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bethsponz's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed learning about the start of Hollywood with the silent films, then talkies.. This story is centered on the careers of Mary Pickford and Francis Marion. One is an actress, the other is a screenwriter. They are best friends and it goes thru their movies, husbands, adventures and losses. I like this book OK, I found the history of movie making the most interesting.
novelvisits's review against another edition
5.0
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/girls-picture-melanie-benjamin-review/
{My Thoughts}
What Worked For Me
Melanie Benjamin’s Storytelling – If you’ve never read Melanie Benjamin it’s time to start, and if you have, you’re in for another treat. This woman KNOWS how to build an entire drama around real people, expertly blending facts and well-researched fiction. With The Aviators Wife she gave us Anne Morrow Lindbergh. In The Swans of Fifth Avenue it was Babe Paley and Truman Capote. And now, Benjamin tells the story of young Hollywood through two of its brightest stars, actress Mary Pickford and screenwriter Frances Marion. Throughout The Girls in the Picture, Benjamin stays entirely focused on her characters. With incredible finesse she follows these two women through their struggles and triumphs, through their loves and losses, through their personal and professional relationships without ever straying. This is storytelling at it’s best!
“Mary and I were these women; we were the girls in the picture, still. The girls whose brave and tender hearts were still beating beneath the wrinkled breasts, the old-fashioned nightgowns and sensible grandmother blouses. The girls we’d become the moment we’d said hello in that other dark room, so many years ago.”
Early Hollywood – I’m not a big follower of Hollywood, old or new, but I loved the Hollywood history lesson built into The Girls in the Picture. As the book opens Hollywood as we know it didn’t yet exist. Instead, there were a bunch of people running around the streets of Los Angeles trying to put together one-reel “flickers” for kicks and a little cash. The inside view that Benjamin provided through the lives of “America’s Sweetheart” and one of its first and most successful screenwriters proved to be fascinating. These two women had amazing triumphs in their careers, but the struggles, the chauvinism, and the fight for women’s opinions to matter made it clear that Hollywood still hasn’t strayed far from its roots.
A Hollywood Legend – Of the two women in the book, I actually liked Frances Marion more, but found Mary’s position as “America’s Sweetheart” fascinating. The very roles that made her famous, those of a sweet, funny girl, also trapped her. She grew weary of playing a child, but the public didn’t want to see her in any other roles, making it nearly impossible for Mary to follow her own desires. Hers was a sad story.
What Didn’t
Fiction vs. Nonfiction – Honestly everything about The Girls in the Picture worked for me. My only negative is one I find in all historical fiction based on real people. It’s difficult to stop myself from questioning the “fiction” part of the story is versus what is real. I start Googling events to see if they really happened or not. At times that can feel like a burden, and I found it especially true towards the end of The Girls in the Picture. Still, it’s my problem and not a problem of the book.
{The Final Assessment}
The Girls in the Picture proved to be an absolutely delightful surprise. I can highly recommend it to Hollywood buffs, lovers of historical fiction, and to those like me who might initially be a little skeptical. I can almost guarantee that by 20% you’ll be hooked. Grade: A-
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
{My Thoughts}
What Worked For Me
Melanie Benjamin’s Storytelling – If you’ve never read Melanie Benjamin it’s time to start, and if you have, you’re in for another treat. This woman KNOWS how to build an entire drama around real people, expertly blending facts and well-researched fiction. With The Aviators Wife she gave us Anne Morrow Lindbergh. In The Swans of Fifth Avenue it was Babe Paley and Truman Capote. And now, Benjamin tells the story of young Hollywood through two of its brightest stars, actress Mary Pickford and screenwriter Frances Marion. Throughout The Girls in the Picture, Benjamin stays entirely focused on her characters. With incredible finesse she follows these two women through their struggles and triumphs, through their loves and losses, through their personal and professional relationships without ever straying. This is storytelling at it’s best!
“Mary and I were these women; we were the girls in the picture, still. The girls whose brave and tender hearts were still beating beneath the wrinkled breasts, the old-fashioned nightgowns and sensible grandmother blouses. The girls we’d become the moment we’d said hello in that other dark room, so many years ago.”
Early Hollywood – I’m not a big follower of Hollywood, old or new, but I loved the Hollywood history lesson built into The Girls in the Picture. As the book opens Hollywood as we know it didn’t yet exist. Instead, there were a bunch of people running around the streets of Los Angeles trying to put together one-reel “flickers” for kicks and a little cash. The inside view that Benjamin provided through the lives of “America’s Sweetheart” and one of its first and most successful screenwriters proved to be fascinating. These two women had amazing triumphs in their careers, but the struggles, the chauvinism, and the fight for women’s opinions to matter made it clear that Hollywood still hasn’t strayed far from its roots.
A Hollywood Legend – Of the two women in the book, I actually liked Frances Marion more, but found Mary’s position as “America’s Sweetheart” fascinating. The very roles that made her famous, those of a sweet, funny girl, also trapped her. She grew weary of playing a child, but the public didn’t want to see her in any other roles, making it nearly impossible for Mary to follow her own desires. Hers was a sad story.
What Didn’t
Fiction vs. Nonfiction – Honestly everything about The Girls in the Picture worked for me. My only negative is one I find in all historical fiction based on real people. It’s difficult to stop myself from questioning the “fiction” part of the story is versus what is real. I start Googling events to see if they really happened or not. At times that can feel like a burden, and I found it especially true towards the end of The Girls in the Picture. Still, it’s my problem and not a problem of the book.
{The Final Assessment}
The Girls in the Picture proved to be an absolutely delightful surprise. I can highly recommend it to Hollywood buffs, lovers of historical fiction, and to those like me who might initially be a little skeptical. I can almost guarantee that by 20% you’ll be hooked. Grade: A-
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
ckreads28's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 out of 5 Stars: Although I loved the bts of movie making of this era and the period. The tension of the friendship and the bumps it hit was rough to read. As well as the pace of this one did kill me a bit.
reillywilmit's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
michellehenriereads's review against another edition
3.0
The Girls in the Picture is a timely book that many will be drawn to because of the current scandals in Hollywood, with Weinstein and others men. As in life and literature, there is nothing new under the sun.
My two favorite chapters were the first and the last. They were gripping! To see the degeneration of a friendship and the feelings the old women experienced in their own viewpoint. I found the first third of the book riveting. I liked learning about both Mary Pickford and Frances Marion. It was interesting to see how women could make their place in a new industry, when they couldn't have got a toe in the door in the established avenues of business. Both of these women fought hard for what they got. It was heartbreaking to see how the men with the money tried to break Mary and Fran by rejecting their female produced movie, Poor Little Rich Girl. What is even more heartbreaking is that too many women today play into the same role of allowing those with power (both men and women) define their business relationships.
It was also interesting to see how Fran decided she needed to go and film women during WWI, compared to Mary who sold bonds with her fellow actors. Fran's relationship with her husband was refreshing, contrasting with the regular sleaze associated with Hollywood. Even in those first years of movie making, it has been a morally bankrupt industry - not holding any values sacred.
There appear to be two reasons for the flavor of Hollywood examined in this novel. One of the flaws associated with theater is ...
To read the full review go to www.talesuntangled.wordpress.com
My two favorite chapters were the first and the last. They were gripping! To see the degeneration of a friendship and the feelings the old women experienced in their own viewpoint. I found the first third of the book riveting. I liked learning about both Mary Pickford and Frances Marion. It was interesting to see how women could make their place in a new industry, when they couldn't have got a toe in the door in the established avenues of business. Both of these women fought hard for what they got. It was heartbreaking to see how the men with the money tried to break Mary and Fran by rejecting their female produced movie, Poor Little Rich Girl. What is even more heartbreaking is that too many women today play into the same role of allowing those with power (both men and women) define their business relationships.
It was also interesting to see how Fran decided she needed to go and film women during WWI, compared to Mary who sold bonds with her fellow actors. Fran's relationship with her husband was refreshing, contrasting with the regular sleaze associated with Hollywood. Even in those first years of movie making, it has been a morally bankrupt industry - not holding any values sacred.
There appear to be two reasons for the flavor of Hollywood examined in this novel. One of the flaws associated with theater is ...
To read the full review go to www.talesuntangled.wordpress.com
erincataldi's review against another edition
5.0
I adored this book. For some unknown reasons I didn't have high expectations, maybe it was the cover? Who knows, but despite my initial misgivings, I am happy to say that I was instantly hooked. The story was wonderfully crafted and the chapters alternated between Mary Pickford, America's Sweetheart, first "celebrity," and silent movie star and Frances Marion, the famed screenwriter. I had heard of Mary Pickford but I didn't really know about her or the silent film era either. Readers get a wonderful glimpse of what life was like for women in early Hollywood through the unique lens of two women who actually existed (although their narratives are in this book are fiction). The history of silent film and the birth of Hollywood is fascinating and this book offers an in depth look at not only these two women, but the men surrounding them, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, studio heads and more. One of the best historical fiction reads I've read in a long while and a must read!
angela_amman's review against another edition
5.0
Melanie Benjamin’s novel tells the story of the relationship between Mary Pickford and Frances Marion, two powerful women in the early days of film. I loved the introduction to Mary Pickford, one of the earliest “stars” of the silent film industry. We see her in her dressing room, editing film from a day of filming, a stark contrast to the glamour and glitz surrounding the movie industry.
The camera loved Mary Pickford, and she savvily conveyed that box office success into more money and more power until she truly became a version of royalty, working to create a studio owned by and ran by the actors in the films (Pickford, her future husband Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith). Frances Marion preferred to be on the other side of the camera, working as Mary’s “scenarist” (writer) until she became one of the most sought-after screenwriters in film.
Pickford and Marion’s friendship sprang to life quickly, two women more interested in the power of movies than the power of marriage—until they met men who would change that. Though they vow not to let men ever come between their personal or professional relationship, they find themselves divided by both men—though not in a love triangle kind of way—and their own jealousy and insecurities over their place in the burgeoning Hollywood social scene.
I loved the way Melanie Benjamin invokes the struggle of the women struggling against a system unable to truly accept women as equals, even as they continue to push an industry to unprecedented heights. Over a hundred years later, their struggles still feel relatable and timely, and I believe this book offers a lot to think about long after the reader closes it.
The camera loved Mary Pickford, and she savvily conveyed that box office success into more money and more power until she truly became a version of royalty, working to create a studio owned by and ran by the actors in the films (Pickford, her future husband Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith). Frances Marion preferred to be on the other side of the camera, working as Mary’s “scenarist” (writer) until she became one of the most sought-after screenwriters in film.
Pickford and Marion’s friendship sprang to life quickly, two women more interested in the power of movies than the power of marriage—until they met men who would change that. Though they vow not to let men ever come between their personal or professional relationship, they find themselves divided by both men—though not in a love triangle kind of way—and their own jealousy and insecurities over their place in the burgeoning Hollywood social scene.
I loved the way Melanie Benjamin invokes the struggle of the women struggling against a system unable to truly accept women as equals, even as they continue to push an industry to unprecedented heights. Over a hundred years later, their struggles still feel relatable and timely, and I believe this book offers a lot to think about long after the reader closes it.
nygator58's review against another edition
2.0
boring book about the beginning of Hollywood and Mary Pickford
jbarr5's review against another edition
4.0
The girls in the picture by Benjamin_ Melanie
This story follows the life of Mary Pickford and her screen writer, Frances = Lady Marion. Love how it starts when they are young when the movies are just starting out.
Love affairs and journey to the war to cover it and keep the morale of the troops high.
Like the women's connection and how they stick to their guns.
Alternating chapters between the two women.
Like behind the scenes whether it's about the movies or the war.
Have read other books by this author, very detailed and she does her homework!
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
This story follows the life of Mary Pickford and her screen writer, Frances = Lady Marion. Love how it starts when they are young when the movies are just starting out.
Love affairs and journey to the war to cover it and keep the morale of the troops high.
Like the women's connection and how they stick to their guns.
Alternating chapters between the two women.
Like behind the scenes whether it's about the movies or the war.
Have read other books by this author, very detailed and she does her homework!
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).