[DOC] Carole Landis: A Tragic Life in Hollywood by E.J. Fleming at Arts-Photography

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Not great.By kimberlyI was left disappointed by this book. I agree with other reviewers that the book was long on speculation and short on actual documented details of Ms. Landis life. I dont feel like I really got to know her. One the one hand Ms. Landis was gorgeous. bubbly. generous to friends and made a huge contribution to the military in World War II. She was dedicated to the troops and selfless in her time. energy and money. On the other hand she apparently tried to commit suicide more than once and obviously succeeded on the final attempt. Her two identities were not linked by any evidence of her turmoil. We dont actually know about her unhappiness. it is just a conclusion drawn by her actions. She apparently dated frantically and had the reputation for sleeping with lots and lots of men. And was roundly disliked and gossiped about by the "wives in Hollywood" for doing so. From all the Old Hollywood bios Ive read. almost every single actress who became successful in Hollywood did the same thing. so I dont understand why this is her distinction particularly. Did she drink a lot? Was she on drugs? Did she have an obsession with her looks and diet? Apart from occasional references to her mother living with her. how was their relationship? How about her sister?There are no personal remembrances or first hand impressions from family or friends which I find odd. No one who gave a first hand insight into her thought processes and how she actually felt. Did she confide in no one? I realize most of her friends died long ago. but still it seems like stories from relatives or friends would have been available to the author. In her "affair with Jaqueline Susann. he makes the statement that she was the aggressor in the relationship. sending flowers and expensive jewelry. How does he know this? In her fourth marriage to the producer he states over and over that they were not happy and were fighting all the time. but she continually tells the press they are happy and doing great. How does he know they were not happy?There was a little too much detail about her movies and almost no specific detail about her thoughts or feelings. The author just makes conclusions on what she must have been thinking about situations that go against the very facts that he is describing. An example of the confusion that is this book is in the final chapters describing the weekend before she died on July 4/5. the author refers to the Friday before her death as June 2. I was so confused I had to flip back and forth to see what I had missed until I realized the date was in error. I read the authors book The Fixers and really enjoyed it so I am confused about why this book is so badly done. I found a website on Ms. Landis created by her great niece and it had a lot more detail on her personal and professional life. in addition to reams of photos. I can only assume the family did not want to participate in this book and wouldnt give the author any facts to help.28 of 29 people found the following review helpful. Carole deserves betterBy Morgan KlugI would have really liked to have liked this book more. I am all for bios of the stars--even (or especially) those whove been forgotten by many people. I get tired of the same thing over and over. and love nothing more than "discovering" the stories of real people who made it during the golden age of Hollywood. But.First off. this book is so challenging to read. There needed to be an editor someplace--phrases come back one or two paragraphs later. the same things are said over and over. the timelines are hard to follow. At one point the author talks about how. even though she was an infant at the time. Ms. Landis would have been traumatized by the death of one of her brothers--Im sure thats true. except that she was born after he died. People pop up (all of a sudden Ms. Landiss mom is living with her...since when?). There are misused words (unless free movie previews were indeed a big hit with blue colored people).Im sure that its very difficult to get documents from long ago. or interviews with people who would remember. but still--the author. when talking about Ms. Landiss birthdate. keeps refering to the common belief that it was on "New Years Eve. 1919". however. he thinks it was several months later--in March or April 1919. So do people believe it was New Years Eve 1918? Or was it really 1919 and the author thinks she was older. born in spring of 1919?The second thing is that the author for no good reason just tears apart pretty much every other actress alive during Ms. Landiss time. And for much of it he either comes right out and uses phrases like. "I think..." but its when he just states things as fact that are opinions and gives no citations that the book really falls apart for me. Every situation involving Ms. Landis is presented like this: Ms. Landis was more beautiful and more talented and more kind than anyone and all of the rumors about her were lies. On the other hand. (insert the name of big female star of the same era)was clearly not as attractive. had no talent. couldnt act. was jealous and nasty for no reason. and by the way. they were big whores without any excuses (unlike Carole).Im sure Carole Landis was a lovely person. In many of her photographs and films shes lovely to look at. Shes not a bad actress (the author wants you to believe that she would have had better roles but she was sooo talented that she blew others off the screen--really? How hard do you have to blow to get Victor Mature off the screen in One Million Years BC?). She carried on. head high. through many difficulties. working hard. But it wouldnt have diminished her or this book to realize that Betty Grable was also compelling. Rita Hayworth could dance like a dream. that Gene Tierney was better than ok in the looks department. And the totally snide attacks sprinkled throughout the book about Grace Kelly come out of nowhere (not active at the same time in Hollywood) and so they just look like a personal problem the author has with her.All in all. Id rather have a flawed book about a lesser star than no book at all. You have to ignore all the issues with the book to get through it. but its worth it just to discover Carole Landis. And think about the much better book she deserved.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Pretty awful book documenting the life of actress Carole LandisBy Matthew J. IvyPretty awful book documenting the life of actress Carole Landis. Too many typos and information that the author speculates about but has no hard evidence to back up his opinions. His opinions are LEGION throughout the book. Nice to have a story chronicling Caroles short life. but I couldnt recommend any one read this.