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Title: Speaking of Silents: First Ladies of the Screen by William M. Drew, Kevin Brownlow ISBN: 0-911572-74-0 Publisher: National Book Network Pub. Date: June, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: A Window into the World of Silent Movies
Comment: Author William Drew interviewed 10 silent film actresses about their careers and their memories of working in the industry. Some like Colleen Moore were huge stars; others were featured actresses that worked steadily through the era. While their stories are not quite as in-depth as Kevin Brownlow's THE PARADE'S GONE BY, Mr. Drew conducted his interviews about 20 years later than Mr. Brownlow and his actresses memories may not have been as sharp. Most of them come across as very intelligent. What is surprising is that most of them had no idea of what they were doing when they first started acting, but they were seasoned professionals when they retired. Only Madge Bellamy, the first subject comes across as a little shallow. If you are a silent film fan and you read this book, you will definitely want to see some films by Colleen Moore, Lois Wilson, Esther Ralston and others. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4
Summary: Beautiful Stars and Beautiful Book Graphics
Comment: This is a book on several actresses who achieved fame in the silent era. Of the bunch, Colleen Moore and Blanche Sweet were the only ones who were superstars, but most of the others were popular with the public then: Esther Ralston, Madge Bellamy, Laura La Plante, May McAvoy, Patsy Ruth Miller, Leatrice Joy, etc. The photos are extremely rare and the design of the book is quite lovely. Each actress gets a chapter, profiling her career and what she her life at the time of the interview (sadly, the last survivor, Laura La Plante, passed away in 1996). The best chapters are the ones with stars who are talkative: the sharply intelligent Bellamy, the vivacious Joy who seems to be her own greatest fan, etc. The more quiet stars like Miss La Plante don't offer much info and the author's writing ability does not seem strong enough to make those chapters as lively. Mr. Drew should count himself fortunate to have known such women. Certainly they all seem very gracious and were very generous with their time to a somewhat unknown author. I was somewhat dissapointed by the fact that the author failed to note which of the ladies had already passed away when the book was first published (1989) one is led to believe all of them were still alive and well. Still, a must for any silent movie lover.