Joan Crawford

Yesterday, I received the new Joan Crawford book. It's by Peter Cowie, the internationally renown film writer familiar to fans of Louise Brooks for his 2006 pictorial, Louise Brooks; Lulu Forever. Like that earlier title, Joan Crawford: The Enduring Star is published by the good folks at Rizzoli and is a beautifully printed coffee table book. This new book features a foreword by Mick Lasalle, author of Complicated Women and film critic at the San Francisco Chronicle. There is also an "afterword" by George Cukor, the late director. Cukor died in 1983, his text consists of the eulogy he delivered in 1977 at the memorial service for Crawford, who had died that year.



I haven't had time to sit down and read the whole books (which I intend to do), though I have read bits and pieces and have "read" all the pictures. 

What's caught my eye, so far, are the reference to Louise Brooks. Cowie starts the book this way: "The inspiration for this book stemmed from my research for Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever(Rizzoli, 2006). Joan Crawford was often linked with Louise in references to the Jazz Age, the flapper era, the frenzy of the Charleston, and even weekends at Hearst castle. Yet while Louise treated Hollywood with ill-disguised scorn, Joan Crawford embraced it, and would not rest until she had become its star of stars."

To me, that is an interesting, and surprising, comparison. Are their any Louise Brooks / Joan Crawford fans out there? What do you think? Be sure and check out this lavish new book.