It's always easy to criticize somebody's personal choises when it comes to the movies and the stars, but this book is dedicated to the most unforgettable ACTRESSES and not STARS of the studio era. So it comes pretty natural to ask : Is Esther Williams such an unforgettable actress that the author had to overlook Margaret Sullavan? Was Grace Kelly's talent so overwhelming to forget that Miriam Hopkins had such an individuality in the acting process that she kept on working with such directors as Lubitsch, Wyler, Mamoulian, Hawks and Vidor to stunning results? What was wrong with Mary Astor's acting and what is right with Kim Novak's ?
Actress to me means Patricia Neal or Shelley Winters - Norma Shearer or Natalie Wood were stars....think about it.

I recently read this volume as well as its companion, Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era, and thoroughly enjoyed both while agreeing with others that the selections may have been biased if executives within the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) organization were involved in the decision as to whom to include and whom to omit. For example, Ann Sheridan (who appears in films shown on TCM) but not Shirley Temple (who doesn't). That said, both volumes offer a Foreword by Robert Osborne and an Introduction by Molly Haskell and have the same reader-friendly format which consists of a brief but adequate bio of the given actress followed by "Style Notes" and "Behind the Scenes" sections. Here are a few brief excerpts.

From the brief bio of Katharine Hepburn: "Her film work kept her a star despite frequent breaks to pursue theatrical projects and care for [Spencer Tracy] as his health declined. She put her salary on the line so he could play opposite her in his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). He died 17 days after filming was complete. Katharine won an Oscar for the film, but she said she could never watch it because the memories were too painful."

From the brief bio of Vivien Leigh: "Filming Gone with the Wind was a terrible experience for Vivien. She connected well with the film's first director George Cukor, but he was fired after a few weeks. Victor Fleming, a good friend of Clark Gable's, took over, and Vivien felt like a second-class citizen. Fleming's only direction to her was `Ham it up!' She secretly went to Cukor each Sunday to work on the next week's scenes. One week she accidentally ran into Olivia De Havilland, who was playing Melanie. She was doing the same thing."

From the "Style Notes" of Lauren Bacall: "When she became pregnant in the late 1940s, she designed a maternity wardrobe that was decades ahead of its time: suits and skirts that capitalized on her changing figure rather than concealing it."

From the "Style Notes" of Ava Gardner: "The sultry, appraising gaze that [she] often gives on camera is really a squint - she needed glasses but could not wear them in her pictures."

From the "Style Notes" of Marilyn Monroe: She "didn't wear anything to distract from her curves, so she wore no underwear. Often she was sown into her tight-fitting gowns."

From "Behind the Scenes" of Joan Crawford: She "would go head-to-head with anyone to keep her star status, but she met her match in Bette Davis when the longtime rivals were cast as abusive sisters in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) Bette kicked Joan in the head so hard during a fight scene that she required stitches. When Bette had to drag Joan across a room, Joan loaded her pockets with weights, causing an injury to Bette's back that lasted for days. Baby Jane was a hit and the two were paired again for Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), but after three weeks of the rematch, Joan threw in the towel and quit the film." Olivia De Havilland replaced her.

From "Behind the Scenes" of Audrey Hepburn: "Initially, Gregory Peck turned down the male lead in Roman Holiday (1953) because he didn't want to play second fiddle to an unknown actress. Director William Wyler persuaded him to take the role, yet when Peck realized how wonderful Audrey was going to be in the part, he insisted that the studio give her billing equal to his. They became lifelong friends."

It would be unfair to expect more of this volume than what it was intended to be: An entertaining, often informative discussion of 50 actresses of the studio era, most of whom are "unforgettable." More a quibble than a complaint, I wish those who organized the material in this volume had also identified (preferably in an annotated bibliography) the biography of each actress which is generally regarded as most accurate and comprehensive.

Books of this type are very irritating. To list the "fifty most unforgettable actresses" from the golden age of Hollywood is a daunting undertaking. In this case, far too many wonderful actresses from that era have been left out, and a younger person looking at the book will not get an accurate impression of old Hollywood.

What makes an actress unforgettable? Many reasons. Some have won Academy Awards. Most didn't. Some were box-office champions. Many weren't. It all adds up to the charm, talent, and personality of the actress and the public's warm acceptance of her.

The following list of unforgettable leading ladies omitted from the book should make the author realize an error in judgment in releasing it as it is: Alice Faye, Joan Fontaine, Jeanette MacDonald, Shirley Temple, Dorothy Lamour, Margaret Sullavan, Merle Oberon, Deanna Durbin, Ida Lupino, Paulette Goddard, Janet Gaynor, Dorothy McGuire, Betty Hutton, Linda Darnell, Jane Wyman, Sonja Henie, Jennifer Jones, Mary Martin, Veronica Lake, Laraine Day, June Allyson, Joan Bennett, Kathyrn Grayson, Jean Simmons, Patricia Neal, Joan Blondell, Jeanne Crain, Constance Bennett, Betty Grable, Eleanor Parker, Ruby Keeler, and Anne Baxter, among others.

It would have been better to have titled the book "LEADING LADIES: Fifty Unforgettable Actresses." Then a Volume 2 could follow with another fifty.

I recently purchased this book to give to a family friend who was turning 80 years old. What do you buy for someone who already has everything? Well, she just loved this book. I'm sure it brought back memories from years ago. I also looked through the book before giving it to her and found it very interesting and readable. This is the kind of book you can pick up and browse through it for a few minutes or a few hours of entertainment. It's also nice for guests to look at when they visit your home. Nice photos as well. I'm buying more copies to give as gifts and looking forward to the next book on Leading Men to be published.

The title of this book is misleading. It should be "The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era whose films can be viewed on cable network TCM." It is by no means a definitive list of 50, because it omits the great box office champions of other studios such as 20th Century Fox and Paramount. The most obvious example is Betty Grable, possibly the greatest box office champ of all.

The essays are relatively short summarising the key points of interest of each of the actresses. As a superficial volume to which you may refer when viewing TCM, the book has merit. Buy it for what it is but don't believe the title!