Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames

by Laura Wagner, Ray Hagen, Jane Russell (Foreword)

No delicate ingenues, these. In the middle of the twentieth century, the Mary Pickfords of the movie world were replaced by a different sort of woman--drop-dead gorgeous, witty, not afraid to speak their minds, they could slay you with a look--and if that didn't work, look out for the pistol in the garter. These ground-breaking actresses helped change the course of movie history, charting a path for generations to come. These profiles of fifteen leading ladies--Lucille Ball, Lynn Bari, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Gloria Grahame, Jean Hagen, Adele Jergens, Ida Lupino, Marilyn Maxwell, Mercedes McCambridge, Jane Russell, Ann Sheridan, Barbara Stanwyck, Claire Trevor and Marie Windsor--include overviews of their lives and careers, and excerpts from interviews. Five photos supplement each profile. Jane Russell (one of the actresses profiled) provides a foreword.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film

281 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

I have been the book reviewer for Classic Images since 2001. I have written articles for CI, Films of the Golden Age, and other magazines since 1995. I am the coauthor (with Ray Hagen) of KILLER TOMATOES: FIFTEEN TOUGH FILM DAMES, published by McFarland & Company, Inc. (www.mcfarlandpub.com); and the sole author of ANNE FRANCIS: THE LIFE AND CAREER and HOLLYWOOD'S HARD-LUCK LADIES: 23 ACTRESSES WHO SUFFERED EARLY DEATHS, ACCIDENTS, MISSTEPS, ILLNESSES AND TRAGEDIES, both published by McFarland & Company, Inc. (www.mcfarlandpub.com); LET ME TELL YOU HOW I REALLY FEEL: THE UNCENSORED BOOK REVIEWS OF CLASSIC IMAGES' LAURA WAGNER, published by BearManor Media (www.bearmanormedia.com); and LET ME TELL YOU HOW I REALLY FEEL...AGAIN: MORE OF THE BEST OF LAURA WAGNER'S BOOK REVIEWS FROM CLASSIC IMAGES
(http://bearmanormedia.com/)