Screwball: The life of Carole Lombard

Whereas most Hollywood biographers give you only a photograph of the star in question, Larry Swindell's "Screwball: The Life of Carole Lombard" is more of a gallery painting, its rich and soft hues leaving you with a true impression of its subject that lingers. You really feel like you know Carole Lombard after reading this most extraordinary look at the life of one of Hollywood's most fondly remembered stars of the 30's and 40's. Though some stars are remembered mostly for their untimely death, Carole Lombard is not one of them. Yes, the story of her plane crash as she was returning from a war bond drive in Indiana is always mentioned when the subject comes up, but it is her life and the effect she had on other people which Swindell shows to be her true legacy. Swindell has written a classy biography which not only gives us a real sense of the person, Carole Lombard, but the period itself in Hollywood. Perhaps the most startling thing here is just how much Carole Lombard meant to Hollywood itself. If any one person truly stood out as both representing and helping make such a disparate group into a true community, it was Carole Lombard. Her death was felt most on a personal level by the Hollywood community who knew her, and it is no wonder that many point to her passing as the beginning of the end for that Hollywood we film buffs regard with such nostalgia. Swindell traces the life of Jane Alice Peters from her time as a tomboy in Fort Wayne Indiana to the sudden and tragic end. Those unfamiliar with Lombard will discover a wealth of information both surprising and sometimes poignant. Swindell does not gloss over the rocky marriage to Clark Gable, but gives us a very real look at a one-sided affair of which Mitchell Leisen commented: "was all give and no receive." Ernest Lubitsch later said: "The romance ended, but the marriage lingered on." Swindell is fair, however, and shows that a guilt-ridden Gable would become the man to fit his charm after Carole's death that she had always hoped he'd become. This is late in the biography, however, and it is a very fun ride getting there. Lombard's silent days as a young girl wanting to be like Noma Talmadge and Mary Miles Minter are covered in detail. Silent cowboy star Buck Jones would say she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen or kissed. It was that beauty, however, which would get her a near miss as one of the girls in Mary Pickford's "Little Annie Roonie." Just as she was on the verge of films with Borzage and Barrymore, a serious car accident would scar her face and she would be dumped by Fox. She would be dumped by Pathe also but found Paramount when it was King. Yet the trouble was hardly over. She would be shaken by the sudden and unexpected death of her friend Diane Ellis. Swindell reveals that Lombard's effervescent personality often hid a weak constitution which often kept her in poor health. She seemed susceptible to disease and would get toxic poisining on her honeymoon with first h

She had the kindest, most compassionate heart, yet her vocabulary would shock the most vulgar sailor. Throughout the 1930's she was one of Hollywood's top stars. Her name was Carole Lombard, and she was perhaps the most unique actress to ever appear on the big screen. Every person in Hollywood who came in contact with Carole loved her, and so did the American audience. She was friendly, funny and full of life, and these wonderful characteristics made people flock to her. She was also well-known at the time for her marriage to Clark Gable, the so-called "King" of Hollywood. Lombard's life was cut short, however, when she was killed in a 1942 plane crash. At first the world mourned, but with the passage of time, Lombard faded from public memory. Today she isn't as well remembered like her Hollywood peers, such as Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers. This is VERY unfortunate because Lombard was an amazing person, very different and extremely funny. I strongly recommed this book, especially if you have never heard of Lombard before. Any book on Carole Lombard is good, but this one is perhaps the most detailed. In this book, you will read about a fascinating woman who was truly one in a million!