A book about George Brent? Well, why not? Brent is famous for not being famous, not really, but he had an amazing career. At least twenty years as a leading man, which is not bad for someone who was never a top star, though he had his chances. He was good looking, could act, was a man,.. all those things helped. His ace in the hole was though he was an ideal leading man for the ladies - and that was needed in the 30s and 40s. Brent would've struggled in the 60s and 70s.
It's harder to be a good leading man than it looks - you have to support, not over shadow, but also hold your own (Robert Cummings could do it - like Brent he struggled as a solo star).
O'Brien does a worthy job on Brent, who to be honest isn't that interesting. He did some interesting things - worked as a messenger boy for the IRA during the Civil War (he's Irish), slept with a lot of famous women (Ann Sheridan, Ruth Chatterton, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Kay Francis), flew planes - but wasnt that interesting a person. A loner, moody, a whinger. He was lucky. It wasn't easy to break in as ana actor but easier than for most - he got a long run relatively early in Abbey's Irish Rose on stage, and then when sound films came in after some more door knocking got long term contracts. His big break was Ruth Chatterton catching a glimpse and wanting to grab some of that... so he was cast as her leading man, and carved out that niche.
Brent was a better actor than I recall and had the knack of appearing in a decent film every few years - Dark Victory, The Keyhole, Rains Came, Spiral Staircase. Even his Hammer flick with Diana Dors, The Last Page is worth a look.
Brent had amibitions to do other things - ran his owns stock company, bred horses (did well at this), invested in Hawaii. Aussie readers will find particularly interesting his marriage to Constance Worth aka Jocelyn Howarth star of Squatter's Daughter. That didn't end well nor did most of his marriages but he got it right towards the end. Fascinating weird relationship with Jane Powell (she had a crush on him, later he proposed to her). I love that Brent had a nose job.
I'll admit I didn't really like Brent that much as an actor and not as a person but it was great O'Brien wrote this book.
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