I got into Longworth's work via her excellent "You Must Remember This" podcast - a really fresh way of looking at old Hollywood. In particular recommend her episodes on Raquel Welch and Charles Manson. The standard has dropped off a little in recent months, I think because her focus has been on this book.
Another look at Howard Hughes, you might ask? There's a lot of them. The fresh take here is that Longworth looks at him from the female point of view - his first wife, Billie Dove, Jean Harlow and the many that came afterwards - Ava Gardner, Linda Darnell, Jean Peters, Katherine Hepburn, Faith Domergue.
The material at the beginning and end of the book - the start and end of Hughes' life - is solid, though not exceptional. Where it gets exceptional is looking at the women - not so much the first wife (I get the impression Longworth didn't care much about her) but Billie Dove onwards. In particular there are some superb pieces on the acting and persona of Jane Russell, Jean Peters (the first decent writing I've read on Peters), and Terry Moore (ditto).
Well researched. Engrossing. Made me want to revisit many of the films. Terry Moore and Peters should be better known as actors among film buffs - their work was really varied.
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