Rating: 
Summary: Johnny One Note
Review: Mr. LaSalle is a zealot, not a scholar, and it shows. His obsession with Norma Shearer clouds everything he writes. He perceives that Shearer has been unfairly neglected in film history, and his attempt to redress this takes priority over any thoughtful examination of women in Pre-Code Hollywood. The plot synopses he offers are no better than anything on IMDB, his arguments on quality are poorly supported, his writing is clunky and full of redundancies, and his insights are dubious.
Rating: 
Summary: NOW I UNDERSTAND...
Review: Now I understand what the big fuss is about COMPLICATED WOMEN. I bought the book last week after seeing Mick LaSalle give an incredible talk on the subject at the Denver Film Festival, with film critic Leonard Maltin also in attendance. This is the most amazing story about women in film, and LaSalle's book is not only informative -- it reads like great fiction. Except it's true. I know what my friends are getting for Christmas this year.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BOOK ABOUT WOMEN IN FILM EVER
Review: Since I know old movies, I tend to be skeptical of film books. The writers sometimes know less than I do. Not this time. I bought "Complcated Women" after reading the review in "OUT" magazine, and I have to say, this might be the best book about women in film ever. Its an incredible story about incredible women. The writing is witty. The insights are enlightening. The question is, why did no one ever write about these women before? This is a great book, and not just for film fanatics.
Rating:
Summary: ONE POINT EVERYBODY IS MISSING
Review: Something you should know about this book: It's about sex, and it's about glamour. Now think about that. In the forties there was lots of glamour, and since the sixties there has been lots of sex. But you have to go back seventy years to find that combination alive, well, unfettered and at its glorious best in Hollywood film. If you want to know why American film is just a little sick today, and was just a little sick during the years of censorship, you have to go back to the good old OLD days, when things were healthy for like, oh, fifteen minutes. That's what's wonderful about this book. It takes you back to when things were right, and shows how things went wrong. Everything else is just extra, and the extras are pretty fine, too.
Rating:
Summary: absolutely brilliant
Review: This absolutely the best film book I've ever read and one of the best books of criticism -- film or otherwise -- written by an American in ages. Such insight -- and such a reclamation of the light from the dark. Are you a woman? Are you a movie lover? Are you a human being? You NEED to read this book. Period.
Rating:
Summary: Not very deep
Review: This book is ok if you are looking for descriptions of the plots of movies--especially Norma Shearer's. If you want anything more thoughtful--look elsewhere. The author's understanding of the code and its impact on women's roles in movies is very superficial.
Rating:
Summary: Telling the True Story of Pre- Code Hollywood
Review: This book is wonderful for the average or avid movie fan.Anyone interested in studio politics and the repression of true women stories after the code came into effect will enjoy this book. I also enjoyed the fact that it discussed the careers of great female stars that are not mentioned today. I highly recommend this book to all movie fans alike.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE
Review: This book opened up a whole world to me, and introduced me to so many wonderful women, but it's only now, a month after reading it, that I feel compelled to write. The book has stayed with me. Lines from it keep coming back, and stories flow through my mind. It probably makes no sense to call a movie book a masterpiece, but if it does make sense, this one qualifies. I don't know how men feel about the book -- I wouldn't presume to speak for them -- but women who care about their history -- and young women who are looking for examples from the past to steer them into the future -- would do well to buy this book and read it twice. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: John from Chicago
Review: This book provides a map to the buried and sometimes forgotten treasures that were pre-code cinema. Mr.LaSalle has created a beautifully written overview of Hollywood in the years from 1929 to 1934. Norma Shearer finally gets her due as one of the pre-eminent jewels in the movies. Other reviewers have already detailed much of the book so I won't rehash. What Mick LaSalle has done is spark the imagination of what Hollywood could have, should have, and would have been had te code never been enforced. An absolute pleasure to read and a useful reference.
Rating:
Summary: AN AMAZING, MOVING EXPERIENCE
Review: This is the best movie book I've ever read -- an amazing moving experience about some of the most interesting, pioneering young women of the 20th century -- the generation that came of age in the 1920s and early 30s. I recommend it to everyone!
|
