What do you think?
Rate this book
John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars
Charming and classically handsome, John Gilbert (1897-1936) was among the world's most recognizable actors during the silent era. He was a wild, swashbuckling figure on screen and off, and accounts of his life have focused on his high-profile romances with Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, his legendary conflicts with Louis B. Mayer, his four tumultuous marriages, and his swift decline after the introduction of talkies. A dramatic and interesting personality, Gilbert served as one of the primary inspirations for the character of George Valentin in the Academy Award-winning movie The Artist (2011). Many myths have developed around the larger-than-life star in the eighty years since his untimely death, but this definitive biography sets the record straight. Eve Golden separates fact from fiction in John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars, tracing the actor's life from his youth spent traveling with his mother in acting troupes to the peak of fame at MGM, where he starred opposite Mae Murray, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, and other actresses in popular films such as The Merry Widow (1925), The Big Parade (1925), Flesh and the Devil (1926), and Love (1927). Golden debunks some of the most pernicious rumors about the actor, including the oft-repeated myth that he had a high-pitched, squeaky voice that ruined his career. Meticulous, comprehensive, and generously illustrated, this book provides a behind-the-scenes look at one of the silent era's greatest stars and the glamorous yet brutal world in which he lived.
378 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
22 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Eve Golden
17 books57 followersEve Golden is a biographer whose work focuses on American silent film, theater and early twentieth century actresses.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 20, 2017
The Rise and fall of Matinee Idol John Gilbert
This is one of the outstanding books I have read about an early Hollywood star John Gilbert. This book not only gives us the story behind his meteoric rise in the American film industry but also narrates a brief history of how the studios came into existence in Southern California. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; it is an effortless reading and the material flows flawlessly and keeps you highly engaged from start to finish. Strongly recommended to readers interested in the history of Hollywood, career of John Gilbert and the stories behind the top movies he made in 1920s.
A brief summary of this book would illustrate the life of John Gilbert, as charmingly written by author Eve Golden: Gilbert was the screen’s hottest heartthrob, the top male sex symbol of 1920s and one of MGM’s box-office champions. He was handsome, mercurial, and very talented. He dated some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, which included Greta Garbo, Virginia Bruce, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara La Marr, Mae Murray, Lila Lee, Bebe Daniels and some of his co-stars. Some of the notable films of Gilbert include; The Merry Widow, The Big Parade, Flesh and the Devil, and Love. When talkies started in 1928, Gilbert panicked since he did not have microphone experience and also his squeaky and ineffective voice sent his career into a tailspin. This was compounded by his souring relationship with MGM executives. MGM head Louis B. Mayer is known have made unpleasant comments about his upcoming wedding with Greta Garbo that may have led to fist fight. Some eye-witnesses discount this. But in short this episode did not help his contract with MGM. In the meantime, his drinking, womanizing, and his larger than life personality made a target for moralizers and journalists out for a scoop. Gilbert would soon find himself unemployable and insufficient for talkies of the early 1930s.
His childhood had its own ups and downs. His mother was an actress and his father was a manager of a stock company. After his parents were divorced, John Gilbert and his mom traveled across the country and he pretty much grew up on the road. Life was tough but he began to understand the world at a much younger age. At one time, he was left in the care of his mother’s friend in Manhattan, a seamstress who ran an escort service with her daughter. Men coming and going out of the tiny apartment was not uncommon, and he had similar experience while living with his mother Ida Gilbert. She would bring men into the house when she was not in a married relationship.
The man who brought John Gilbert to Hollywood was studio executive Thomas Ince. By 1912 Thomas Ince purchased an 18,000 acre ranch in Pacific Palisades Highlands stretching 7.5 miles of Santa Ynez Canyon between Santa Monica and Malibu in California. He built his own studio, named "Inceville". The studio was the first of its kind which featured stages, offices, labs, commissaries (large enough to serve lunch to hundreds of workers), dressing rooms, props houses, elaborate sets, and other necessities in one location. The streets were lined with many types of structures, from humble cottages to mansions, mimicking the style and architecture of different countries. Extensive outdoor western sets were built and used on the site for several years. From 1915, John Gilbert performed in minor roles. In 1916, he appeared in three movies of William Hart. Several studios were operating in late 1910s and Gilbert kept himself busy with several small projects for various studios. In 1920s several major studios began to form by the unification of smaller studios. MGM Studios was one of the major studio to be created from the acquisition of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures, and it began to dominate the film making industry. Gilbert entered into a very lucrative contract with MGM and his career had blossomed beyond his imagination.
There is a fairly extensive description of story behind the making of “The Merry Widow” with Mae Murray with controversial director, Eric von Stroheim. There were constant bickering between von Stroheim, and Gilbert and Murray: She was often a peace maker. Von Stroheim was also notorious for outrunning the MGM budget and kept the executives off stage. Years later Mae Murray gave several interviews and spoke about behind the scene anecdotes. The stories were not always coherent and several historians have looked into these stories and give different versions. The author is sensitive enough to the curiosity of the readers and give all versions so that the veracity of historical facts may be determined by the readers themselves. There are also interesting stories behind his other successful movies like “Big Parade,” which is one of my favorite movies, “Flesh and Devil” and “Love.”
Kenneth Anger’s book “Hollywood Babylon” gave salacious story of John Gilbert and actress Marie Prevost who tried to drown their troubles in bourbon. They staged a drink-to-death race in 1936. But author Eve Golden has not substantiated this story in this book. By 1935, alcoholism had severely damaged Gilbert's health and he passed away at the age of 36 at his Bel Air home on January 9, 1936. His movies on TCM cable channel is always entertaining to his fans like me, but it is also a constant reminder of a soul lost in a purely material world.
This is one of the outstanding books I have read about an early Hollywood star John Gilbert. This book not only gives us the story behind his meteoric rise in the American film industry but also narrates a brief history of how the studios came into existence in Southern California. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; it is an effortless reading and the material flows flawlessly and keeps you highly engaged from start to finish. Strongly recommended to readers interested in the history of Hollywood, career of John Gilbert and the stories behind the top movies he made in 1920s.
A brief summary of this book would illustrate the life of John Gilbert, as charmingly written by author Eve Golden: Gilbert was the screen’s hottest heartthrob, the top male sex symbol of 1920s and one of MGM’s box-office champions. He was handsome, mercurial, and very talented. He dated some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, which included Greta Garbo, Virginia Bruce, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara La Marr, Mae Murray, Lila Lee, Bebe Daniels and some of his co-stars. Some of the notable films of Gilbert include; The Merry Widow, The Big Parade, Flesh and the Devil, and Love. When talkies started in 1928, Gilbert panicked since he did not have microphone experience and also his squeaky and ineffective voice sent his career into a tailspin. This was compounded by his souring relationship with MGM executives. MGM head Louis B. Mayer is known have made unpleasant comments about his upcoming wedding with Greta Garbo that may have led to fist fight. Some eye-witnesses discount this. But in short this episode did not help his contract with MGM. In the meantime, his drinking, womanizing, and his larger than life personality made a target for moralizers and journalists out for a scoop. Gilbert would soon find himself unemployable and insufficient for talkies of the early 1930s.
His childhood had its own ups and downs. His mother was an actress and his father was a manager of a stock company. After his parents were divorced, John Gilbert and his mom traveled across the country and he pretty much grew up on the road. Life was tough but he began to understand the world at a much younger age. At one time, he was left in the care of his mother’s friend in Manhattan, a seamstress who ran an escort service with her daughter. Men coming and going out of the tiny apartment was not uncommon, and he had similar experience while living with his mother Ida Gilbert. She would bring men into the house when she was not in a married relationship.
The man who brought John Gilbert to Hollywood was studio executive Thomas Ince. By 1912 Thomas Ince purchased an 18,000 acre ranch in Pacific Palisades Highlands stretching 7.5 miles of Santa Ynez Canyon between Santa Monica and Malibu in California. He built his own studio, named "Inceville". The studio was the first of its kind which featured stages, offices, labs, commissaries (large enough to serve lunch to hundreds of workers), dressing rooms, props houses, elaborate sets, and other necessities in one location. The streets were lined with many types of structures, from humble cottages to mansions, mimicking the style and architecture of different countries. Extensive outdoor western sets were built and used on the site for several years. From 1915, John Gilbert performed in minor roles. In 1916, he appeared in three movies of William Hart. Several studios were operating in late 1910s and Gilbert kept himself busy with several small projects for various studios. In 1920s several major studios began to form by the unification of smaller studios. MGM Studios was one of the major studio to be created from the acquisition of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures, and it began to dominate the film making industry. Gilbert entered into a very lucrative contract with MGM and his career had blossomed beyond his imagination.
There is a fairly extensive description of story behind the making of “The Merry Widow” with Mae Murray with controversial director, Eric von Stroheim. There were constant bickering between von Stroheim, and Gilbert and Murray: She was often a peace maker. Von Stroheim was also notorious for outrunning the MGM budget and kept the executives off stage. Years later Mae Murray gave several interviews and spoke about behind the scene anecdotes. The stories were not always coherent and several historians have looked into these stories and give different versions. The author is sensitive enough to the curiosity of the readers and give all versions so that the veracity of historical facts may be determined by the readers themselves. There are also interesting stories behind his other successful movies like “Big Parade,” which is one of my favorite movies, “Flesh and Devil” and “Love.”
Kenneth Anger’s book “Hollywood Babylon” gave salacious story of John Gilbert and actress Marie Prevost who tried to drown their troubles in bourbon. They staged a drink-to-death race in 1936. But author Eve Golden has not substantiated this story in this book. By 1935, alcoholism had severely damaged Gilbert's health and he passed away at the age of 36 at his Bel Air home on January 9, 1936. His movies on TCM cable channel is always entertaining to his fans like me, but it is also a constant reminder of a soul lost in a purely material world.
March 11, 2013
Another excellent book by Eve Golden. I'm not the least bit surprised, of course because she's an excellent writer and a top-notch researcher.
This is one of her best yet. It's a new look at Gilbert, who has long deserved to have a fresh look. Friends know me as a photo maven and there are plenty of wonderful images to appreciate.
Engagingly written, she does not pull punches where they're needed and does not add useless filler which so many modern era biographers do. It's been a long time since Leatrice Gilbert Fountain wrote Dark Star, and at long last John Gilbert comes back out into the light in a really terrific book.
If you love silent films you will enjoy this book immeasureably.
This is one of her best yet. It's a new look at Gilbert, who has long deserved to have a fresh look. Friends know me as a photo maven and there are plenty of wonderful images to appreciate.
Engagingly written, she does not pull punches where they're needed and does not add useless filler which so many modern era biographers do. It's been a long time since Leatrice Gilbert Fountain wrote Dark Star, and at long last John Gilbert comes back out into the light in a really terrific book.
If you love silent films you will enjoy this book immeasureably.
June 18, 2013
John Gilbert was the top male box office draw in Hollywood, and then he lost it all. The prevailing myth was that his voice was high and effeminate, and made audiences laugh. Eve Golden's well-researched biography shows that it was more of a mixture of studio politics, bad scripts and alcoholism. It's worthwhile read because it shows how little things have changed. My gripe: His affair with Garbo is pretty much glossed over, and Golden downplays their chemistry in Flesh and The Devil. I've seen Flesh and The Devil, and Gilbert's eyes practically pop out of his head when he first sees her, and vice versa. You can't fake that.
September 9, 2014
I almost wish I didn't read this book. It's nice to subscribe to the popular myth that John Gilbert's career was derailed by a vengeful Louis B. Mayer, dovetailing nicely with Gilbert's being left at the altar by Garbo. This is probably apocryphal, according to this biography, even going so far as to say that there is no firm evidence that Garbo had consented at all to a double wedding with King Vidor and Eleanor Boardman. John Gilbert was mostly done in by his own arrogance (at best) which covered his insecurity which could be crippling (at its worst). His mother was an actress who does not appear particularly interested in him, and his step-father acted typically for that era. This caused Gilbert to desperately need love, and so he fell in love hard and quickly with a succession of actresses. He worked very hard and for many years to become the overnight sensation, but then he had difficulty seeing why he needed to change his acting, his dialogue, or his lucrative MGM contract at the coming of sound. The author muses that his marriage to Ina Clare, then the greatest box office attraction on Broadway, should have inspired him to change his craft for the better, but witty, caustic Clare was unable to give any constructive advice on dialogue and elocution without also tearing down this manhood.
There is nothing really new to say about John Gilbert, and this biography is mostly a review of previous interviews and biographies, most importantly, the one written by Gilbert's daughter, Leatrice. What the author does add, however, is perspective. She muses that Gilbert was wrong to think that he could star in mediocre films to fulfill his $250,000/film contract with MGM and still have a great career afterwards. Also detrimental to his career was that his salary ate so much of a film's budget that the studio could not afford a great female star to headline with him, which often made the films feel less than stellar, and made him to shoulder the blame when they lost money.
The author also poses modern questions like, did his mood swings indicate bipolar disorder? And if Garbo were alive today, would she pursue life as a F2M trans person? And what was the extent, really, of their affair? Altogether, the book is more than adequate and I would recommend it first to anyone looking for a biography on Gilbert. Unfortunately, the man turned out to be a pale imitation of his screen persona.
I'd still do him, though.
There is nothing really new to say about John Gilbert, and this biography is mostly a review of previous interviews and biographies, most importantly, the one written by Gilbert's daughter, Leatrice. What the author does add, however, is perspective. She muses that Gilbert was wrong to think that he could star in mediocre films to fulfill his $250,000/film contract with MGM and still have a great career afterwards. Also detrimental to his career was that his salary ate so much of a film's budget that the studio could not afford a great female star to headline with him, which often made the films feel less than stellar, and made him to shoulder the blame when they lost money.
The author also poses modern questions like, did his mood swings indicate bipolar disorder? And if Garbo were alive today, would she pursue life as a F2M trans person? And what was the extent, really, of their affair? Altogether, the book is more than adequate and I would recommend it first to anyone looking for a biography on Gilbert. Unfortunately, the man turned out to be a pale imitation of his screen persona.
I'd still do him, though.
June 21, 2013
One of the best celebrity bios I've read. Sympathetic to Gilbert, a silent movie star who essentially drank himself to death when his career hit the skids, but still clear-eyed in assessing his lot. I had read Dark Star, the bio by his daughter, a few years ago, and this book is a nice companion to that one, going into more detail about his movies, and presenting for his own words as published in newspapers and fan magazines--and remaining gently skeptical on occasion when the words seem to have come from a PR person rather than Gilbert. This book has pushed to watch more John Gilbert movies.
April 27, 2014
Love John Gilbert - love Eve Golden. She writes in a straightforward, engaging manor often with wit and sass. I may not always agree with her opinions, but she always makes a good case for her statements. Golden did a great job of telling the fascinating and ultimately tragic life of one of Hollywood's most successful matinee idols until an unfortunate series of events (including his own lack of diplomacy) led to his downfall. I am grateful she didn't succumb to the trend of late of going into needless detail of movies he almost made but didn't and other useless drivel.
January 19, 2022
Uncover the life of a silent star whose career was ruined because of his ‘high-pitched voice’ (that bastard Louis B. Mayer trump up of this) in talkies era also famous with his torrid affair with Greta Garbo (and Marlene Dietrich but no need to talk about her). Surely that's John Gilbert.
(I’m confused by people who worshipped Garbo with nickname like ‘The Divine’. She was beautiful indeed, but very selfish, strange, somewhat agoraphobia, socially-avoidant and had no warmth. If she wasn't an actress, people would definitely stay away from a person like her.)
Gilbert may be unknown to people today, he always had bad luck with women: either because of his own fault or the women’s. I feel sorry and (at the same time) not sorry for him. This biography contained too many unnecessary details, boring enough but never mind, I enjoyed the part which included Garbo-Gilbert information.
August 23, 2023
John Gilbert was yet another Hollywood actor whose life ended in tragedy. What makes ‘Jack’ more interesting, however, was his difficult transition from silent movies to ‘talkies’ and his subsequent downfall. In ‘John Gilbert’, the author, Eve Golden, presents his life story adroitly and sympathetically. She simply recounts his youth, his start in motion pictures, details each of his movies, marriage, and affairs, and covers his premature death. But although John Gilbert has become a Hollywood icon, many of his silent movies either no longer exist or are relatively unobtainable. To address this lack of finer detail the author offers frequent digressions involving other stars of the time, and she also details the politics of Hollywood in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s. This book is interesting but mainly due to the life of John Gilbert rather than anything the author brings to this story.
December 9, 2022
With John Gilbert, an actor who was on top of the world in 1928, unemployable by 1934, and dead in early 1936, Golden does a great job of separating the man from the myth. The long-held rumors that Gilbert's career faltered in talkies because of a high-pitched voice are proven untrue: Golden goes into great detail explaining how a combination of Gilbert's alcoholism, thin-skin, constant complaints about the low quality of his projects, and economics all contributed to his downfall.
September 11, 2013
A thorough, entertaining, and thought-provoking biography of one of the major actors of the 1920s (unfortunately more famous for losing his career with a shaky transition to talkies and an early death). With "The Big Parade" finally being released and TCM showing both his silents and talkies, this book will help to bring John Gilbert back to at least some of the prominence he deserves.
February 10, 2018
A fantastic biography of John Gilbert, one of the biggest film stars of the 1920s, whose career came to an abrupt halt with the advent of sound cinema. Eve Golden carefully analyses the different causes of his downfall, which led to his early death in 1936, and how those causes were much more complex than the dismissive 'his voice wasn't any good'.
March 31, 2023
I have loved Greta Garbo for over 5 decades and consequently, I became interested in John Gilbert. However, this is the first book I bought and read about him. I knew a bit about him from YouTube videos and reading articles online but this book? It blew me away. Now I have always felt sorry for him as it seemed like GG just strung him along and then Louis B. Mayer finished him off. This book takes the reader far beyond those two incidents and into the life and heart of John Gilbert. The way the author writes about JG does not make him an object of pity or cast him as some lovesick maudlin leading man in a movie. This book seeks to explain how and why things turned out the way they did for this man while, at the same time, giving JG's point of view and way of thinking.
I have read a lot of biographies about the classic film stars of the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s and I would rank this one in the top five. So, if you are interested in reading about a legend of the silent black and white screen whose life and legend would make a very interesting film if written by the correct script writer and if the right individual portrayed him, then read this book and let me know if you agree.
I have read a lot of biographies about the classic film stars of the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s and I would rank this one in the top five. So, if you are interested in reading about a legend of the silent black and white screen whose life and legend would make a very interesting film if written by the correct script writer and if the right individual portrayed him, then read this book and let me know if you agree.
June 4, 2019
John Gilbert was a major star during the silent film era, but his career was ultimately cut short (in part) because of his many clashes with MGM studio head honcho Louis B. Mayer.
Unfortunately, nowadays, he is probably best known for a film he wasn't even in. A scene in one of the most famous film musicals "Singin' in the Rain" spoofs his infamous and awkward love scene, where he repeatedly tells his leading lady "I love you" over and over again. He is also perhaps best-remembered for his love affair with Greta Garbo, to whom he was engaged.
You might not be familiar with Gilbert, since his films are mostly forgotten today, but this book is a great introduction to a man who was once considered the pinnacle of a Hollywood star.
Unfortunately, nowadays, he is probably best known for a film he wasn't even in. A scene in one of the most famous film musicals "Singin' in the Rain" spoofs his infamous and awkward love scene, where he repeatedly tells his leading lady "I love you" over and over again. He is also perhaps best-remembered for his love affair with Greta Garbo, to whom he was engaged.
You might not be familiar with Gilbert, since his films are mostly forgotten today, but this book is a great introduction to a man who was once considered the pinnacle of a Hollywood star.
August 14, 2022
Most film fans know John Gilbert as the silent matinee with a squeaky voice who Louis B. Mayer blackballed. Golden's biography contradicts these myths while also highlighting Gilbert’s unique talents and exceptional onscreen performances. His life was much more complicated than these reductive legends of his fall from grace and his career much more varied than just being Greta Garbo's onscreen partner.
Read my full review at https://theeverydaycinephile.com/arti...
Read my full review at https://theeverydaycinephile.com/arti...
June 13, 2017
Decent bio of a star of the first great era of film, the silent era. This book doesn't sugarcoat a very troubled personality, nor does it automatically accept the official stories surrounding Gilbert's life and career. Instead, it presents other possibilities for his actions and wisely leaves some of those as speculation. A number of rare photos are included and overall, a quite even-handed look at Gilbert's life is presented.
November 29, 2019
I enjoyed the history of how movies have evolved and the effect this had on many people. Wonderful information about John Gilbert, his loves , his movies and the challenges he faced...not only with the changing movie scene, but with his own mind. Good book if you are interested in movies as I am!
September 6, 2021
Very satisfying biography
It's not a long book, but, then again, Jack Gilbert did not live a long life. Recommended to lovers of classic movies.
It's not a long book, but, then again, Jack Gilbert did not live a long life. Recommended to lovers of classic movies.
October 18, 2023
“There will be silent pictures when talking pictures are forgotten.”
-Joseph Schenk, United Artists Producer (1929)
-Joseph Schenk, United Artists Producer (1929)
November 29, 2013
A thorough and professional excavation of a distant, hazily-remembered film star and the Hollywood that created him as it was creating itself. The author provides a long-overdue examination of Gilbert's professional and personal decline, long defined by ancient show-biz gossip, and debunks much of what we thought we knew. The writing, however, gets a bit choppy, veering from literary film scholarship to Variety-style shorthand to the gossipy. More rigorous editing could have addressed the uneven style and caught mistakes and various lapses. For instance, the book says, correctly, that "He Who Gets Slapped" was Gilbert's first film with the Swedish director Victor Sjostrom. Some pages later we are told that they first worked together on "Masks of the Devil." It would also have helped to mention that Sjostrom is probably best known today for his brilliant performance as the elderly professor in "Wild Strawberries." The author says that Gilbert's long-lost father, John Pringle, might have worked on one of Gilbert's films. One of the many John Gilbert legends had it that this was when he learned that he had been born with the name Pringle. But the author does not explore this further and instead simply drops the subject.
November 18, 2021
Eve Golden’s John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars is a more scholarly approach towards Gilbert’s life, but it lacks the heart of his daughter's biography. Aside from occasionally drawing upon archived footage or internet-aided research, Golden doesn't really include any significant new information about Gilbert. This book probably won't be a slog either for the faintly curious or for die-hard fans, but Dark Star remains the definitive bio.
May 27, 2013
Not one of the best bios I have ever read, quotes a lot from his daughter's biography. Played down the romance with Garbo, said Garbo later wondered what she ever saw in him, except she couldn't speak English and was lonely. Interesting info on Gilbert's youth and last years. Did learn some stuff I hadn't known before. Not bad.
April 10, 2015
Interesting and informative, on the whole. The author's unfortunate tendency for bad jokes and snarky asides gets tiresome -- the attempts at humor remain attempts.
April 6, 2016
Its a good book and sad too.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews