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837 reviews for:
The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick
Mallory O'Meara
4.11 AVERAGE
837 reviews for:
The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick
Mallory O'Meara
4.11 AVERAGE
I cried at the end of this! So well done! Such an incredible legacy Milicent Patrick left behind- one that has been buried for far too long.
I don’t normally write reviews, but I absolutely loved this book and have been recommending it to anyone that will listen! The Lady from the Black Lagoon is about Millicent Patrick, but it is also about Mallory O’Meara’s journey in researching and telling Millicent’s story. It is perfect combination of biography and memoir and Mallory’s passion for this project comes through in every single page!
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
I'm not a fan of horror movies, but I am a fan of art history and women's rights history.
A mix of special effects history, the thrill of the investigation and commentary on the state of women's rights abuses in Hollywood, then and now.
A mix of special effects history, the thrill of the investigation and commentary on the state of women's rights abuses in Hollywood, then and now.
A fascinating nonfiction biography which tells the story of Milicent Patrick the woman who designed the costume for The Creature from the Black Lagoon. O'Meara leads us through her search for information on this amazing woman and her own experiences working in Hollywood. Patrick was an engrossing persona and it is a shame more is not known about her. O'Meara deserves credit for bringing her to the attention of readers everywhere.
2.5 rounded up
Well here we go:
Parasocial relationships are funny aren't they? If I didn't listen to Reading Glasses I probably would have still picked this up but I also may not have finished it. And yet, because I have fantasies about one day kicking it with Brea and Mallory on their podcast explaining my reading habits and reading wheelhouses, I kept going with this book going maybe I'll like it soon! Maybe! Please! So I'm going to try and pause that and just be honest.
I am glad this book exists and I'm happy Milicent's story is getting told. I do believe we need more writing about women in the entertainment industry and the struggles they face. I just didn't love the execution of this.
This was definitely a debut work and definitely from someone who is not a researcher. There is a lot of "I think's", "Probably's" and "She must have". In the first few chapters of the book O'Meara is told by someone that he doesn't believe the story could sustain more than an article. I hate to say it but by the end of the book I had to agree. There was a lot of content that I just did not find interesting. Stories about the men around Milicent, stories about how O'Meara decided to dress and even glimpses of Milicent's career that just didn't inspire me. With the amount of speculation there was I almost think a fictionalized Julie/Julia style novel or movie would have been the way to go with this story.
I did not enjoy the footnotes in this. And I am generally a footnote fan, both in humour fiction and non-fiction but so many of these footnotes which were one of two things. 1. Snarky or sarcastic comments from the author - which made no sense since the actual text itself was full of snarky and sarcastic comments from the author. They could've have been integrated into the core text. Or 2. They were explaining things that assumed I had no knowledge of film at all. I find it hard to believe that anyone picking up this book wouldn't know what a "B-Movie" was. Or who Abbott and Costello were. I mean maybe I am the snob here but it just felt like the author was assuming I was naive to the industry. This happened constantly. I think that would be fine if this was marketed as non-fiction for young adults looking to go into the industry. At one point O'Meara even states "Depression is a mental health issue" like...yes I know?
I think my main gripe with this book though is the way Milicent's beauty is talked about. O'Meara is critical of the men (rightly so) who undermine her because of her looks but then a photo of her is captioned "You could roast marshmallows over this picture." O'Meara is constantly commenting on what a knockout she is. Milicent IS conventionally very beautiful but we can see that with our own eyes. But when that is remarked upon as much as it is, it's hard not to see this story as "This woman was beautiful AND she had other talents who knew?" instead of "She was a wonderful artist but could never be seen as anything other than beautiful." I 100% believe O'Meara agrees with the later but goddamn it is pretty evident how hard it is to NOT comment on a woman's looks.
I was disappointing in this. I hate that I was disappointed in this. I am excited to see what O'Meara does in the future regardless of my feelings on this book. If I took anything away from this read it's that women need to stick together in showbiz and amplify each other's voices. We need more monster girls.
Well here we go:
Parasocial relationships are funny aren't they? If I didn't listen to Reading Glasses I probably would have still picked this up but I also may not have finished it. And yet, because I have fantasies about one day kicking it with Brea and Mallory on their podcast explaining my reading habits and reading wheelhouses, I kept going with this book going maybe I'll like it soon! Maybe! Please! So I'm going to try and pause that and just be honest.
I am glad this book exists and I'm happy Milicent's story is getting told. I do believe we need more writing about women in the entertainment industry and the struggles they face. I just didn't love the execution of this.
This was definitely a debut work and definitely from someone who is not a researcher. There is a lot of "I think's", "Probably's" and "She must have". In the first few chapters of the book O'Meara is told by someone that he doesn't believe the story could sustain more than an article. I hate to say it but by the end of the book I had to agree. There was a lot of content that I just did not find interesting. Stories about the men around Milicent, stories about how O'Meara decided to dress and even glimpses of Milicent's career that just didn't inspire me. With the amount of speculation there was I almost think a fictionalized Julie/Julia style novel or movie would have been the way to go with this story.
I did not enjoy the footnotes in this. And I am generally a footnote fan, both in humour fiction and non-fiction but so many of these footnotes which were one of two things. 1. Snarky or sarcastic comments from the author - which made no sense since the actual text itself was full of snarky and sarcastic comments from the author. They could've have been integrated into the core text. Or 2. They were explaining things that assumed I had no knowledge of film at all. I find it hard to believe that anyone picking up this book wouldn't know what a "B-Movie" was. Or who Abbott and Costello were. I mean maybe I am the snob here but it just felt like the author was assuming I was naive to the industry. This happened constantly. I think that would be fine if this was marketed as non-fiction for young adults looking to go into the industry. At one point O'Meara even states "Depression is a mental health issue" like...yes I know?
I think my main gripe with this book though is the way Milicent's beauty is talked about. O'Meara is critical of the men (rightly so) who undermine her because of her looks but then a photo of her is captioned "You could roast marshmallows over this picture." O'Meara is constantly commenting on what a knockout she is. Milicent IS conventionally very beautiful but we can see that with our own eyes. But when that is remarked upon as much as it is, it's hard not to see this story as "This woman was beautiful AND she had other talents who knew?" instead of "She was a wonderful artist but could never be seen as anything other than beautiful." I 100% believe O'Meara agrees with the later but goddamn it is pretty evident how hard it is to NOT comment on a woman's looks.
I was disappointing in this. I hate that I was disappointed in this. I am excited to see what O'Meara does in the future regardless of my feelings on this book. If I took anything away from this read it's that women need to stick together in showbiz and amplify each other's voices. We need more monster girls.
O’Meara traces Milicent’s career, and personal life, from Disney to Universal and beyond. She explores the inherent prejudices that Milicent faced and how she managed to thrive in spite of them, and she muses on how little has changed in 60+ years in the film industry.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon, despite its unimaginative name, is a pretty darn good film for something that was just supposed to be a monster movie. A group of scientists travels up the Amazon to investigate reports of a fish/lizard/person/creature. Though there is some stilted 1950s dialogue, it is far overshadowed by the absolutely stunning underwater photography.
Filmed both in the clear springs of Florida and on set, these scenes are entrancing, not least because audiences had never seen any monster like that. After Universal had hits with Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolf Man in the 1930s, they strayed from the formula, looking to become more ‘legitimate,’ but after the war they returned to their profitable genre films to buoy the studio.
One of the main components that makes the movie so successful, even today, is the creature himself. As Mallory O’Meara uncovers in her book, there are worlds of fascinating stories behind that single costume. It was designed by Milicent Patrick, and following a triumphant publicity tour with her creation, she disappeared from the film world.
Please read my full review at: https://mwgerard.com/review-the-lady-from-the-black-lagoon/
The Creature from the Black Lagoon, despite its unimaginative name, is a pretty darn good film for something that was just supposed to be a monster movie. A group of scientists travels up the Amazon to investigate reports of a fish/lizard/person/creature. Though there is some stilted 1950s dialogue, it is far overshadowed by the absolutely stunning underwater photography.
Filmed both in the clear springs of Florida and on set, these scenes are entrancing, not least because audiences had never seen any monster like that. After Universal had hits with Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolf Man in the 1930s, they strayed from the formula, looking to become more ‘legitimate,’ but after the war they returned to their profitable genre films to buoy the studio.
One of the main components that makes the movie so successful, even today, is the creature himself. As Mallory O’Meara uncovers in her book, there are worlds of fascinating stories behind that single costume. It was designed by Milicent Patrick, and following a triumphant publicity tour with her creation, she disappeared from the film world.
Please read my full review at: https://mwgerard.com/review-the-lady-from-the-black-lagoon/
Lady from the Black Lagoon is an amazing book about Milicent Patrick, a SFX artist and more . I love everything about the horror genre and thought I was knowledgeable about it, but unfortunately I was unaware this inspiring woman even existed. Patrick has a large hand in designing the creature from Creature from the Black Lagoon. O’Meara is a very good writer with a distinctive voice. She includes some of her life experiences and great humor which help the book move along at an enjoyable pace. I would suggest this book to any horror fans or fans of stories about interesting women.
informative
medium-paced