Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming

Rating:
Summary: Lady of Hollywood- NoBody But Myrna Loy Deserves That Title!
Review: I can't say this about the other actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood, but I can say it about Myrna Loy, she was a Lady, anyone who wants to learn how to be a Lady, look at this woman, learn, watch and observe her movies, and read this book. She tells about her life, you can get a picture on what type of person she is. She doesn't tell every private thing of her life, but she tells just enough to get us to love her and see she's a lady, I wish she would of kids, she needs someone to carry on her name and carry on the legend. I have to say in my book, she consider one of the beautifuliest women in Hollywood, she had that rare, exotic beauty, and maintained it for years well into her 50s and 60s, a lot of actresses from that era drinked their beauty away, not Myrna. Myrna didn't want to be a bombshell, not a society type, not a glamour queen, she wanted to be all of it, be a lady, be tough, speak her mind, but still have class, dignity, and be a bombshell, high society type, glamour queen all together. She knew her limits as an actress, which a lot of actresses don't. I loved how I read about how she helped blacks and miniorities, and did it publicly, she was sick of the way blacks were treated, especially in movies, she once said, "Why Does Every Black Person Has To Be A Servant, Why Can't A Black Person Go Up The Stairs with A Briefcase or Doctor's Bag" she use to argue with the studio about this realizing that it could damage her career. She spoke her mind, She tells how she once was shy but overcame it, she was referring that to Greta Garbo, she didn't like the way Greta acted, and she said there was no reason for that, becuse she was once shy but worked on it. She talks about mostly all the Golden Age of Hollywood actors and actresses, tells the truth and tells what type of people they really were. She proved that you can be a legend and star and still be talked about and be good without scandals, without sleeping around, without heavy partying or falling out drunk to get publicity. She certainly is the Queen of Hollywood, and Lady of Hollywood. Rest in Peace Beautiful

Rating:
Summary: A True Hollywood Legend
Review: I couldn't put this book down from the moment I started reading it. It's written from Myrna's own point of view, and it's intresting to get in the mind of Ms. Loy just a few years short from when she died. It has great insight on her relationships with such legends as Clark Gable, William Powell, Lionel Barrymore, Jean Harlow, and even Alfred Hitchcock. It's a great read for anyone who is intrested in the Golden Age of film.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive life
Review: Myrna Loy's career spanned the late silient films, through the beginning of talkies, then technicolor, and didn't end till the early 1980's. Anyone with an interest in American cinema will probably enjoy this book. If you are interested in gossip, this is not the book you want. Gossip is not her style.

I was a bit overwhelmed by all the names in the book. She has mixed with so many people, that sometimes the famous names became a sort of mental blur as I read.

My favorite thing about this book is that Myrna Loy expresses her Liberal Democrat point-of-view. She was a very politically active person in the second half of her life, and she uses the book to express her political ideals. People get this notion that everyone who lived through World War II ended up as Republicans. Loy makes it clear that her generation was not all conservative.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Lady!
Review: This is an excellent autobiography. Myrna Loy is a woman ahead of her time. She discusses candidly and with amazing detail her life inside and outside the studio. It is refreshing to see a book that is not a scandalous tell all. She was very political and makes no bones about the fact that she is a liberal and she was very vocal in her involvement politically and on social causes.

The difference between her and the "famous" now is she read about the cause or the political issue before getting up and talking to the public. The blithering that goes on now is amazing; Hollywood can take a lesson from Miss Loy on knowing your subject first then opening your mouth in an intelligent, classy manner.

What a lady in the true sense of the word. Sadly she is gone, but her charm, grace and elegance lives on in her movies and her book. Bravo Miss Loy!