Glenda Farrell: Hollywood's Hardboiled Dame

by Scott Nollen

Torchy Blane: model for Superman’s Lois Lane. Five-foot-three firecracker. Smart, adventurous blonde. Gimme girl. Wry eyes, pouty kisser. Wicked wisecracks. Sly double take. Fast-talking, no-nonsense, straight-shooting, stand-up, hardboiled dame. Anyone for Glenda Farrell? In addition to her film roles, many of which were brilliant comedic performances, Glenda also had an extensive resume on Broadway, as well as numerous television guest-starring appearances. Whether playing a gangster’s moll, a hash-slinging waitress, or a fast-talking reporter, Glenda Farrell charmed her way into the hearts of America in the 1930s and 1940s and became a friendly well-known face on the new medium of television, winning an Emmy for an episode of Ben Casey, “A Cardinal Act of Mercy.” Finally, a book on Hollywood’s Hardboiled Dame, who was more of an all-around good egg and never hardboiled.

Genres: Biography

294 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2014

Reviews

[Zoe]

Please note, my review is based on the first third of the book because that was as far as I could read before just giving up in disgust. The book was almost completely a summary of Glenda Farrell's films instead of a biography. Great detail was given to plot summaries, but hardy any behind the scenes information or anything actually interesting about her personally. Her childhood, teen years and first marriage were summed up in less than 4 pages (that is not an exaggeration). The one highlight of this book would have to be the many photographs of Glenda (approximately a photo on every pagethough, again, nothing from her childhood, none of her parents, etc.). As a collector of old Hollywood bios, I can honestly say this was not up to par and was very disappointing overall. Unless you are more interested in Glenda Farrell's FILMS than Glenda herself, you should avoid this book.

[Lisa]

Someone finally wrote a book about Glenda Farrell. I enjoyed reading the plot summaries of 30s movies I had or had not seen - but unfortunately, that was about it for this book. A sentence or two about her two marriages, a few sentences here and there about her son and a few other things, and that was about it.There either is a dearth of research material (see bibliography) or the writer didn't find it. Oh, and there was also a paragraph about each of her fellow actors from the 30s that she apparently enjoyed working with. Those were great, as information is difficult to find about Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, etc. The writing style was somewhat like reading a fan magazine article.

[Peter M. B.]

If you want to know more about Glenda Farrell, this book is about all we have readily available. The author has done excellent research to track down as much information as possible, over four decades after her death. The pictures are excellent and plentiful. I just wish Glenda or someone close to her had written about her more during or soon after her lifetime.