Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face

Author:    Scott Eyman

Genre:     Biographies/Entertainment

Hardcover; Digital Book (Audiobook and Audio CD Available)

ISBN #:    9781668047309

Simon & Schuster

480 Pages

$31.00; $16.99 Amazon

November 18, 2025

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Joan Crawford burst out of her poverty-stricken youth to become a bright young movie star in the 1920s, drawing the admiration of F. Scott Fitzgerald and the attention of audiences worldwide.  She flourished for decades, working for multiple studios in every genre from romance to westerns (Mildred Pierce, Johnny Guitar), musicals to noir (Torch Song, A Woman's Face), and being directed by a young Steven Spielberg in one of her last appearances.  Along the way, she accumulated four husbands, an Academy Award for Best Actress, and the undeniable status of a legend.

Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face looks at the reality of this remarkable woman through the prism of groundbreaking primary research, interviews with friends and relatives, and with the same insightful analysis of character and motive that author Scott Eyman brought to John Wayne and Cary Grant, among others.   

Joan Crawford was a woman like no other, and Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face is the first full telling of her dazzling, turbulent life.

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I have to first say that I absolutely love the Golden Age of Hollywood, and anything to do with it.  I will also tell you that I do not watch the films of today, since I feel that everything is either a cartoon or a remake (just my own personal opinion).  Actors back then were true stars, while today they are just actors.  And there is a difference...

Saying that, I will also admit that I have thousands of movies from the silent age on up, and hundreds of biographies and autobiographies of actors, studios, directors, etc.  So, when this book was offered to me, I naturally jumped at the chance to read it.  I will also tell you that I have read biographies of Joan Crawford that have been stinkers.  I am not one to hold back nor lie; because the truth is paramount above all.

Therefore, when I tell you that Scott Eyman is one of the foremost authors of Golden Age Hollywood, you can believe it.  He has never disappointed me, and I grab his books as soon as they are published.  He is a fair (meaning honest) writer of his subjects.

Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face is an interesting tome that takes us back to the beginnings of Miss Crawford, back when she was Lucille LeSueur, and Billie Cassin.  We learn that she grew up in near poverty, and worked her way to where she wound up: a true Hollywood star.  This book taught me that while some thought her cruel and selfish, she was neither of those things.  She was a woman who was looking for approval, love, and above all, security.  

She never made the studios wait; she was always on time, knew her lines, and while some may not appreciate all her films, they tell a story: the story of Billie, who changed from poor girl who wants to be loved, to a woman who can do it on her own independently.  Watching her films, you see this.  Yet it was never the same in her real life.

Joan Crawford was married four times, and I have read much on those marriages, which I will not go into detail here.  She had four adopted children, of which most know, but I will tell you that in my humble opinion, Christina Crawford's depiction of Joan is fiction.  A bitter daughter who wanted revenge for what she thought was unfair, and I find it interesting that the book was not published until Joan passed away.

Except for a few, most people loved her.  Joan was always 'on stage' when she was out and about, being Joan Crawford, the star.  In real life, she was a tiny woman with red hair and freckles.  She loved to cook (we have that in common) and did so for her friends.  She always needed a place for everything, and almost single-handedly gave the late actor-turned-decorator William Haines a new career.  She never failed her friends.

Reading this book made me have a new appreciation for Joan.  I have a habit of watching films with the actor/director, etc. I am reading about, and while reading this book I watched Possessed (with Robert Montgomery); The Women; and Humoresque.  These films allowed me to see the change in Miss Crawford throughout the years, and examine her acting, which, being who I am, I always do.  It also gives me insight into the person.  

But the greatest insight came from Mr. Eyman's extensive research and interviews.  He leaves nothing to chance.  The bibliography is massive; he has definitely done his homework, which he does on all his books.  We get who Joan Crawford was an an actress; a star, and a person.  Three different people rolled into one.  Many of her friendships were lifelong, and it was because they stood by each other, in bad times and good.

I will not go into her "feuds" with other actresses; you will have to read the book to discover that.  I won't go into how she raised her children, or why her marriages failed.  This is more than I have space for in this review, and I will tell you in the end that Joan Crawford created herself.  She became what she wanted the world to see; and few were allowed to see who she truly was.

When I finished Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face, I will tell you that it took me a couple of days of thinking about the book before I reviewed it.  It is because this book spoke to me, and I needed time to take it all in.  Certain books have this effect on me, but this one is exceptionally good, and I will definitely purchase it when it comes out in November.  It's a must-read for anyone who loves classic movies and actors as much as I do, and for those who want to discover more.  Highly recommended.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Joan-Crawford-Womans-Scott-Eyman-ebook/dp/B0DZY3G1Y1/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7768544071

More on Scott Eyman's Books:    https://www.amazon.com/stores/Scott-Eyman/author/B001H6N7F6?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=b36c4f20-ec96-450a-9b90-369fd9b0cdf6

Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided

Author:    Scott Eyman

Genre:     Biography/Entertainers

Hardcover; Digital Book (Audiobook Available)

ISBN #:`9781982176358

Simon & Schuster

432 Pages

$29.99; $14.99 ($49.99) Amazon

October 31, 2023

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The remarkable, must-read story of Charlie Chaplin's years of exile from the United States during the postwar Red Scare, and how it ruined his film career, from bestselling biographer Scott Eyman.

Bestselling Hollywood biographer and film historian Scott Eyman tells the story of Charlie Chaplin's fall from grace.  In the aftermath of World War Two, Chaplin was criticized for being politically liberal and international in outlook.  He had never become a US citizen, something that would be held against him as xenophobia set in when the postwar Red Scare took hold.

Politics aside, Chaplin had another problem: his sexual interest in young women.  He had been married three times and had had numerous affairs.  In the 1940s, he was the subject of a paternity suit, which he lost, despite blood tests that proved he was not the father.  His sexuality became a convenient way for those who opposed his politics to condemn him.  Refused permission to return to the US from a trip abroad, he settled in Switzerland, and made his last two films in London.

In Charlie Chaplin vs. America, bestselling author Scott Eyman explores the life and times of the movie genius who brought us such masterpieces as City Lights and Modern Times.  This is a perceptive, insightful portrait of Chaplin and of an America consumed by political turmoil.

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I will tell you first that I am consumed by anything Hollywood in the Golden Age.  I don't watch today's films, and probably never will.  The true actors - Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, etc. and, of course, Chaplin -- have all left us; but their legacies are left behind, in hundreds, if not thousands, of films from the silent era to the 1960's (or such).

I have seen all of these films and own most of them; I am not shy about purchasing a classic film or making a new discovery; this is part of the charm of them.  I can travel back in time whenever I want.  Luckily, or perhaps a fortunate accident, Turner Classic Movies has recently shown two of Chaplin's classics: The Great Dictator and City Lights.  Another channel, FMC, has also runs several of his silents, so I was able to watch the films (again) while reading this book.  Lengthy, but definitely worth the read.

While I have read about Chaplin's troubles, never before have they been laid out in such a way as to make one not only admire him, but feel sorrow for him as well, because of the way our beloved (at least to me) United States treated him -- all because he was not a US citizen, and therefore, he must be a Communist (he was not).  It was sad to read, because by all accounts, even though he was stingy in monetary matters (due to his upbringing), he was extremely generous to friends and coworkers.  

Charlie Chaplin was an enigma unto himself.  Born into poverty, he and his older brother Sydney developed a lifelong bond with each other, and while Syd had done fairly well, Charlie, due to the fact of his visions regarding film, had done much better.  But it didn't come without a price:  His first three marriages failed, and his work was all-consuming.  He would do a hundred takes if it meant a better film.

What others may or may not know is that it was Chaplin, director D.W, Griffith, actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. who created Universal Studios.  They developed and made their own films and those of others, becoming extremely wealthy in the process.  This, of course, afforded Charlie the means to make those films he wished; and what films they were.  While some may not be interested in silent films, none can dispute his "Little Tramp" was brilliant.  It was this introduction into his early films that made me watch the others.

Charlie was married unhappily three times, and it was not until he met the 17-year-old Oona O'Neill (daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill) that he finally found love.  He married her when she turned eighteen, and the marriage lasted until his death.  But even then he found problems as there were those in Hollywood and even Washington, D.C. who found him 'unacceptable' when it came to his private life.  I will not go into the story of Joan Berry here, but you can read the entire tale in the book.  I will say, however, that while Charlie may have had strong sexual proclivities, he never once took a minor where they shouldn't be.. He was not a predator.  In all, he adored Oona and could not have survived without her.

Charlie was given a bum rap. if you will, by this country, all because they were unhappy with the fact that he wouldn't become a citizen (he considered himself a 'citizen of the world'), and didn't have the same sensibilities of others during the Red Scare -- which I will say, ruined the careers of many actors and others).  When he retired to Switzerland, he was happy with his life, but longed to make more films, and did succeed in making two more, although they were not well-received by the critics nor the public.  However, Charlie's brilliance could not stay buried forever, and years later he was received with open arms on all fronts.

Whatever you think about the puckish Mr. Chaplin, love or hate him, this biography will open your eyes to the type of person he was.  It is not fawning over him, but tells the true tale of Charlie's life from birth to death, and everything that occurred in between, giving us a definitive tale of both the man and the genius.  It has given me a renewed admiration.  Highly recommended.

I thank Simon & Schuster for the advance copy of this book.  However, it did not influence this review in any way.

https://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Chaplin-vs-America-Politics-ebook/dp/B0BV157PXK/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5736274891

More on Scott Eyman's Books:    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=scott+eyman&i=digital-text&crid=6IHP5VHHYF2I&sprefix=scott+eyman%2Cdigital-text%2C173&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Hank and Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart

Author:  Scott Eyman
Genre:  Biography/Film

Hardcover; Audio CD; Digital Book; Audiobook
ISBN #:  9781501102172; 9781681689623
Simon & Schuster Publishing (Highbridge Audio)
384 Pages
$18.90; $39.99; $14.99 Amazon
October 24, 2017

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Henry Fonda and James Stewart were two of the biggest stars in Hollywood for forty years.  They became friends and then roommates as stage actors in New York, and when they began making films in Hollywood, they roomed together again.  Between them they made such memorable films as The Grapes of Wrath, Mister Roberts, Twelve Angry Men, and On Golden Pond; and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Destry Rides Again, The Philadelphia Story, It's a Wonderful Life, Vertigo, and Rear Window.

They got along famously, with a shared interest in elaborate practical jokes and model airplanes, among other things.  Fonda was a liberal Democrat, Stewart a conservative Republican, but after one memorable blow-up over politics, they agreed never to discuss that subject again.  Fonda was a ladies' man who was married five times; Stewart remained married to the same woman for forty-five years.  Both men volunteered during World War II and were decorated for their service.  When Stewart returned home, still unmarried, he once again moved in with Fonda, his wife, and his two children, Jane and Peter, who knew him as Uncle Jimmy.

For Hank and Jim, biographer and film historian Scott Eyman spoke with Fonda's widow and children as well as three of Stewart's children, plus actors and directors who had worked with the men - in addition to doing extensive archival research to get the full details of their time together.  This is not another Hollywood story, but a fascinating portrait of an extraordinary friendship that lasted through war, marriages, children, careers, and everything else.

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If anyone knows classic films at all, then these two actors' names will be right up there with John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant.  While their films, for the most part, of all these actors were very different, their onscreen presence was palpable.  There was no mistaking that you were in the presence of a great actor when you sat down to watch.

I have always known that Fonda and Stewart were best friends - anyone who claims to be a classic film buff would know this.  And, I must say, I knew quite a bit about their professional lives, and their personal, as far as marriages.  I also knew that they both served in World War II, Fonda in the Navy and Stewart in the Army Air Corps.  However, Mr. Eyman has gone far deeper into their pasts.

He begins right where they do - from birth; and tells us of their very different upbringing in life.  He goes on from there to their early life on the stage, and their eventual move to Hollywood.  But their lives take very different turns.  Hank was married five times - he was wound too tightly most times to make a marriage stick; his emotions stayed beneath the surface and were rarely exposed; Jimmy was married once, when he was 41 - Gloria was the love of his life and the marriage was a happy one.

Their careers took different turns, also:  Hank preferred stage to screen; Jimmy stayed in Hollywood and made many memorable films (and a few he probably wished he hadn't).  But the films Hank made were, for the most part, memorable also, and I am sure everyone has that particular film of both of them that stays with you and you will watch over and over.  I love Hank's films The Mad Miss Manton, Mister Roberts, and The Rounders (not a spectacular film, but very funny).  For Jimmy's films, I love The Shop Around the Corner, Rear Window, and The Rare Breed.  

It is obvious that Mr. Eyman has done extensive research on his subjects.  The book is neither cloying nor filled with Hollywood gossip; it gives us an honest and well-written biography about two remarkable men, the like of which will never be seen again.

While I've read other biographies of Fonda and Stewart, I believe that Mr. Eyman's is the best by far.  While I am sure there are those who like only one or the other, I consider myself a true classic fan, and while I may not like an actor personally, I can watch their body of work and appreciate it for what it is.

While this book points out that Hank wasn't the best father in the world, he also changed as he got older, and his loyalty to his friends was always unwavering.  Perhaps because they never expected anything from him, knowing he didn't offer up as much of himself.  Jimmy, on the other hand, seems more open and giving to both family and friends.

They were there for each other through triumphs and tragedies; through good times and bad; and never allowed their personal politics or personal demons stand in the way of their enduring friendship.  One can only hope for a friendship in their life as strong as the one between these two.

I am grateful for this book, for giving us the insight into two remarkable men who became extraordinary actors and had an exceptional friendship.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Hank-Jim-Fifty-Year-Friendship-Stewart/dp/1501102176/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2135608274

More on Scott Eyman and His Books:  https://www.amazon.com/Scott-Eyman/e/B001H6N7F6

John Wayne: The Life and Legend

Author: Scott Eyman
Genre: Biography

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John Wayne was one of Hollywood’s most famous and most successful actors, but he was more than that. He became a symbol of America itself. He epitomized the Western film, which for many people epitomized America. He identified with conservative political causes from the early 1930s to his death in 1979, making him a hero to one generation of Americans and a villain to another. But unlike fellow actor Ronald Reagan, Wayne had no interest in politics as a career. Like many stars, he altered his life story, claiming to have become an actor almost by accident when in fact he had studied drama and aspired to act for most of his youth. He married three times, all to Latina women, and conducted a lengthy affair with Marlene Dietrich, as unlikely a romantic partner as one could imagine for the Duke.  Wayne projected dignity, integrity, and strength in all his films, even when his characters were flawed, and whatever character he played was always prepared to confront injustice in his own way. More than thirty years after his death, he remains the standard by which male stars are judged and an actor whose morally unambiguous films continue to attract sizeable audiences.

Scott Eyman interviewed Wayne, as well as many family members, and he has drawn on previously unpublished reminiscences from friends and associates of the Duke in this biography, as well as documents from his production company that shed light on Wayne’s business affairs. He traces Wayne from his childhood to his stardom in Stagecoach and dozens of films after that. Eyman perceptively analyzes Wayne’s relationship with John Ford, the director with whom he’s most associated and who made some of Wayne’s greatest films, among them She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Quiet Man, and The Searchers. His evaluation of Wayne himself is shrewd: a skilled actor who was reluctant to step outside his comfort zone. Wayne was self-aware; he once said, “I’ve played the kind of man I’d like to have been.” It’s that man and the real John Wayne who are brilliantly profiled in Scott Eyman’s insightful biography of a true American legend.

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I have read other books about John Wayne, and I have to say that this is yet the most detailed one.  You not only learn about Wayne himself, but many other friends and acquaintances.  The book relates how young Marion Morrison grew up, his relationships with both parents and how it shaped his life.  His youth was difficult and, in my opinion, somewhat sad, yet he managed to grow with honesty, generosity and grace.

John Wayne was a complex human being, not the person seen on the screen, yet everything he did was for his family; and every movie he made was for his fans.  We are shown the triumphs in his life and the regrets; the happiness and the sorrow he went through, and the deep, abiding love for his family and his friends.

We are given not only details regarding the movies Mr.Wayne made, but what was going on in his personal life at the same time, and those of the people he worked with.  I learned many things I never knew - and I read a lot of biographies.  Some were understandable; others, not so much (in the fact that while his actions were generous, I felt he was ill-used).  There are also quite a few anecdotes regarding several actors, including Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum and Ward Bond that I found fascinating at the least. 

In all, this book is well worth reading, not only for the fans of westerns and John Wayne, but for anyone who wants to know how he became an American icon, and still remains so today.

http://www.amazon.com/John-Wayne-Legend-Scott-Eyman-ebook/dp/B00DPM909C/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3352106280

More on Scott Eyman's Books:  https://www.amazon.com/s?k=scott+eyman&i=stripbooks&ref