The Girls in the Picture

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin    448  pages

I love books about Old Hollywood. Just love them. Bestselling author, and one of my favorites, Melanie Benjamin, takes on America’s Sweetheart, Mary Pickford, and her best friend, actress/writer Frances Marion in what is sure to be another big hit. The new novel won’t be released until January 16, 2018, but I was lucky enough to get my hands on an Advanced Reader’s Copy (yeah).

The story is framed by what appears to be Mary and Frances’ last meeting that ends, again what appears to be, a long-standing feud between the two women. Then the story moves back in time to 1914 and their first meeting.

So sit back and enjoy a look about the early movie industry and two of its most famous pioneers.  Funny, that one of the things that is predominant in this work is that women had a much (much) more active role in the industry than they seem to today. Female directors back then were more prevalent than they seem to be today. For her scripts, Frances was the first woman to win an Academy and the first writer to win two Oscars.

We see how the two women shared a duplex, how Frances helped ease the stress of being Mary Pickford. Not only did America feel that they owned the child-like women, but that Mary, whose real name was Gladys Smith, was the sole support of her mother and her sister and brother for most of the rest of their lives.

Mary and Frances had complicated lives. Several marriages between them, drive, ambition, determination and perfection. Benjamin had to gloss over most of the marriages and only concentrate on the ones that were the most meaningful and significant. Heck, they even had a double honeymoon with the loves of their live. The chronological story ends with their estrangement in 1932.

I enjoyed watching them grow in their craft and their friendship. Mary and her hubby, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and Frances and hubby (the almost forgotten cowboy star), Fred Thompson’s war bond (WWI) trip was eye-awakening for me. I didn’t realize how the crowds went bananas for the couples, more so than anything like it I’ve seem today. They were the first true movies stars.

They built mansions unlike anything seen today. Most movie buffs are familiar with Mary and Doug’s over-the-top palace, Pickfair. Fran and Fred also had an elegant home, The Enchanted Hill.

The book alternates between Mary and Frances’ point of view. I did find it strange that Frances’ sections are in first person, but Mary’s are told in third person.

I felt like I had been transported back in time and was witnessing these events as they happened. Benjamin’s novels do that to me.  The Girls in the Picture  receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.