There Really Was a Hollywood

1984, Doubleday & Company.  324 pages.  $15.95

Janet Leigh

 

Janet Leigh’s autobiography mainly covers her first sixteen years in Tinseltown, 1947 – 1962.  The early part of her life is also discussed, somewhat uncomfortably, in the third person.  It’s a literary device in which young Jeanette Helen Morrison only becomes herself once Van Johnson anoints her with a new name on the set of her first movie in Hollywood, The Romance of Rosy Ridge.

I appreciate the recollections of Leigh as she recounts her trepidation and naivete during her early film career, and discusses the difficulty of getting into character and braving difficulties on location.  Occasionally she has fascinating things to say about the making of her movies, such as the delays encountered making Two Tickets to Broadway, owing to producer Howard Hughes’ persistent efforts to keep Leigh under his control.  She pulls no punches regarding her distaste for the secretive mogul, nor for Ethel, the nanny who didn’t know how to handle daughter Kelly while Leigh was on location making The Vikings with third husband Tony Curtis.

At those times when Leigh allows her feelings to flow unfiltered, the book unfolds as if a Hollywood insider is hosting a special, behind-the-scenes tour.  Unfortunately, those moments dwindle as her career steams ahead.  The second half of the book is more akin to a tour guide blandly dropping names and listing events than someone recalling their life story.  For every heartfelt episode, such as Leigh’s devotion to electing John F. Kennedy, there is a parade of parties which she and Tony Curtis attended.

The book isn’t as personal as I would have liked, which surprised me.  The story of her first, secret, annulled marriage is here, and her three other marriages are discussed, but never in great detail.  She avoids talking about sexual matters almost altogether, and she never really talks about what it was that lured her to Tony Curtis.  Suddenly she just couldn’t live without him.  Then, eventually, he drifted away.  Had the last half of the book carried forth the first half’s passion, this could have been a memorable remembrance.  As it is, Janet Leigh’s biography is pleasant but surprisingly uninvolving.  My rating:  Fair.

This review was originally written for and published in Filmbobbery, Volume 10, Issue 2 in 2008.