The Great Lie

The Creation of Mary Astor

By: Kathleen Spaltro

Narrated by: Virginia Ferguson

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Many lies have been told about Mary Astor. She never abandoned her parents to poverty. Her face was their fortune rather than her own. Nor did she rate on a private scorecard the sexual prowess of Hollywood's leading men. But two more dangerous and persistent lies have distorted the understanding of her life. One lie defines Astor as the survivor of sex scandals and suicide attempts who ended up living on charity in a retirement home for film folk.

There is much more to her story than that miserable scenario, for, in fact, with grit and determination, she rebounded from middle-aged decline to invest her energies in a new career as an excellent memoirist and novelist. The other most important lie - indeed, the great lie - robbed her of her core identity as Lucile Langhanke and imposed on her a movie stardom that she did not want. This book tells how Mary Astor recovered who she really was and really wanted to be. "Falsehood flies," Jonathan Swift noted, "and the truth comes limping after it." However halting its pace, the truth about this gifted and highly intelligent person is much more interesting than any of the lies.

The first full biography of Mary Astor, this book makes extensive use of previously unknown primary material from archives. In doing so, it corrects many errors of dates and facts in previous accounts. Respecting Astor's own priorities, it rebalances its account of Astor’s life in terms of her personal struggles as well as her achievements as an actress on radio, in film, on stage, and in TV as well as an excellent memoirist and novelist. It also extends our understanding of Astor’s difficult life by explaining the profound effects of emotional abuse and financial exploitation by a narcissistic parent.

©2021 Kathleen Spaltro (P)2021 Kathleen Spaltro

Stories about Early Hollywood

I was very happy to receive the hardcover book that I ordered from Amazon, though I would have preferred the option to buy from an independent bookstore. The cover is beautiful in person and will be prominently displayed on my bookshelf.

Much of the story dealt with the psychology of the young actors during the emergence of the talking pictures. I found it interesting to read about the union issues in New York and how that gave rise to productions moving to the West Coast. The development of the Screen Actors Guild was also interesting, as well as the politics of the actors and studios during that time.

While mentioned throughout, I didn’t feel like Mary Astor was the primary focus of the telling. I enjoyed reading about the other well known actors of the time, and Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis specifically.

The story did, however, highlight the struggles of a young Lucille to find her place in the World, apart from being Mary Astor. I love to know that the Catholic Church was a comfort to her. I appreciate knowing that she came to understand and embrace her vocation as a writer.

What I struggled with:
The font in the beautiful book was too small for me to read comfortably. Thankfully, there is a beautifully narrated version on Audible. The ebook is also available.

The flow was not chronological, so I felt lost at times. There were some interactions that were repeated, I think to provide context when a telling picked back up - after having been started in an earlier chapter.

I would have preferred a more chronological story, but I still enjoyed the book. It’s sparked a new interest in the early days of motion pictures. I loved the psychological view and can imagine that modern actors face similar challenges.