bought.......2004-03-25

Despite Ms. harlow's life being so wrought with love affairs and scandal, this book stays on task and keeps to reviewing and summarizing her films. I love that it features several of the hard to find and lesser seen Harlow films and include the paper reviews from the film's heyday. I loved it and i think any true Harlow fan will love it too

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Films of Jean Harlow
Michael Conway; And Mark Ricci
Manufacturer: CITADEL PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKVLOA

Average customer rating:

Films of Jean Harlow
Michael Conway
Manufacturer: BONANZA BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PX6A2O

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The Films of Jean Harlow
Michael and Mark Ricci Conway
Manufacturer: Cadillac Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OFRIBU

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Harlow: An Intimate Biography
Irving SHULMAN
Manufacturer: Dell Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000B3MHCA

Product Description

From the back cover: Harlow: the long-supressed, true story of the platinum-haired love goddess who may have been the inspiration for "The Carpetbaggers" but whose real life was more sensational than any novelist could imagine.

Harlow: An Intimate Biography (The Lively Arts Series from Mercury House)

Average customer rating:

Sleaze
Trash but good trash.....
Trashed Platinum Venus
caca

Harlow: An Intimate Biography (The Lively Arts Series from Mercury House)
Irving Shulman
Manufacturer: Mercury House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0916515613

Book Description

Harlow, An Intimate Biography, is the biography of Jean Harlow, the first of the typically American love goddesses as well as a presentation of the big-studio feudalism of the Thirties and a near sociological consideration of that American phenomenon, the sex symbol devised for mass consumption.

Customer Reviews:

Sleaze.......2007-06-11

I felt like jumping into the shower after reading this miserable trashing of poor Jean, who isn't around to defend herself. She wasn't anything like what this book describes. If you want to read this garbage, do so, but remember to wash your hands afterwards.

Trash but good trash............2005-07-07

While it is agreed this book is a definate dishonour to jean harlow's memory. One should be smart enough to realize it is still one of the best trashy pulp reads i have ever experienced. Irving shulman is regarded as one of the best pulp novelists with his stories about life on the streets circa 1940's. This film noir treatment of harlow's life maybe inacurrate, but it is still an entertaining read that would make jackie collins green with envy. If one also reads nathanel west's novel, "day of the locust", One could feel it is an companion piece to this other fictonal work detailing side of hollywood life one rarely wishes to think about.

Trashed Platinum Venus.......2002-06-08

Ugh!! Along with Shulman's "Valentino," one of the worst movie star biographies I've ever read. Harlow is reduced to a breast-bearing harpie, not to mention poor Paul Bern, whose reputation is utterly trashed. Written as though the writer were present for every intimate moment of Harlow's life, it offers no reliable information. I cannot believe this was the story of Harlow's agent, Arthur Landau. Avoid this hysterical trash and read David Stenn's "Bombshell" instead, a more balanced and sane look at Harlow.

caca.......1998-03-31

This is what a biography should never be. It's poorly written, poorly edited and is merely a titillating vehicle for the biographer to get some cheap thrills. It was Garbage.

HOLD YOUR MAN - from the film Hold Your Man

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HOLD YOUR MAN - from the film Hold Your Man
Arthur; Brown, Nacio Herb (re: Clark Gable and Jean Harlow) Freed
Manufacturer: Robbins Music Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GVZXW8

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