The Silver Screen Oasis

Jezebel38 wrote:Just a comment - I was wondering why you chose a photo of Lilyan Tashman for the cover of Golden Images, then I saw your picture on the inside jacket of the Castle book - Goodness! slap a platinum wig on you and you are the spitting image of LT!

Thanks--but more like Constance Collier, I'm afraid . . .

Hi Eve, I've obviously been labouring under misconceptions about Jean Harlow. I thought that she was denied medical treatment by her mother. How has this rumour been allowed to develop over time, do you know who started it? Did she actually get medical attention and if she had lived today would she have fared better?

Sorry that's about four questions.

I always wondered about the cover of Silent Images. I thought of all the images in the book it's publicised with a lesser known star (not a bad thing) but I was sure it was from later in her career.

Friend Eve,
Could you please talk a bit about what future projects (film or print) where we might look for your work?

If you are able to write about Georgiana Drew Barrymore (Ethel, Lionel & John's mother), would you be able to find a greater amount of documentation of her life about her because of her children? I would definitely like to read such a book, since I usually consume anything about the Barrymores and I suspect there are others who feel this way.

Also, since St. Patrick's Day is almost here and your account of this event in your book Vamp amused me in many ways, could you please talk about the disastrous effect of the movie, Kathleen Mavoureen on Theda Bara's career? Are there no prints available anywhere of this film?

Lastly, as the "official" part of your visit draws to a close, I'd like to publicly thank you for being so generous with your time and your often humorous answers that both inform and entertain us. You are, quite simply, one of our most charming guests. Please consider yourself welcome at any time in the future--as are all our guest authors. Believe me, any post with your name attached will be a welcome sight!

charliechaplinfan wrote:Hi Eve, I've obviously been labouring under misconceptions about Jean Harlow. I thought that she was denied medical treatment by her mother. How has this rumour been allowed to develop over time, do you know who started it? Did she actually get medical attention and if she had lived today would she have fared better?

The rumor started with that rogue and cad Irving Shulman, who made up all kinds of crap in his 1964 "bio" of Jean--and as we all know, once something is in print (or nowadays on the internet), the rumor is impossible to kill.

Jean was born in 1911--the same year as Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Lucille Ball, Vincent Price. Judging from their carrers, she had decades of work ahead of her, probably would have done TV (I Married Jean?), maybe character roles.

moirafinnie wrote:Friend Eve,
Could you please talk a bit about what future projects (film or print) where we might look for your work?

If you are able to write about Georgiana Drew Barrymore (Ethel, Lionel & John's mother), would you be able to find a greater amount of documentation of her life about her because of her children?

. . . could you please talk about the disastrous effect of the movie, Kathleen Mavoureen on Theda Bara's career? Are there no prints available anywhere of this film?

Lastly, as the "official" part of your visit draws to a close, I'd like to publicly thank you for being so generous with your time and your often humorous answers that both inform and entertain us. You are, quite simply, one of our most charming guests. Please consider yourself welcome at any time in the future--as are all our guest authors. Believe me, any post with your name attached will be a welcome sight!

Future books . . . I was going to do a book on Peg Entwistle, but I found that another author (a very good one, too) is starting one. Jayne Mansfield is a possibility, if I can get her childrens' OK. I was thinking of Lowell Sherman, but come on, no one will publish that. Georgianna Drew was covered so thoroughly in a bio of Maurice Barrymore that a book on her might be de trop.

Oh, I nearly forgot--I am doing a sequel to Golden Images (Bride of Golden Images?) featuring about 40 articles on talkie-era stars: from the biggies (Garbo, Dietrich, Crawford, Stanwyck) to the character people (Durante, Margaret Dumont, Cliff Edwards) to the completely forgotten (Judy Tyler, the Duncan sisters, Lyda Roberti). I hope to have it to the publishers by the end of this year.

Kathleen Mavorneen is, as far as we know, long lost. Theda was getting toward the end of her Fox contract when it was released, and it was pretty much the last straw. It probably wouldn't have done well anyway, as it was a non-vamp film, but the public reaction was scandalous: Irish complaining at how "Irish peasants" were depicted, and a good number of bigots complaining that a Jewess was portraying an Irish heroine. Bomb threats, stink-bombs, pickets . . . Another excuse for Fox to cut Theda loose.

And, thank you for having me! I had a lovely time, and I can never hear "ooooh, I loved your books!" too often. I'm sure I will be checking in from time to time and putting my two or three cents in.

--Eve

Dear Eve,

Thank you for your time, it's been delightful to hear from you.

I looked on the internet to see which book I had read a few years ago. Irving Shulman's. Thanks for putting me straight.

I'm off now to put your books on my Amazon wishlist

(Maybe Eve will catch up with this comment later...)

The fruitless gamesmanship of comparing Jayne Mansfield to others of her 'style' of course made me curious, too. But "fruitless" or perhaps "worthless" was my end-result. "No comparison."

But why? That still remains the bigger question. Why couldn't she get the films that Marilyn got?

While Marilyn is relatively presented to us as a "candle in the wind" (as if she was rather powerless to affect her career), Jayne sometimes presented herself as a blowtorch. Yet, if she DID have this kind of control of her career, gosh, most of her film choices are just horrible.

This makes me wonder about her intelligence. Yet when I've read comments that supported my doubts, they also make me skeptical of the commentor's ax to grind - "What do they have to gain by glorifying or degrading her?"

Looking at Joan Blondell's and Shelley Winters' careers - early forays as sex-kittens, later aging into different women's roles - I wonder if THOSE weren't indeed the 'successful examples' of the Blonde Bombshell Set as they aged. Or IF they aged, I suppose.

By the way, if any of you folks wanna go on amazon and post new reviews of my books, I won't actually try an' stop you . . .

I'm still deep into Harlow and enjoying it immensely. I have known so little about her or her films, so every paragraph can be revelatory for me. Great stuff, great style of writing.

I'm terribly late for Eve Golden's second weekend at the Oasis. And I really have just one very important question: were we able to convince her to never leave?

She's posted here the last two days, so we've been somewhat successful.

I'm a little late to the party, myself, Moralda...I've read through the entire thread and I loved it.

I realized that I used to love Ms. Golden's reviews in the old Movieline magazine! That was why the name was familiar. I am now on the lookout for any of her books.

Thanks for stopping by, Ms. Golden.

Sandy K

Thank you to Ms. Golden for sharing her knowledge and spirit of fun. I've enjoyed reading the entire thread and appreciate the bibliography provided; I am adding it to my reading list.
B

Hi Ms Golden! Thank you so much for posting here...and for your email advice on Marceline Day some weeks back.

Several weeks later, and I still enjoy this thread. Thanks, SSO, for giving me this opportunity. I'm looking forward to more.