Vixens, Floozies and Molls: 28 Actresses of Late 1920s and 1930s Hollywood

by Hans J. Wollstein

The floozy, the gangster's moll, the nasty Most Hollywood actresses played at least one of these bad girls in the 1930s. Since censorship customarily demanded that goodness prevail, vixens were in mainly supporting roles--but the actresses who played them were often colorful scene stealers. These characters and the women who played them first began to appear in film in 1915 when Theda Bara played home-wrecker Elsie Drummond in The Vixen. Movie theaters filled and the industry focused on heaving bosoms and ceaseless lust. Bara never shed the vamp image. The type evolved into the flapper, the gangster's moll, the "dame," and the "bad girl." This work covers the lives and careers of 28 actresses, providing details about their lives and giving complete filmographies of their careers.

Genres: Film, Biography, Nonfiction, Media Tie In

284 pages, Paperback

First published December 17, 1998

Reviews

[Anthony McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere."

Nice, well researched pen portraits of 28 actresses who graced the silver screen of the 1920s and 1930s:
"Vamps and vixens with a dangerous talent for slinking away with a scene."

Mostly forgotten except for those devoted viewers of mainly pre-code Hollywood movies, they are well worth remembering and this fine book provides an excellent summary of their careers with biography, filmography, critics comments and some rare and well presented photos in this handsome volume.

Olga Baclanova/ Binnie Barnes/ Evelyn Brent/ Dorothy Burgess
Juliette Compton
Katherine DeMille/ Claire Dodd/ Mary Duncan/ Josephine Dunn
Noel Francis
Wynne Gibson
Bernadette Hayes/ Beulah Hutton
Rita LaRoy
Nina Mae McKinney/ Sari Maritza/ Natalie Moorhead/ Esther Muir/ Ona Munson
Vivienne Osborne
Gail Patrick
Dorothy Revier
Gale Sondergaard
Lilyan Tashman
Helen Vinson
Thelma White
Anna May Wong

A really nice tribute to these supporting players who most of us will recognize by their appearance but rarely remember their name.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most comprehensive biography of LT yet

[Phil Syphe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle is a bit misleading. It implies the focus will be on the late 1920s and the 1930s, yet it covers the twenty-eight actresses’ respective careers in full. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but I would’ve found it more interesting if the mini-biographies stuck to the above-mentioned timeframe, rather than presenting a brief synopsis of every film each actress appeared in, or in some cases extensive synopses. We do get off-screen recollections, too, but the synopses dominate this tome, and I found it repetitive in nature the more I read on, wishing for something more substantial.

If the author had stuck to the timeframe alluded to in the subtitle, this would’ve left space for more material, perhaps focusing in detail on a few of the most prominent films in each actress’s career whilst analysing their respective acting style and character types.

Of the actresses featured in this book, I was most familiar with Dorothy Revier and Josephine Dunn, having seen both in several films. I’d seen Evelyn Brent in at least two films. I didn’t recognize the names of the other twenty-five, but as I read on, I realised I’d seen some of these actresses before, such as Olga Baclanova and Gail Patrick.

The author is also biased is some respects, which is no sin, but I had a ‘What the heck?’ moment when, in reference to the film ‘Freaks’, starring Olga Baclanova, he stated that its ‘only concession to glamour came in the form of the villainess,’ namely Olga. Yes, she was a fine-looking woman, but the reason I chose to watch ‘Freaks’ a few years prior to reading this book was because of ‘the form of the heroine,’ namely Leila Hyams. We all have our own tastes, but I’m sure I’m not alone in regarding Leila as one of the most glamourous actresses of the 1920s & ’30s.

Overall, I admit to being a little disappointed, but it’s nonetheless worth reading if you’re interested in old Hollywood or like any of the featured actresses.