No delicate ingénues, these. In the middle of the twentieth century, the Mary Pickfords of the movie world were replaced by a different sort of woman—drop-dead gorgeous, witty, not afraid to speak their minds, they could slay you with a look—and if that didn’t work, look out for the pistol in the garter. These ground-breaking actresses helped change the course of movie history, charting a path for generations to come.
These profiles of fifteen leading ladies—Lucille Ball, Lynn Bari, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Gloria Grahame, Jean Hagen, Adele Jergens, Ida Lupino, Marilyn Maxwell, Mercedes McCambridge, Jane Russell, Ann Sheridan, Barbara Stanwyck, Claire Trevor and Marie Windsor—include overviews of their lives and careers, and excerpts from interviews. Five photos supplement each profile. Jane Russell (one of the actresses profiled) provides a foreword.

Ray Hagen spent 15 years acting, dancing, and singing on and off Broadway, has written two off-Broadway plays, co-authored a movie reference book, conducted numerous film-related interviews, and narrates books on tape for the Library of Congress. He lives in Washington D.C.
Writer Laura Wagner lives in New York. A regular contributor to various movie publications, she is the book reviewer for Classic Images.

Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner
Foreword by Jane Russell
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 279
Bibliographic Info: 80 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2004
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1883-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8073-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Foreword by Jane Russell      1
Introduction      3

1. Lucille Ball: Red Ball Express      5
2. Lynn Bari: The Other Woman      21
3. Joan Blondell: Trouper      33
4. Ann Dvorak: A Life of Her Own      50
5. Gloria Grahame: Those Lips, Those Eyes      65
6. Jean Hagen: After the Rain      79
7. Adele Jergens: A Lot of Woman      92
8. Ida Lupino: Triumph of the Will      103
9. Marilyn Maxwell: The Other Marilyn      120
10. Mercedes McCambridge: Inner Fire134
11. Jane Russell: Body and Soul      148
12. Ann Sheridan: Oomph Without Ego      168
13. Barbara Stanwyck: The Furies.      201
14. Claire Trevor: Brass with Class      222
15. Marie Windsor: Face of Evil      236

Bibliography      249
Index      253

“this book fetes the most fascinating women onscreen in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s”—Classic Images.