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Rating: 
Summary: Well Researched But Disappointing Biography
Review: Charles Affron's biography of Lillian Gish is well researched. He has consulted various documents which were unavailable prior to Gish's death and thus, in many ways, provides a more detailed picture than that provided hitherto. His book is clearly concerned to debunk some of the myths surrounding Gish's life. He spends a great deal of time showing that Gish presented an idealized picture of her life and that many of the autobiographical incidents she related were untrue. This is fine up to a point. It is good to know the truth and it is not as if Gish hid anything really serious. Hers were the white lies of someone in a business concerned with the presentation of images. If she lied about her age, how many other actors have done likewise? Where Affron's revisionism becomes more serious however, is in his criticism of Gish's silent pictures. Unfortunately his late twentieth century perspective continually informs his judgement and he can be rather sneering of her work especially her films with D.W. Griffith. Calling Way Down East a parody of melodrama shows that Affron does not particularly care for it as a film. The problem is that what makes Gish an important figure is her silent pictures and especially her acting for Griffith. If Affron is correct in his criticism of Gish for trying to keep alive the memory of Griffith, then it should be asked why he should wish to keep alive the memory of Gish by writing this biography. The difficulty that Affron has as a biographer is that Gish's last truly important starring role was in The Wind (1928) yet she lived until 1993. His account of what she did in the interim is somewhat dull. For the most part it consists of descriptions of long forgotten theatrical productions and small film parts. He does not really capture what she did on a day-to-day basis. When he does move beyond her acting it is merely to criticise her politics. Affron seems to object that she was a Republican and was friends with Eisenhower and the Reagans. This merely betrays that Affron has allowed his own politics to unfairly cloud his judgement of Gish's life. This is really the worst feature of Affron's book. His politically correct sensibility makes him ill suited to write about someone who grew up in a different age. Criticising silent films for not conforming to the attitudes of late twentieth-century academia is like criticising Henry VIII for spousal abuse and equally pointless. Lillian Gish was the greatest actress of the silent era, but Affron's book, though informative, misses something about her, for he is stuck in his own time.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Researched and Intelligent
Review: Excellent, well-written and well-researched, by someone who is enough of a film scholar to be able to weigh Gish's individual performances (see also his excellent "Star Acting"). No scandals here-she didn't really have any. A half-hearted affair or two and one lawsuit. The real emphasis is on her career and friendships, and her self-creation of the Lillian Gish Mythology. A lot I didn't know, and one of those books you just don't want to end. Not enough photos, perhaps-but I never think there's enough photos.
Rating:
Summary: good biography
Review: I admit it -- I love to read about the horrible scandals of all the silent film stars! So I read Lillian Gish. I know she had no scandals, but I did know that she was a strong, perservering woman. This book focuses mostly on her films & plays, and her devotion to her sister and D.W. Griffith -- since Miss Gish had no majour scandals in her life. One scant "scandal" is covered, but she's no Clara Bow! Everything from her chilhood plays to The Whales Of August is covered. She never grew old and embittered and worked until her mid-90's!! The text is very readable and intelligently written. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Facts okay, but analysis snide and limited
Review: If you have been (like me) dissatisfied with having only Gish's autobiography, The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me, as a source of information on her life, then buy this book.
But be warned.
While there is much more information about Gish than was ever available before her death, the author Charles Affron belongs to that new school of biography in which the writer turns snide and bitchy toward his subject. Affron did not make the effort necessary to understand the world in which Gish was born and raised - an era so far from our own in its values that it is another world. Not having this insight, Affron loses patience with Gish and begins to snipe about her "victorian values." He does not even understanding that she was a part of the American EDWARDIAN era and her values display the emphasis on art and beauty and education that was so much a part of that time.
If the world surged into the partying 20s and on and on, moving further from what shaped Lillian Gish, this is not a reason to pick at her personally. A good biographer would explain how she struggled to maintain good values as she saw them.
The upshot is that the author's bias renders the facts so tainted with his dislike that in the end his shallow view spoils all. What is the use of a book that you have to wrestle with in order to discern unbiased information?
I found this book ultimately disappointing, very disappointing. But if you have a Gish collection and want access to its facts about her, then buy it secondhand.
Rating:
Summary: Facts okay, but analysis snide and limited
Review: If you have been (like me) dissatisfied with having only Gish's autobiography, The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me, as a source of information on her life, then buy this book.
But be warned.
While there is much more information about Gish than was ever available before her death, the author Charles Affron belongs to that new school of biography in which the writer turns snide and bitchy toward his subject. Affron did not make the effort necessary to understand the world in which Gish was born and raised - an era so far from our own in its values that it is another world. Not having this insight, Affron loses patience with Gish and begins to snipe about her "victorian values." He does not even understanding that she was a part of the American EDWARDIAN era and her values display the emphasis on art and beauty and education that was so much a part of that time.
If the world surged into the partying 20s and on and on, moving further from what shaped Lillian Gish, this is not a reason to pick at her personally. A good biographer would explain how she struggled to maintain good values as she saw them.
The upshot is that the author's bias renders the facts so tainted with his dislike that in the end his shallow view spoils all. What is the use of a book that you have to wrestle with in order to discern unbiased information?
I found this book ultimately disappointing, very disappointing. But if you have a Gish collection and want access to its facts about her, then buy it secondhand.
Rating:
Summary: MASTERFUL!
Review: Quite simply: a terrific book, and one of the most insightful "Hollywood" biographies ever. Affron brings Gish to life in these pages, recapturing the lost glamor of the silent screen era and a vanished American sensibility. Affron is a critic both learned and discerning ... it's a pleasure to watch him think on the page. Any one with any interest in Gish, D.W. Griffith or silent cinema should own this book -- my highest recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: Well researched book
Review: This book is fantastic! I have always thought that Miss Gish was a great performer and one of the most beautiful actresses ever, but it turns out she was a pretty smart cookie (except in the romance department) and lead a very interesting life. Book reviewer Richard Schickel has given this book a bad review. He is all hot and bothered in that Gish was not very truthful about her life (like umpteen other famous movie stars) and he apparently doesn't like her "proper", chaste, Victorian-era image. The author, Charles Affron, had access to many of her personal papers, including may personal letters that she wrote. While Affron may knock her off her pedestal a little bit, it is only because she was a real person who sometimes made mistakes. Gish fibbed about all kinds of things like her birthdate, her engagement, and the cause of her mother's stroke. The famed "happy" ending of THE WIND was actually in Francis Marion's script, not a late addition forced by the studio like Gish claimed so much later. She chose to "forget" or not mention all kind of things like her personal relationship with D.W. Griffith (which was probably not sexual anyway) and the fact that she didn't always get along with her sister Dorothy. Gish's image (which was still close to her actual personality, even if some of the details were not true) really hurt her in the 1920's when the fan magazines turned against her and MGM didn't know what kind of vehicle would be right for her. She seems to have been the only woman (or person) who could stand up to Griffith when it came to artistic decisions. She certainly was an artistic force to be reckoned with, and the loss of her lone direction credit REMODELING HER HUSBAND (1920) seems worse now that I have read the book. The only disappointment for me was that Affron did not spend as much time analyzing her films as he should have. While other reviewers have complained that Affron unfairly criticizes Gish for being a Victorian and a Republican, I do not feel that his comments about BIRTH OF A NATION and her politics are unwarranted. If you are interested in Lillian Gish, D.W. Griffith, and silent films in general, this book is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Well researched book
Review: This book is fantastic! I have always thought that Miss Gish was a great performer and one of the most beautiful actresses ever, but it turns out she was a pretty smart cookie (except in the romance department) and lead a very interesting life. Book reviewer Richard Schickel has given this book a bad review. He is all hot and bothered in that Gish was not very truthful about her life (like umpteen other famous movie stars) and he apparently doesn't like her "proper", chaste, Victorian-era image. The author, Charles Affron, had access to many of her personal papers, including may personal letters that she wrote. While Affron may knock her off her pedestal a little bit, it is only because she was a real person who sometimes made mistakes. Gish fibbed about all kinds of things like her birthdate, her engagement, and the cause of her mother's stroke. The famed "happy" ending of THE WIND was actually in Francis Marion's script, not a late addition forced by the studio like Gish claimed so much later. She chose to "forget" or not mention all kind of things like her personal relationship with D.W. Griffith (which was probably not sexual anyway) and the fact that she didn't always get along with her sister Dorothy. Gish's image (which was still close to her actual personality, even if some of the details were not true) really hurt her in the 1920's when the fan magazines turned against her and MGM didn't know what kind of vehicle would be right for her. She seems to have been the only woman (or person) who could stand up to Griffith when it came to artistic decisions. She certainly was an artistic force to be reckoned with, and the loss of her lone direction credit REMODELING HER HUSBAND (1920) seems worse now that I have read the book. The only disappointment for me was that Affron did not spend as much time analyzing her films as he should have. While other reviewers have complained that Affron unfairly criticizes Gish for being a Victorian and a Republican, I do not feel that his comments about BIRTH OF A NATION and her politics are unwarranted. If you are interested in Lillian Gish, D.W. Griffith, and silent films in general, this book is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Fact Filled Yet Faulty
Review: You shall learn within these pages of a life which encompassed more than a screen star presence, which overspilled into areas such as business and management, areas from which, during the early part of the last century, women were commonly barred. Miss Gish stormed the gates and bully for her. Despite the rather 'snide' tone taken by the author (was that necessary, Mr Affron?) I carried away from this reading a satisfactory amount of facts, and also a few interesting unresolveds and still-persistant myths, such as the alluded-to possible romance with her business partner, her sympathy for D. W. Griffith's controversial politics, and her practised innocence, which was anything but. Miss Gish enjoyed a long and a healthy career, to the end remaining well-respected. This in and of itself ought testify to her personality. I do agree with the one reviewer who complained of the lack of photos. I too never can have enough. Miss Gish was incredibly photogenic, and certainly several more stills of her in her pictures could have seen use.
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