The Girls : Sappho Goes to Hollywood

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended for movie buffs.
Review: The Girls provides quite a different look at the Hollywood environment of the 1920s to the 1940s as Diana McLellan examines the lives of lesbian and bisexual actresses of the times, analyzing relationships, power plays, and politics alike. The Girls provides a lively, fun chronicle of affairs and scandals and is a recommended pick for any fan of Hollywood intrigue and culture.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Speculative Discussion of Lesbians in Hollywood
Review: The Girls provides some interesting details on many lesbians in Hollywood. The author tries to loop their many stories together based on a claim that Dietrich and Garbo had an affair in Germany before they went to Hollywood; and that later their mutual lovers schemed to keep control of the relationship. She also introduces a subplot that a Soviet propagandist (Otto Katz) was pulling the strings on Dietrich. Many of these claims are documented with statements like, "must have," or "could have." I suppose it's possible, but good substantial reasons are never stated. For example, the author claims Garbo denied knowing Dietrich-because McClellen speculates the affair ended bitterly. The stories about Katz are inconsistent-sometimes he has trouble entering the country because he's a dangerous alien, the next he's tooling around New York. If he was blackmailing Dietrich, to what end? That is never stated. The author claims that Dietrich got out of suspicions of being a communist by working with Hoover. The evidence?-many FBI documents are missing or the redacted document have blanks where the words blacked out are just long enough to have contained a line indicating that Marlene was talking about Hoover. I guess this could all be true-but the notes don't provide much support. Most of the principles are dead now-and can't deny or clarify any of it. The book is fun and dishy-if you take it with a grain of salt.

Rating:
Summary: Too fantastic to be believable
Review: This book is virtually ALL speculation, and a frustrating read. NO hardcore facts, timelines are all off. The sad thing is that so many people want to believe it (see above), the myths perpetuated here have already become part of gay Hollywood history. If you want to read something by someone who has done his homework, please turn to William J. Mann's BEHIND THE SCREEN instead.

Rating:
Summary: Who-was-who-with who
Review: This book should find a wide, appreciative audience. It captivates with the three beautiful women gracing the jacket, and sweeps the reader along with a stream of gossipy news. Everyone seems to have a mention, from the major players, (The Girls of the title) to fascinating parentheticals (Nancy Reagan). Film buffs will enjoy the exploration of a long suppressed area of Hollywood history, finding endless anecdotes of film-society life, a who-was-who of lesbian Hollywood. Love-matches are made, vows are broken, dirt is dished, Dietrich betrays Garbo's intimate secrets, and we are party to it all. Diana McLellan weaves a fascinating tapestry, that entertains and informs. She does far more, however, by probing the motives of women caught in the gears as American society turned down a prudish path, dragging Hollywood moguls along. If it's hard for lesbian and gay performers to be out in 2000, how must it have been in 1920? McLellan had a difficult task in unearthing deeply buried secrets, but she makes a compelling case that her deductions are correct. Of particular interest is her questioning the claim, made by both Dietrich and Garbo that they had never met, until formally introduced in Hollywood. Stuff and nonsense, says McLellan. Her evidence that the two women not only met, but were lovers, is central to the book's theme. (One would wish the Fatty Arbuckle scandal had been treated with more skepticism, but that's a quibble on my part.) This book is better than a night at most movies!