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Such Mad Fun: Ambition and Glamour in Hollywood's Golden Age
What determines who a woman will become? Jane Hall was an orphan at fifteen and a "literary prodigy" according to the press. How did this spirited young girl from an Arizona mining town become a Depression-era debutante, a successful author of magazine fiction, and a screenwriter at Hollywood's most glamorous studio? At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Jane wrote the story and the script for the "best social comedy of 1939," These Glamour Girls, and established a lively camaraderie with F. Scott Fitzgerald, who worked in the office next door to hers. But Jane's ambition conflicted with the expectations of her family, her friends, and the era in which she lived. Drawing on her mother's diaries and scores of letters, historian Robin Cutler takes us on an unforgettable journey through 1930s Manhattan and Hollywood as Jane wrestles with who she was meant to be. Such Mad Fun is a coming-of-age story set in a decade that has surprising parallels with American life today.
328 pages, Paperback
First published September 8, 2016
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July 30, 2016
Such Mad Fun by Robin R. Cutler, Pub Date 08 Sept.
Before you make the choice to read this biography and a partial memoir of the daughter's mother, Jane Hall, I advise you to skip to the very LAST paragraph which the publishers have chosen as its summary. Then, return to the enticing details at the beginning, the hook of the Golden Age of Hollywood movie stars who Jane knew and famous writers she worked beside. You will then be prepared for this book, which is far from just its pretty cover and famous names.
Robin Cutler has written a serious piece of nonfiction here. Her thesis is on the role of women from a historical perspective during the 1930s through the 1950s, in film and fiction, one she describes throughout. Her model is her mother's life from the time of being a precociously bright amateur child writer to the sassy, irreverent fiction and Hollywood screenwriter, to the glamorously chic wife married to a man deigned by her aunt as of the appropriate social class. There is a sense that Robin Cutler is not just a little haunted by the mother's history she knew very little about until she discovered mouldering clippings and papers posthumously.
"Such Mad Fun follows a talented small-town girl with grand aspirations who sought to be independent at a time when her family, her friends, and her social and cultural milieu had other expectations for her. It is also a behind-the-scenes look at the messages that popular culture conveys to its audiences. Feminist writer Betty Friedan underscores the critical role that magazines played between the 1930s and the 1950s in defining women’s sense of who they were meant to be. Who was the ideal young woman—more specifically, the ideal young, white, middle-or upper-middle-class woman—targeted by so many magazines and movie houses? Whether in print or on the screen, Jane’s stories brim with class conflict while providing guidance for her peers on how to navigate the all-important search for the perfect mate."
Jane Hall was orphaned at the age of eleven, with her elder brother. The two of them sailed from Los Angeles, through the Panama Canal, into the care of her mother's sister and upstanding New York husband. Although the Stockmarket Crash of 1929 impinged on those family fortunes to some degree, the society which Jane entered at this point was one of debutantes, coming-out balls and Old Money. Jane had unbelievable self confidence; today we would describe her as "ballsy". Her persistence led to being published in popular women's magazines of the day, which featured fictional supplements monthly. Cosmopolitan, where she would in years ahead be a cover girl illustrated by Bradshaw Crandell and which is the cover art of this book, was primarily a literary magazine and published many fictional short stories by Jane as well as a full length novel.
Cutler documents her mother's rising success proudly; Jane was fortunate to find positive mentors who appreciated her penchant for hard work and determination, as well as her creativity. Hollywood loved her witty, post-debutante style during those pre-WWII times. Elegance and a comedy-of-manners livened with romance and wealth onscreen were perfect Depression escapism. The stars - A and B list - whom Jane came in contact with are legend. Cutler has included wonderful anecdotes of Jane's adventures in seeking copy for articles, on the set of The Wizard of Oz and her interaction with the "hotties" of the era, Clark Gable among them.
The war years changed America's taste in movies, books and magazines. Glamour wasn't the top-selling commodity; thrift was the virtue. Jane's personal life changed too. She married, became part of a couple, had her daughter Robin and carried responsibility for her aging childhood caregivers. Moving back and forth from California to New York became disadvantageous. Jane Hall, now Cutler, was still very glamorous in her personal life but her writing motivation suffered. That part of her life faded away...until Robin discovered it again in 2009.
Robin Cutler, the professional historian, tries to analyze Jane Hall in the context of the 1930’s career women whose only real success in the end would sadly be measured by their beauty, their ability to enhance their looks, to be dressed divinely, to marry "the catch" and enhance him for the rest of their lives, finding little of their former sense of selves in their marital status. The diaries which Robin reads point to a mother unsatisfied, lost without her ability to finish a story, amidst the fiction of her making but without the same outcomes. A time when women were expected to be wives...
Robin notes that this book "is a cautionary tale". The media then and now inform "how we should be." I differ, however. Work, women, "having it all", life satisfaction, I believe, are an indiscriminate melee of circumstance: the times we live in, our health, our wealth, our family support, our emotional well-being. Jane's later life perhaps stumbled with the grief of being parent-less so young, triggered after the death of her beloved dog Katie and aunt and uncle. Human beings are complex and unfortunately for Robin her mother was not completely forthcoming.
I found Jane Hall's story truly fascinating. Robin Cutler's carefully researched history is at its best when recounting the fascinating vignettes of this bygone time, the peek into ballroom society and the delightful retelling of the young screenwriter's enthusiastic encounters in a very accessible Hollywood. A refreshing glimpse given to "glamour" by those new eyes of Miss Hall.
The thesis style argument was a bit heavy handed at times, I felt, and became close to sermonizing with its various restatements throughout the biography. I believe that the book would find more appeal to a larger fan-based and movie general audience if that could be lightened or reduced a bit as well those snippets of quotes from historians and sociologists, which are used to support Cutler's point of view. Those are distracting from the otherwise truly fresh and inspiring story. * (The feminist perspective is alive and well; we get it, even when advertisers prefer to sell products promoting body over soul.)
A suggestion: Although already loaded with appendices, footnotes, references and an index (which would be highly praised and useful to other historians), a general audience might find a Preface very helpful. Like a Cast of Characters, a list of the names of the oldies movie stars, directors and some of the authors mentioned herein, with perhaps a famous movie, book etc, and/or distinguishing feature would be a terrific enhancement. Younger readers would gain a great deal, and could increase the popular interest in the book. I could use Wiki on my Kindle version for many unknowns, but that won't be an option for the paperback version.
✪✪✪ - The very academic style is a bit tedious and over-stated, unfortunately weighing down an otherwise very interesting story.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Tree View Press for this advanced copy.
Before you make the choice to read this biography and a partial memoir of the daughter's mother, Jane Hall, I advise you to skip to the very LAST paragraph which the publishers have chosen as its summary. Then, return to the enticing details at the beginning, the hook of the Golden Age of Hollywood movie stars who Jane knew and famous writers she worked beside. You will then be prepared for this book, which is far from just its pretty cover and famous names.
Robin Cutler has written a serious piece of nonfiction here. Her thesis is on the role of women from a historical perspective during the 1930s through the 1950s, in film and fiction, one she describes throughout. Her model is her mother's life from the time of being a precociously bright amateur child writer to the sassy, irreverent fiction and Hollywood screenwriter, to the glamorously chic wife married to a man deigned by her aunt as of the appropriate social class. There is a sense that Robin Cutler is not just a little haunted by the mother's history she knew very little about until she discovered mouldering clippings and papers posthumously.
"Such Mad Fun follows a talented small-town girl with grand aspirations who sought to be independent at a time when her family, her friends, and her social and cultural milieu had other expectations for her. It is also a behind-the-scenes look at the messages that popular culture conveys to its audiences. Feminist writer Betty Friedan underscores the critical role that magazines played between the 1930s and the 1950s in defining women’s sense of who they were meant to be. Who was the ideal young woman—more specifically, the ideal young, white, middle-or upper-middle-class woman—targeted by so many magazines and movie houses? Whether in print or on the screen, Jane’s stories brim with class conflict while providing guidance for her peers on how to navigate the all-important search for the perfect mate."
Jane Hall was orphaned at the age of eleven, with her elder brother. The two of them sailed from Los Angeles, through the Panama Canal, into the care of her mother's sister and upstanding New York husband. Although the Stockmarket Crash of 1929 impinged on those family fortunes to some degree, the society which Jane entered at this point was one of debutantes, coming-out balls and Old Money. Jane had unbelievable self confidence; today we would describe her as "ballsy". Her persistence led to being published in popular women's magazines of the day, which featured fictional supplements monthly. Cosmopolitan, where she would in years ahead be a cover girl illustrated by Bradshaw Crandell and which is the cover art of this book, was primarily a literary magazine and published many fictional short stories by Jane as well as a full length novel.
Cutler documents her mother's rising success proudly; Jane was fortunate to find positive mentors who appreciated her penchant for hard work and determination, as well as her creativity. Hollywood loved her witty, post-debutante style during those pre-WWII times. Elegance and a comedy-of-manners livened with romance and wealth onscreen were perfect Depression escapism. The stars - A and B list - whom Jane came in contact with are legend. Cutler has included wonderful anecdotes of Jane's adventures in seeking copy for articles, on the set of The Wizard of Oz and her interaction with the "hotties" of the era, Clark Gable among them.
The war years changed America's taste in movies, books and magazines. Glamour wasn't the top-selling commodity; thrift was the virtue. Jane's personal life changed too. She married, became part of a couple, had her daughter Robin and carried responsibility for her aging childhood caregivers. Moving back and forth from California to New York became disadvantageous. Jane Hall, now Cutler, was still very glamorous in her personal life but her writing motivation suffered. That part of her life faded away...until Robin discovered it again in 2009.
Robin Cutler, the professional historian, tries to analyze Jane Hall in the context of the 1930’s career women whose only real success in the end would sadly be measured by their beauty, their ability to enhance their looks, to be dressed divinely, to marry "the catch" and enhance him for the rest of their lives, finding little of their former sense of selves in their marital status. The diaries which Robin reads point to a mother unsatisfied, lost without her ability to finish a story, amidst the fiction of her making but without the same outcomes. A time when women were expected to be wives...
Robin notes that this book "is a cautionary tale". The media then and now inform "how we should be." I differ, however. Work, women, "having it all", life satisfaction, I believe, are an indiscriminate melee of circumstance: the times we live in, our health, our wealth, our family support, our emotional well-being. Jane's later life perhaps stumbled with the grief of being parent-less so young, triggered after the death of her beloved dog Katie and aunt and uncle. Human beings are complex and unfortunately for Robin her mother was not completely forthcoming.
I found Jane Hall's story truly fascinating. Robin Cutler's carefully researched history is at its best when recounting the fascinating vignettes of this bygone time, the peek into ballroom society and the delightful retelling of the young screenwriter's enthusiastic encounters in a very accessible Hollywood. A refreshing glimpse given to "glamour" by those new eyes of Miss Hall.
The thesis style argument was a bit heavy handed at times, I felt, and became close to sermonizing with its various restatements throughout the biography. I believe that the book would find more appeal to a larger fan-based and movie general audience if that could be lightened or reduced a bit as well those snippets of quotes from historians and sociologists, which are used to support Cutler's point of view. Those are distracting from the otherwise truly fresh and inspiring story. * (The feminist perspective is alive and well; we get it, even when advertisers prefer to sell products promoting body over soul.)
A suggestion: Although already loaded with appendices, footnotes, references and an index (which would be highly praised and useful to other historians), a general audience might find a Preface very helpful. Like a Cast of Characters, a list of the names of the oldies movie stars, directors and some of the authors mentioned herein, with perhaps a famous movie, book etc, and/or distinguishing feature would be a terrific enhancement. Younger readers would gain a great deal, and could increase the popular interest in the book. I could use Wiki on my Kindle version for many unknowns, but that won't be an option for the paperback version.
✪✪✪ - The very academic style is a bit tedious and over-stated, unfortunately weighing down an otherwise very interesting story.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Tree View Press for this advanced copy.
September 8, 2016
NOTE: Received as an ARC from Netgalley.
I originally wanted to read this book because the blurb mentioned two of my favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. I certainly enjoyed the peeks behind the scenes of those two films, including the story of the actor who "played" the talking apple tree in “Oz", a chat with Clark Gable and Victor Fleming, and the tidbits about Toto. But there was so much more to this book. It’s a fascinating look at old Hollywood, Cafe Society, and the “Glamour Girls” of the 1930s, but also a subject that’s still topical—how the media affects women’s sense of themselves.
I originally wanted to read this book because the blurb mentioned two of my favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. I certainly enjoyed the peeks behind the scenes of those two films, including the story of the actor who "played" the talking apple tree in “Oz", a chat with Clark Gable and Victor Fleming, and the tidbits about Toto. But there was so much more to this book. It’s a fascinating look at old Hollywood, Cafe Society, and the “Glamour Girls” of the 1930s, but also a subject that’s still topical—how the media affects women’s sense of themselves.
September 8, 2016
Jane Hall is the author's mother. The smashing cover of the book was a Cosmopolitan cover of Jane Hall and her dog Kate. Robin Cutler covers her mother's life from her childhood, where she was orphaned as a teenager, to her final days where she spent more time with animals than people. The story's main focus is on Ms. Hall's days as a Hollywood writer, and her writings for magazines. (Back then, Cosmopolitan was actually a literary magazine!) From beginning to end, Ms. Cutler also concentrates on the roles of women during her mother's lifetime, and how women's magazines deeply influenced women's ideas and beliefs. The Hollywood years were interesting, but that's where the story dragged a bit, too. It was too much talk of the same theme that Ms. Hall always seemed to be writing about--the shallowness of the debutante's lifestyle.
When Jane Hall finally got married and stopped writing about the life of a deb, she strangely seemed to run out of writing steam. She deeply regretted that, too, and obviously regretted getting married. Yet marriage was something that was expected of her by her family and friends, even though she made a good income as a writer. She also personally felt she needed to be glamorous looking, even though she often wrote about how women should not feel that way. Jane Hall went Hollywood without fully realizing that had happened. She apparently bought what the women's magazines were selling, even though she realized much of what they were selling was not good for the heart, mind and soul of a woman. Especially a woman as intelligent and insightful as Jane Hall.
P.S. Go to the author's website to see photos and other interesting things from her mother's lifetime.
(Note: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review.)
When Jane Hall finally got married and stopped writing about the life of a deb, she strangely seemed to run out of writing steam. She deeply regretted that, too, and obviously regretted getting married. Yet marriage was something that was expected of her by her family and friends, even though she made a good income as a writer. She also personally felt she needed to be glamorous looking, even though she often wrote about how women should not feel that way. Jane Hall went Hollywood without fully realizing that had happened. She apparently bought what the women's magazines were selling, even though she realized much of what they were selling was not good for the heart, mind and soul of a woman. Especially a woman as intelligent and insightful as Jane Hall.
P.S. Go to the author's website to see photos and other interesting things from her mother's lifetime.
(Note: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review.)
Read
November 30, 2019I love this world of 1930s socialites and Hollywood. An independent and beautiful female WRITER works alongside Fitzgerald and manages to keep her head and becomes quite successful in the doing - another place and time
October 15, 2016
"How did this spirited young girl from an Arizona mining town become a Depression-era debutante, a successful author of magazine fiction, and a screenwriter at Hollywood's most glamorous studio?"
In this book, Robin Cutler looks to answer these questions about her mother, Jane Hall. Jane showed writing talent from a very early age, having stories and articles published in local Arizona papers from the time she was a young teenager. When she and her brother were orphaned, however, they moved to New York to be cared for by their aunt and uncle, and Jane was quickly immersed in a different world. It's this conflict between the sparkling "mad fun" debutante experience and Jane's strong ambition to succeed as a writer that is the focus of the book.
Fortunately, Cutler had access to Jane's diaries and letters, and when she quotes from these sources, Jane's lively voice makes wonderful reading. Unfortunately, Cutler's own writing is a bit dry and dull in comparison, so there are parts of the book which are rather slow going. I also felt that there could have been more about Jane's later life - she is somewhat of a cypher after her marriage. It's hard to tell if this is due to Cutler's reluctance to write about the mother she knew (as opposed to the "Jane" of the 1930s and early 40s). However, the parts about Jane's life in Hollywood are very well done and the details about how studio writers were treated are fascinating. Overall, this was fun to read and it certainly did raise interesting questions about the role of women in the 1930s and 40s and how the expectations of society affected their lives.
In this book, Robin Cutler looks to answer these questions about her mother, Jane Hall. Jane showed writing talent from a very early age, having stories and articles published in local Arizona papers from the time she was a young teenager. When she and her brother were orphaned, however, they moved to New York to be cared for by their aunt and uncle, and Jane was quickly immersed in a different world. It's this conflict between the sparkling "mad fun" debutante experience and Jane's strong ambition to succeed as a writer that is the focus of the book.
Fortunately, Cutler had access to Jane's diaries and letters, and when she quotes from these sources, Jane's lively voice makes wonderful reading. Unfortunately, Cutler's own writing is a bit dry and dull in comparison, so there are parts of the book which are rather slow going. I also felt that there could have been more about Jane's later life - she is somewhat of a cypher after her marriage. It's hard to tell if this is due to Cutler's reluctance to write about the mother she knew (as opposed to the "Jane" of the 1930s and early 40s). However, the parts about Jane's life in Hollywood are very well done and the details about how studio writers were treated are fascinating. Overall, this was fun to read and it certainly did raise interesting questions about the role of women in the 1930s and 40s and how the expectations of society affected their lives.
September 8, 2016
Much like her mother, Robin R. Cutler is a masterful storyteller. Such Mad Fun sweeps readers away to the Golden Age of Hollywood and immerses them in the fascinating life of Jane Hall. The author gracefully pays tribute to her mother who famously wrote for Cosmopolitan Magazine and penned the script for the classic movie These Glamour Girls. I highly recommend picking up Such Mad Fun -- and you won't want to put it down.
July 21, 2019
When I first heard about this book, I wrongly assumed it was a fiction story about a young woman who went to Hollywood to be a screenwriter. When I did a little more research on it and found it was a biography about the author/screenwriter of Those Glamour Girls, I was excited! I loved that film the first time I saw it and felt the message can hold true even today, as much as 1930-something.
The story of Jane Hall, told by her daughter Robin Cutler, was fun and interesting to read. She grew up in California, where her father was a writer and encouraged Jane to do the same, who had her work published in newspapers by the age of 12. Jane's parents died when she was a teen, and her and her brother were sent across the country to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle. She grew up to be a popular New York debutante and went on to art college. Soon, she moved on to writing for many women's magazines of the time, include Cosmopolitan who published the original version of Those Glamour Girls, among others. She got a job screenwriting at MGM and the book tells much about the work of a screenwriter of those times. We also hear about the pressures of a young career-focused woman, which was not the norm at the time. She was on a first-name basis with Clark Gable and good friends with F. Scott Fitzgerald, who had an office next to hers at MGM. Jane's life is followed back and forth across the country from her birth to death. After marriage, she eventually stopped writing and felt frustrated by the housewife/mother role her life had evolved into. Her husband did not encourage her creativity, but interestingly, after her death, her daughter learned she had some type of a romantic relationship with a family friend/ex-prince who did encourage her to continue writing.
The book was compiled mainly of Jane's diary entries, a large number of saved letters, and memories from her daughter. The author's note at the end of the book tells the pretty amazing story of how the author came into possession of the diary and many pictures. The appendices at the end of the book share two of her very early magazine publications and a synopsis of the original Cosmopolitan publication of Those Glamour Girls. I would've liked to see some photos of Jane; the only actual photos in the book are those of her close MGM screenwriter friend, her husband, an autographed photo from Jimmy Stewart, and one photo of her from a yearbook.
This was overall an interesting and fun read. If you enjoy classic Hollywood, the behind the scenes details of the screenwriting process and Jane's interactions and friendships with film stars will keep you turning the pages.
The story of Jane Hall, told by her daughter Robin Cutler, was fun and interesting to read. She grew up in California, where her father was a writer and encouraged Jane to do the same, who had her work published in newspapers by the age of 12. Jane's parents died when she was a teen, and her and her brother were sent across the country to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle. She grew up to be a popular New York debutante and went on to art college. Soon, she moved on to writing for many women's magazines of the time, include Cosmopolitan who published the original version of Those Glamour Girls, among others. She got a job screenwriting at MGM and the book tells much about the work of a screenwriter of those times. We also hear about the pressures of a young career-focused woman, which was not the norm at the time. She was on a first-name basis with Clark Gable and good friends with F. Scott Fitzgerald, who had an office next to hers at MGM. Jane's life is followed back and forth across the country from her birth to death. After marriage, she eventually stopped writing and felt frustrated by the housewife/mother role her life had evolved into. Her husband did not encourage her creativity, but interestingly, after her death, her daughter learned she had some type of a romantic relationship with a family friend/ex-prince who did encourage her to continue writing.
The book was compiled mainly of Jane's diary entries, a large number of saved letters, and memories from her daughter. The author's note at the end of the book tells the pretty amazing story of how the author came into possession of the diary and many pictures. The appendices at the end of the book share two of her very early magazine publications and a synopsis of the original Cosmopolitan publication of Those Glamour Girls. I would've liked to see some photos of Jane; the only actual photos in the book are those of her close MGM screenwriter friend, her husband, an autographed photo from Jimmy Stewart, and one photo of her from a yearbook.
This was overall an interesting and fun read. If you enjoy classic Hollywood, the behind the scenes details of the screenwriting process and Jane's interactions and friendships with film stars will keep you turning the pages.
July 8, 2018
I love old black and white movies where stars always seemed to have style, and sometimes a little sassy attitude that radiated real fun. One of the people, who helped create those silver screen personas, was MGM screenwriter Jane Hall. At the age of 15 Jane and her older brother found themselves parentless. Taken in by her Aunt and Uncle they would relocate to New York where Jane would become a debutante in a private girl’s school. Park Avenue would be her new home where her aunt would introduce her to the highest of society. Though she sold a story to the Los Angeles times at the early age of ten, she would struggle with her writing career for years.
Before the end of 1937, Jane would have a contract with Cosmopolitan for stories about young college females struggling with marriage and career. It would be a theme mirrored in her own later life.
Using her own experiences, she would create wonderful romance stories that would become popular with readers during the hard times. This work would catch the eye of a Hollywood agent, and before long, all the big studios were wooing Jane. At 22, she would sign her first studio contract moving this Arizona orphan, and New York debutante into a world of Hollywood elite.
Drawing on diary entries, and scores of letters, Such Mad Fun takes the reader on an unforgettable true story of one woman’s struggle to manage success, create a family, and fulfill her own personal dreams. Accounts of rubbing elbows with Fitzgerald, dealing with the scrutiny of motion picture sensors, and helping Hollywood fight during World War II all create a Golden Age background for the telling of this unprecedented journey.
It is a fantastic story that as you read also provides you with a list of wonderful Hollywood movie suggestions you’ll want to check out for yourself. I highly recommend this trip back in time.
Before the end of 1937, Jane would have a contract with Cosmopolitan for stories about young college females struggling with marriage and career. It would be a theme mirrored in her own later life.
Using her own experiences, she would create wonderful romance stories that would become popular with readers during the hard times. This work would catch the eye of a Hollywood agent, and before long, all the big studios were wooing Jane. At 22, she would sign her first studio contract moving this Arizona orphan, and New York debutante into a world of Hollywood elite.
Drawing on diary entries, and scores of letters, Such Mad Fun takes the reader on an unforgettable true story of one woman’s struggle to manage success, create a family, and fulfill her own personal dreams. Accounts of rubbing elbows with Fitzgerald, dealing with the scrutiny of motion picture sensors, and helping Hollywood fight during World War II all create a Golden Age background for the telling of this unprecedented journey.
It is a fantastic story that as you read also provides you with a list of wonderful Hollywood movie suggestions you’ll want to check out for yourself. I highly recommend this trip back in time.
September 9, 2016
A published author at age 10 and, in her 20s, not only a fiction and nonfiction writer for "Cosmopolitan," "Good Housekeeping" and the "Saturday Evening Post," but a snappy-tongued script writer for MGM, Universal and RKO, Jane Hall had done more by age 23 than most people do in a lifetime.
And that was when she gave in to the lure of the glamour that her sharp social satire had so often ridiculed.
Are you the kind of reader who in a George Eliot novel sees a character putting a toe on the wrong path and wants to cry out, "No-o-o"? That was how I felt on page 175 when this gifted, sprightly young woman decides that probably the most important goal is to look eternally young and well put together.
Jane Hall's biographer and daughter sees family pressures and social mores at work, but that is one aspect of the story I couldn't buy. Despite all the wisdom of Betty Friedan and similar social commentators, there were women in the 1930s and 1940s who made careers that worked with family life -- Jane even knew a couple. And since I can't believe that any of them were as determined as the girl from an Arizona mining town who took New York society by storm, I don't believe that advertising and contemporary culture made her conform.
Jane made her own decision, choosing eternal, youthful put-togetheredness, a choice that determined all the rest. Although the dramatic turn that Jane's career and happiness took did not seem to me the result of external pressures (the aunt and uncle who raised her from age 15 remained remarkably supportive of her writing), it's still a mystery why someone so clear-eyed made the choice she made.
I was fascinated and moved by this story, which Robin Cutler based to a large extent on a wonderful youthful diary of her mother's and many beautifully written letters. In addition, Cutler, an accomplished historian and television producer, did extensive research to set the events in context and to corroborate or counter her mother's observations. This is no hagiography. In fact, Jane's remoteness as a parent, though regrettable, probably enabled the author to be more objective. (Imagine that Cutler writes that when reading the picture book "Are You My Mother?" to grandsons, she thought of Jane!)
Cutler is a fine writer -- humorous and dramatic. I was teary over her build-up to Pearl Harbor. I was teary over the longtime beau that surfaced after Jane died.
I wonder if other readers will feel the connections that I felt to this story. I have personal reasons, which I'll mention, but I think there are universal reasons, especially for women. Who is impervious to the tug of conflicting, powerful goals?
About my personal fascination with the story: Jane was in the midst of a successful writing career around the time my father was becoming a journalist. I can hear some of his wise-cracking 1930s language in her writing. Jane's romantic fiction involving drunken parties at Princeton I see through the lens of my father developing his drinking problem at Princeton -- in the same graduating class as Jane's Hollywood friend Jimmy Stewart. I was on the fringes of the New York social scene for a few years a generation after Jane and feel the enduring accuracy of her descriptions of debutantes playing fast and loose with male affections. After Jane's marriage, she spent time in the town where I grew up, and she saw her husband reduced to a shadow of himself by a stroke at almost the same moment my father suffered such a stroke. Then there is the Swedish connection. Because I have a some Swedish relatives, I was sure intrigued by Jane's relationship with a former prince.
Have fun with this book -- the details about Jane's friend F. Scott Fitzgerald, about work on "The Wizard of Oz," the blow by blow tug of war with censors over Jane's successful film, the rich appendices and notes on how Cutler tracked down lost sources. Lots of fun overall, if ultimately a little sad.
And that was when she gave in to the lure of the glamour that her sharp social satire had so often ridiculed.
Are you the kind of reader who in a George Eliot novel sees a character putting a toe on the wrong path and wants to cry out, "No-o-o"? That was how I felt on page 175 when this gifted, sprightly young woman decides that probably the most important goal is to look eternally young and well put together.
Jane Hall's biographer and daughter sees family pressures and social mores at work, but that is one aspect of the story I couldn't buy. Despite all the wisdom of Betty Friedan and similar social commentators, there were women in the 1930s and 1940s who made careers that worked with family life -- Jane even knew a couple. And since I can't believe that any of them were as determined as the girl from an Arizona mining town who took New York society by storm, I don't believe that advertising and contemporary culture made her conform.
Jane made her own decision, choosing eternal, youthful put-togetheredness, a choice that determined all the rest. Although the dramatic turn that Jane's career and happiness took did not seem to me the result of external pressures (the aunt and uncle who raised her from age 15 remained remarkably supportive of her writing), it's still a mystery why someone so clear-eyed made the choice she made.
I was fascinated and moved by this story, which Robin Cutler based to a large extent on a wonderful youthful diary of her mother's and many beautifully written letters. In addition, Cutler, an accomplished historian and television producer, did extensive research to set the events in context and to corroborate or counter her mother's observations. This is no hagiography. In fact, Jane's remoteness as a parent, though regrettable, probably enabled the author to be more objective. (Imagine that Cutler writes that when reading the picture book "Are You My Mother?" to grandsons, she thought of Jane!)
Cutler is a fine writer -- humorous and dramatic. I was teary over her build-up to Pearl Harbor. I was teary over the longtime beau that surfaced after Jane died.
I wonder if other readers will feel the connections that I felt to this story. I have personal reasons, which I'll mention, but I think there are universal reasons, especially for women. Who is impervious to the tug of conflicting, powerful goals?
About my personal fascination with the story: Jane was in the midst of a successful writing career around the time my father was becoming a journalist. I can hear some of his wise-cracking 1930s language in her writing. Jane's romantic fiction involving drunken parties at Princeton I see through the lens of my father developing his drinking problem at Princeton -- in the same graduating class as Jane's Hollywood friend Jimmy Stewart. I was on the fringes of the New York social scene for a few years a generation after Jane and feel the enduring accuracy of her descriptions of debutantes playing fast and loose with male affections. After Jane's marriage, she spent time in the town where I grew up, and she saw her husband reduced to a shadow of himself by a stroke at almost the same moment my father suffered such a stroke. Then there is the Swedish connection. Because I have a some Swedish relatives, I was sure intrigued by Jane's relationship with a former prince.
Have fun with this book -- the details about Jane's friend F. Scott Fitzgerald, about work on "The Wizard of Oz," the blow by blow tug of war with censors over Jane's successful film, the rich appendices and notes on how Cutler tracked down lost sources. Lots of fun overall, if ultimately a little sad.
August 7, 2016
The 1939 Cosmopolitan cover says it all: The lovely and glamourous Jane Hall with her beloved Kate, captured at the height of her successful career as a Hollywood screen writer. The real deal, an early writing genuis published at age 13 who ended up in an office next door to F. Scott Fitzgerald screenwriting writing for the cash desperately needed to support his daughter Scottie in private school and wife Zelda in the sanitarium. He became a mentor and friend to Jane.
An Arizonia small town girl orphaned early and raised by her New York City aunt and uncle, Jane attended a posh private school and 'came out' as a deb. Caught up in the mad fun of endless deb parties that lasted into the early morning hours and required long days of sleep before the cycle started again, she found deb life shallow but irresistable.
Jane's early success writing for magazines was based on her outsider/insider look at the glamourous life of her contemporaries. Attracking the notice of an agent she was hired by MGM where she wrote the screenplay for These Glamour Girls. Jane thrived in the exhausting long days and hobnobbing with Hollywood elite at night. She was a success.
She kept suitors at bay with a singleminded desire to write...until she finally succumbed to the charming and handsome Bob Cutler, a recovering alcoholic and divorcee. Jane thought she'd met her Prince Charming, the perfect man who would also whole heartedly support her career. His glamourous life and money beckoned. They were the 'prefect couple'. They had a quiet marriage and a glamourous life.
But with marriage came responsiblities and Jane found it harder and harder to write, the old stories were old and she couldn't get a grasp on new stories. Metro hired her for $850 a week to work on a picture that was never made; the Japanese attacked Pear Harbor and everything changed.
The magazines were clamouring for Jane to submit stories, but she was facing writer's block. And after a mere 18 months of marriage she discovered the real Bob, a man who retreated into himself while dependant and demanding. Jane gave birth to her only child, and found that family expectations took over her life. She managed to write several more stories but realized that her Hollywood career has been 'thrown away'. Jane, like many women, settled for good enough.
Robin Cutler has presented an interesting biography of her mother's carer, enriched by personal letters and details of her screenplays and stories. Tis is more than a family memoir; it is a hitory of Hollywood's movie business and the Golden Age's 'mad fun' society. She also considers her mother's life in context of social expectations and opportunities for women at that time. Today many female writers juggle personal and professional lives. Jane lived during a time that offered little support for women desiring careers; in fact the author points out that some successful women felt guitly about their careers.
You can read more about Jane Hall and her life and times at Robin Cutler's website at
https://robinrcutler.com/
Read my review of West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan about F. Scott Fitzgerald's last days in Hollywood at
http://theliteratequilter.blogspot.co...
I recieved a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
An Arizonia small town girl orphaned early and raised by her New York City aunt and uncle, Jane attended a posh private school and 'came out' as a deb. Caught up in the mad fun of endless deb parties that lasted into the early morning hours and required long days of sleep before the cycle started again, she found deb life shallow but irresistable.
Jane's early success writing for magazines was based on her outsider/insider look at the glamourous life of her contemporaries. Attracking the notice of an agent she was hired by MGM where she wrote the screenplay for These Glamour Girls. Jane thrived in the exhausting long days and hobnobbing with Hollywood elite at night. She was a success.
She kept suitors at bay with a singleminded desire to write...until she finally succumbed to the charming and handsome Bob Cutler, a recovering alcoholic and divorcee. Jane thought she'd met her Prince Charming, the perfect man who would also whole heartedly support her career. His glamourous life and money beckoned. They were the 'prefect couple'. They had a quiet marriage and a glamourous life.
But with marriage came responsiblities and Jane found it harder and harder to write, the old stories were old and she couldn't get a grasp on new stories. Metro hired her for $850 a week to work on a picture that was never made; the Japanese attacked Pear Harbor and everything changed.
The magazines were clamouring for Jane to submit stories, but she was facing writer's block. And after a mere 18 months of marriage she discovered the real Bob, a man who retreated into himself while dependant and demanding. Jane gave birth to her only child, and found that family expectations took over her life. She managed to write several more stories but realized that her Hollywood career has been 'thrown away'. Jane, like many women, settled for good enough.
Robin Cutler has presented an interesting biography of her mother's carer, enriched by personal letters and details of her screenplays and stories. Tis is more than a family memoir; it is a hitory of Hollywood's movie business and the Golden Age's 'mad fun' society. She also considers her mother's life in context of social expectations and opportunities for women at that time. Today many female writers juggle personal and professional lives. Jane lived during a time that offered little support for women desiring careers; in fact the author points out that some successful women felt guitly about their careers.
You can read more about Jane Hall and her life and times at Robin Cutler's website at
https://robinrcutler.com/
Read my review of West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan about F. Scott Fitzgerald's last days in Hollywood at
http://theliteratequilter.blogspot.co...
I recieved a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
February 2, 2017
You had me at "Hollywood's Golden Age."
In Such Mad Fun: Ambition and Glamour in Hollywood's Golden Age, historian Robin R. Cutler undertakes a daunting task—a biography of her own mother, Jane Hall, who worked as a screenwriter, fiction writer, and journalist during the 1930s and early 1940s. Jane Hall is a character worthy of her own Hollywood movie, and thanks to Cutler, she pops to vivid life from these pages.
Born in 1915, Jane Hall inherited her father's gift with words: Dick Wick Hall authored numerous short stories for Saturday Evening Post and others before he died prematurely in 1926. Throughout her adolescence and teen years, Jane published stories, essays, and poems, and her prolific output garnered her praise as a "literary prodigy."
When Jane's mother passed away in 1930, an aunt and uncle in New York City took in the teenager and her brother. In her tony life as a debutante, Jane flitted between Park Avenue and the Virginia countryside, but she still focused on pursuing her dream—a career as a writer. While she was in her early twenties, her work found homes in popular women's magazines like Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, building a steady income that afforded her independence. Her stories about college girls and single working women appealed to a new demographic of middle- and upper-middle-class female readers; magazines touted her as "a deb with a difference."
It wasn't long before Hollywood came knocking. As part of MGM's stable of screenwriters, Jane worked alongside and befriended F. Scott Fitzgerald, whom she called "a charming burned-out genius." She wrote women-centered films such as "These Glamour Girls" and "It's a Date," and penned backstage reports for magazines about the filming of classics like "Gone with the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz"—all while living at the legendary hotel and villa complex, the Garden of Allah. At only 24, Jane Hall's career was at a peak.
But her life took a U-turn when she married theatrical producer Robert Frye Cutler in 1943. She found herself torn away from writing by the demands of her spouse's alcoholic neediness, and her previous subject matter—single women—felt remote to her. Just a few years after her marriage, she wrote with regret in her diary, "What a fool I was to throw such a career away." Her writing had come to a complete halt by the early 1950s. "I feel peaceful, quite resigned, and also, much of the time, dead," she confided in her diary. With her marriage faltering, Jane embarked on a long-term affair with a married Swedish count.
Cutler has carefully pieced together her mother's story through diary entries, letters, and other documentary evidence. Her portrait of Jane Hall is a rich, poignant account—not just of one woman's life or of a single glamorous decade, but of a time when women writers forged names for themselves and enjoyed fulfilling careers.
by Paula Martinac
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
In Such Mad Fun: Ambition and Glamour in Hollywood's Golden Age, historian Robin R. Cutler undertakes a daunting task—a biography of her own mother, Jane Hall, who worked as a screenwriter, fiction writer, and journalist during the 1930s and early 1940s. Jane Hall is a character worthy of her own Hollywood movie, and thanks to Cutler, she pops to vivid life from these pages.
Born in 1915, Jane Hall inherited her father's gift with words: Dick Wick Hall authored numerous short stories for Saturday Evening Post and others before he died prematurely in 1926. Throughout her adolescence and teen years, Jane published stories, essays, and poems, and her prolific output garnered her praise as a "literary prodigy."
When Jane's mother passed away in 1930, an aunt and uncle in New York City took in the teenager and her brother. In her tony life as a debutante, Jane flitted between Park Avenue and the Virginia countryside, but she still focused on pursuing her dream—a career as a writer. While she was in her early twenties, her work found homes in popular women's magazines like Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, building a steady income that afforded her independence. Her stories about college girls and single working women appealed to a new demographic of middle- and upper-middle-class female readers; magazines touted her as "a deb with a difference."
It wasn't long before Hollywood came knocking. As part of MGM's stable of screenwriters, Jane worked alongside and befriended F. Scott Fitzgerald, whom she called "a charming burned-out genius." She wrote women-centered films such as "These Glamour Girls" and "It's a Date," and penned backstage reports for magazines about the filming of classics like "Gone with the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz"—all while living at the legendary hotel and villa complex, the Garden of Allah. At only 24, Jane Hall's career was at a peak.
But her life took a U-turn when she married theatrical producer Robert Frye Cutler in 1943. She found herself torn away from writing by the demands of her spouse's alcoholic neediness, and her previous subject matter—single women—felt remote to her. Just a few years after her marriage, she wrote with regret in her diary, "What a fool I was to throw such a career away." Her writing had come to a complete halt by the early 1950s. "I feel peaceful, quite resigned, and also, much of the time, dead," she confided in her diary. With her marriage faltering, Jane embarked on a long-term affair with a married Swedish count.
Cutler has carefully pieced together her mother's story through diary entries, letters, and other documentary evidence. Her portrait of Jane Hall is a rich, poignant account—not just of one woman's life or of a single glamorous decade, but of a time when women writers forged names for themselves and enjoyed fulfilling careers.
by Paula Martinac
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
September 8, 2016
A Glamorous Coming of Age in the 1930s
Jane Hall began life in an Arizona mining town. She loved the freedom and adored her father who wrote humerus fiction for the Saturday Evening Post. However, her father's death and the subsequent death of her mother, sent Jane and her brother East to live with her mother's sister. The mining town life couldn't have presented more of a contrast to the Manhattan lifestyle of wealthy families and debutante parties.
Although Jane became a debutante and enjoyed the glamour, she craved independence and wanted to be successful on her own. She achieved this through writing stories about the debutante life for Cosmopolitan. Her success led to an offer to write for Metroo-Goldwym-Mayer where she met famous writer and formed a friendship with F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The war changed the public taste for light fiction, and Jane succumbed to family pressure to marry the right man from a social perspective. From then on, her writing suffered much to her dismay.
Robin Cutler has done a good job bringing her mother's era to life. The major focus of the story is on how girls, particularly from the upper and middle classes, were pressured to become wives rather than independent career women. The struggle to please her family, but also be independently successful permeates Jane's story.
Although the early chapters about Jane's life in Arizona and as a debutante move quickly, the book loses momentum when the author describes in detail each of Jane's literary works. The problem is that they are very similar and the retelling becomes tedious.
I enjoyed this trip back to the era of our parents and in some cases grandparents. The book emphasizes how much has changed in the opportunities available to women, but we're still our mother's daughters and often for the older generation, the mores of the 30's drive their desires for us.
I received this book from Net Galley for this review.
Jane Hall began life in an Arizona mining town. She loved the freedom and adored her father who wrote humerus fiction for the Saturday Evening Post. However, her father's death and the subsequent death of her mother, sent Jane and her brother East to live with her mother's sister. The mining town life couldn't have presented more of a contrast to the Manhattan lifestyle of wealthy families and debutante parties.
Although Jane became a debutante and enjoyed the glamour, she craved independence and wanted to be successful on her own. She achieved this through writing stories about the debutante life for Cosmopolitan. Her success led to an offer to write for Metroo-Goldwym-Mayer where she met famous writer and formed a friendship with F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The war changed the public taste for light fiction, and Jane succumbed to family pressure to marry the right man from a social perspective. From then on, her writing suffered much to her dismay.
Robin Cutler has done a good job bringing her mother's era to life. The major focus of the story is on how girls, particularly from the upper and middle classes, were pressured to become wives rather than independent career women. The struggle to please her family, but also be independently successful permeates Jane's story.
Although the early chapters about Jane's life in Arizona and as a debutante move quickly, the book loses momentum when the author describes in detail each of Jane's literary works. The problem is that they are very similar and the retelling becomes tedious.
I enjoyed this trip back to the era of our parents and in some cases grandparents. The book emphasizes how much has changed in the opportunities available to women, but we're still our mother's daughters and often for the older generation, the mores of the 30's drive their desires for us.
I received this book from Net Galley for this review.
September 2, 2016
Such Mad Fun Ambition and Glamour in Hollywood's Golden Days
by Robin R. Cutler is a biography about the author's mother, Jane Hall, who at age ten begins her public career as a writer. Jane invents courtship narratives and poems and sends them out to be published. She also starts art school. In the 1930's Jane received $350 from Delineator for an article and $800 from Cosmopolitan for her sixth and seventh published story. Jane also writes These Glamour Girls which becomes a big success.
Such Mad Fun describes Jane's suitors Dick Clarke and Cliff Zieger, along with her relationship with F. Scott "Pretty Boy" Fitzgerald who gave Jane a personal copy of Tender Is the Night.
Such Mad Fun would have had more of an impact if it were written all in Jane's voice, rather than as a reported story. For instance, one passage reads: "According to her diary, he (meaning Austin Purves) told her (Jane Hall) that 'success depends on one's attitude toward the future . . . . " So rather than being an easy, fun book, the reader needs to work hard to follow many voices as the story progresses.
Of particular interest is Jane's correspondence with the last surviving great-grandchild of Queen Victoria of England and the author's revelation of how she got her mother's diary.
This book would be of interest to anyone pursuing a career in writing or who has an interest in learning about Hollywood's Golden Age. (3 out of 5)
To read more reviews, visit http://www.McNeilsReviews.com
by Robin R. Cutler is a biography about the author's mother, Jane Hall, who at age ten begins her public career as a writer. Jane invents courtship narratives and poems and sends them out to be published. She also starts art school. In the 1930's Jane received $350 from Delineator for an article and $800 from Cosmopolitan for her sixth and seventh published story. Jane also writes These Glamour Girls which becomes a big success.
Such Mad Fun describes Jane's suitors Dick Clarke and Cliff Zieger, along with her relationship with F. Scott "Pretty Boy" Fitzgerald who gave Jane a personal copy of Tender Is the Night.
Such Mad Fun would have had more of an impact if it were written all in Jane's voice, rather than as a reported story. For instance, one passage reads: "According to her diary, he (meaning Austin Purves) told her (Jane Hall) that 'success depends on one's attitude toward the future . . . . " So rather than being an easy, fun book, the reader needs to work hard to follow many voices as the story progresses.
Of particular interest is Jane's correspondence with the last surviving great-grandchild of Queen Victoria of England and the author's revelation of how she got her mother's diary.
This book would be of interest to anyone pursuing a career in writing or who has an interest in learning about Hollywood's Golden Age. (3 out of 5)
To read more reviews, visit http://www.McNeilsReviews.com
October 3, 2016
Jane Hall, the subject of this memoir-biography, evolved from an orphaned Arizona child of the desert whose gifted writing earned her a public label of "genius" to a high society wife among the upper crust of New York and Virginia. Phases of her journey between these two points included 1) becoming a published reporter as a young teenager for her local southern California newspaper, 2) attending a New York City private girls' high school and being presented as a Depression-era debutante, 3) writing and submitting magazine stories about the high jinks of her youthful socialite coterie to national magazines that were first published when she was in her early 20s, and 4) writing Hollywood scripts alongside F. Scott Fitzgerald at MGM in her mid-20s.
Written by her historian daughter this is a story of competing images of a successful mid-century woman--sassy, independent, self-supporting careerist or glamorous, well-to-do society wife? Jane hoped that her choice of husband would afford her the luxury of fulfilling both ambitions. I find it disheartening to see the lasting strength of "ideal woman" stereotypes. Fortunately, more women are willing to challenge outmoded expectations but still pay a heavy price for doing so. Watch the current Presidential campaigns for evidence.
Written by her historian daughter this is a story of competing images of a successful mid-century woman--sassy, independent, self-supporting careerist or glamorous, well-to-do society wife? Jane hoped that her choice of husband would afford her the luxury of fulfilling both ambitions. I find it disheartening to see the lasting strength of "ideal woman" stereotypes. Fortunately, more women are willing to challenge outmoded expectations but still pay a heavy price for doing so. Watch the current Presidential campaigns for evidence.
September 8, 2016
This is a fascinating biography that takes on the topic of women in the workplace and, more specifically, women in Hollywood during Hollywood's Golden Age. Jane Hall's story is something that absolutely still applies to women today, and the story of a successful female in an industry that still heavily favors men is a must read for anyone interested in women and the entertainment industry.
September 8, 2016
I loved Such Mad Fun! How interesting that the story of Jane Hall's life and the balance between work and family for a woman is still so relevant in our world today. I loved reading about the pressure Jane felt to be glamorous and to marry and have children. How fascinating that these struggles have been occurring since the 1930s! I thoroughly enjoyed this account of Jane Hall's life.
August 3, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a poignant coming of age story and a fresh look into the Hollywood of the pre war era. Robin Cutler writes with an historian's eye and a story tellers voice.
September 13, 2016
A beautifully written and thoroughly researched historical perspective on the role of women in film from a television producer and historian (and daughter of an accomplished Hollywood screenwriter)
September 13, 2016
A gorgeous read from start to finish--I loved every minute!
April 10, 2017
This book had great promise... the content was intriguing... female writer goes to Hollywood, has an office next to F Scott Fitzgerald, meets famous people, makes her mark on scripts, Cosmo magazine articles, etc. However, the book reads more like a term paper than an interesting bio/novel. However, the real life and diary depicted in the book helped one understand that Jane Hall led quite the life!
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