Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years - Hollywood’s First Black Star (paperback)
Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years - Hollywood’s First Black Star
by Stephen Bourne
120 pages
6x9 size
ISBN 9798887712369
In 1942 Lena Horne became the first black star to sign a long-term contract with M-G-M, one of Hollywood’s top studios. M-G-M transformed her into a movie goddess.
Film historian Keith Howes describes Stephen Bourne’s Lena Horne: The MGM Years as a tribute that “Reads like a dream. I love the way Stephen effortlessly encases Lena in the M-G-M glamor factory. Deep dives into her contemporaries adds to the book’s richness. Smooth as silk, as lyrical as a nightingale, Stephen has taken Lena out of that dream, off that cloud, and made her safe in our hearts. Forever. It’s a great tribute to a great lady. Vibrant, all-encompassing and deliciously detailed.”
Stephen Bourne’s many books include Elisabeth Welch: Soft Lights and Sweet Music, Ethel Waters: Stormy Weather, Butterfly McQueen Remembered and BearManor Media’s Nina Mae McKinney: The Black Garbo.
BOOK REVIEW:
Synopsis: "With the publication of "Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years", cinema historian Stephen Burne begins in 1942 when Lena Horne became the first black actress and movie star to sign a long-term contract with M-G-M, one of Hollywood's top studios. M-G-M then transformed Lena into a movie goddess after initial uncertainties of how to employ her talents on screen at a time when African Americans were greatly discriminated against with whole chains of movie theaters in the South refusing to run any films with black actors in a too prominent a role.Critique: Succinct, fascinating, detailed, and featuring a section of b/w historic photos, "Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years" is a 'must' for the legions of Lena Horne fans, for Hollywood cinema historians, and anyone with an interest in the evolution of black actors in the 20th Century movie business. While a very strongly recommended pick for community and academic library Theatre/Cinema/History and African American Biography collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years" is also readily avalable from BearManor Media in a digital book format (Kindle, $32.00).
-- Theater/Cinema Shelf