Stewart Granger was one of those actors who seemed destined for stardom. Tall,good looking, masculine, with lots of presence and a deep speaking voice, he was just so incredibly easy to cast in things, especially being British.
It didn't take him long to get his acting career going - he started to get jobs pretty soon after deciding to become an actor, and it wasn't long before he was working for Olivier and Robert Donat. Shiach argues (correctly I think) that this may not have been the most healthy thing for him - a bit more struggle and he might have had more respect for his profession.
Nonetheless, he had a burgeoning career - which was interrupted by war service. He was invalided out of the army,which sounds cool until you discover he was invalided out because of stomach ulcers, which I'm sure were painful but sounds like such a wimpy thing to have.But it was a boon to his career - he started to get work regularly in films and launched to fame in The Man in Grey.
Granger's career as a star falls neatly into several categories:
(a) 1943-46 Gainsborough tosh costume dramas, which proved very popular and are still watchable today
(b) 1945-48 costume dramas made by other filmmakers which were a bit better than Gainsborough but not as popular
(c) 1948-49 some dud films and an arty theatre venture which helped almost send him broke
(d) 1950-58 MGM star
(e) 1958-1970 international star of European films
(f) 1972 onwards - mainly a businessman.
My main interest with Granger is the MGM period, to whom he was contracted for most of the Dore Schary period. His association with the studio started with a bang with King Solomon's Mines, but almost collapsed with Soldier's Three and The Light Touch but recovered with two other remakes, Scaramouche and The Prisoner of Zenda. He never found another film which touched the popularity of the remake "trilogy", though sometimes he came close eg Bhowani Junction.
To be frank, a lot of this was Granger's fault: he turned down roles in A Star is Born, Ben Hur, Ivanhoe, From Here to Eternity, not to mention the London version of A Streetcar Named Desire (the role was taken by someone called Bonar Colleano). MGM made several big budget swashbucklers during this time with Robert Taylor, and everyone one of them is a part Granger should have played: Quo Vadis, Ivanhoe, Knights of the Round Table, The Adventures of Quentin Durward. He wanted to play Mogambo but the studio insisted on Clark Gable. Granger surely must have the worst knack of part-picking since George Raft (which I think is part of the appeal of his career to me - its inherent tragic-ness).
He kept his screen presence right up til the end - for instance, he looked terrific in The Wild Geese - but I think people just got sick of him. He was difficult and got along badly with directors. He didn't have an eye for talent or scripts - turning down Messala in Ben Hur because it wasn't the lead, I mean, really. He was never happy with anything he was in, always grumbling or whining about his scripts (even for Scaramouche he complains in his memoirs about his injuries). How about enjoying your art, Stu? Or just life? He was a bit of a wanker. No wonder Jean Simmons eventually left him (though she wound up with another grump, Richard Brooks).
This book has copped it on the net reviews I have read. I really enjoyed it -mostly I guess because I'm a Granger fan, but its well written, Shiach does good analysis of Granger's films (he admits Granger wasn't a great actor but still admires him - for instance, he prefers Granger's performance to Ronald Colman's in The Prisoner of Zenda) and makes decent guesses as to his subject's personality (mostly culled from his memoirs i.e. his desire to prove himself as a brave man, misogyny, fact that he annoyed so many people who worked with him).
The lack of research is irritating and seems mostly to consist of reading a few biographies/autobiographies (especially Granger's) and watching the films. This is annoying at times, especially when it comes to the post 1960 period not covered by Granger himself. I would have enjoyed reading a bit more about his business ventures and the films he made in Europe. As a result what could have been an important book is merely a polished stop gap.
Stewart Granger was one of those actors who seemed destined for stardom. Tall,good looking, masculine, with lots of presence and a deep speaking voice, he was just so incredibly easy to cast in things, especially being British. 
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