Customer Reviews (5)

To Tell the Truth
Wasn't Ms. Fontaine on this old quiz show?

In the beginning it seemed clear that Ms. Fontaine's life was no bed of roses, but once her career got into gear, I would have to say she came up smelling like a rose time and again. She was able to do some amazing things in her life-things most people only dream of doing. Today she lives in one of the most beautiful areas in the U.S.As a matter of fact, I don't think she ever lived anywhere shabby.

A veritable globe-trotting VIP, Fontaine wore the best clothes, real jewels and furs, dined at the finest restaurants, lodged at four-star hotels, won the love and admiration of fans worldwide, and rubbed elbows with the rich and famous.She worked hard making movies, acting in theatre, lecturing, and appearing on radio and television.When not working professionally, she proved herself adept at many undertakings and was what one would call an overachiever.Where she stumbled was on the interpersonal front, and I would have to say that her version of what happened would probably not jibe with what family members and friends might report.

Fontaine writes well, but, alas, this book written in the 70s lacks the tell-all quality we've come to expect.For example, Fontaine claims she was in love with director George Stevens, but according to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in his autobiography, "The Salad Days" published ten years after Fontaine's book, the relationship between Stevens and Fontaine went a bit further than that as evidenced by what he claims he saw on the set of the movie they made together, "Gunga Din."

I suspect there's a whole lot more to her life than what Ms. Fontaine was willing to share back in 1978, and, hopefully, the so-called definitive biography will one day be written.

The painful life of a Hollywood star
This wonderfully juicy tell-all reveals a new tragedy, illness, or romantic fiasco on almost every page.Joan was born in Japan to British parents who were cold and harsh.Their marriage ended early, and Joan and her sister (Olivia de Haviland) moved to California with their mother.The famous rift (more like a "war") between Joan and her older sister apparently was a case of extreme sibling rivalry that lasts to this day.

Joan was a sickly and lonely child, but broke into movies at the age of nineteen.She tells about making movies such as "Rebecca" and "Suspicion," winning the Academy Award, living a life of globe-trotting luxury, all while enjoying dalliances with such men as Howard Hughes and Joseph Kennedy, Sr.She breezed through four short marriages, always seeking the love she lacked in her childhood.

I heartily recommend this brutally honest tinsel-town memoir to fans of movies from the thirties to the fifties.It's a real page-turner!

Kona

An honest autobiography
Joan Fontaine writes beautifully and I found her book a fascinating mixture of her personal, private life and her public life.She pulled no punches and is honest about her accomplishments as well as her shortcomings.She details her early life in California and the chism between she and her sister with honesty and forthrightness.The custody battles over her daughter with her ex-husband were well-documented in the press at the time they were occurring and she relates this stuggle and at the same time trying to be a good mother and still earn a living.Her life may not have been a bed of roses, but neither was it a crown of thorns. A highly recommended read.

Sure seemed like a bed of roses to me.
I really like Joan Fontaine before I read her story.She came across to me as a spoiled, self-centered human being.She put her career and husbands before her children.Why do women have children if they are goingto pawn them off on housekeepers, nannies, and ex-husbands?I don't thinkmother should be used in her vocabulary. She not only had four husbands,but also committed adultery while married to them.Joan did what Joanwanted to do and became very wealthy doing it.If you want a good readabout this type of women, go ahead and buy the book, better yet, do what Idid and buy it at a garage sale.

An absolutely fabulous re-telling of a remarkable life...
Joan Fontaine's re-telling of her own life is a riveting book for any movie enthusiast to enjoy. As she talks of her childhood, her infamous rivalry with her sister, and her many movies and love affairs, the readergets the sense that Miss Fontaine is not only a fabulous actress and abeautiful woman, but also a fabulous and beautiful human being. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent book as described
I needed the book in a hurry and this seller delivered which allowed me to get it signed by Joan Fontaine. AAA+++ ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Sisters: Olivia and Joan
Good book about their lives. Not very nice people, but fun to read about.Being a classic movie buff, I love reading about the old stars, and this was interesting and fun...

Eye-opener to the lives of two great stars
Even if you haven't ever heard of these two sisters before or seen their movies, it is no reason not to read the book or at least finish this review. Sisters opened my eyes to see how harsh sibling rivalry can be, and it could easily be a work of fiction. Joan Fontaine, the younger sister I feel sympathizing, came from a sickly, lonely childhood shadowed by her older, popular sister, but still came to just as much fame.Her parents were no help either: Mr. De Havilland, besides living away from his family in Japan his whole life, tried to seduce his own daughter, Joan, when she was over there. Her stepfather, George Fontaine, whose name she later took as her acting name, strangely had similar ideas. And Joan's mother always sided with Olivia. The book carefully details the various marriages the two women had (and why they fell apart) , their movies, and, of course the rivalry that still exists to this day. The two sisters, now in their early nineties, haven't talked since the '70s. This is a must read for anyone interested in movie stars, relationships, or the notion that you can't judge a book by its cover. ... Read more

Product Description
Tommy Garrett is a writer and entertainment publicist who has worked with many of the golden era stars. He's become an expert lecturer on the history of Hollywood and movies. Tommy is a columnist for Laurel Canyon Newspaper in Beverly Hills, California and became a fan of Joan Fontaine's in his youth after seeing movies like Rebecca and Suspicion. After corresponding with her for years, he decided to put her great story on paper and is now working on his next book, Cowboys of Hollywood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Meant For Die Hard Fans
This was given to me recently as a gift because I am a huge movie fan and have always had real affection and admiration for Joan Fontaine. To the uninformed, Fontaine was a very popular actress from the late thirties to the early eighties or so, who voluntarily retired even though she was still extremely attractive as well as talented. She is also one of the most accessible stars on the planet, who willingly corresponded with fans until a couple of years ago when it got to be too much.
This book is clearly a labor of love by an admiring fan. However, my primary gripe with it is that it isn't a very detailed look at Fontaine's life or career. It supplies the facts, but doesn't dig very deep in terms of examining either. Short on text, it is mostly composed of a lot of pictures of Fontaine. I doubt if Ms. Fontaine is capable of taking an unflattering picture, but the pictures reproduced in this book are grainy and in many instances not very good. As a fan, I liked this book for the sole reason that it is a celebration of Joan Fontaine. However, as a reader I felt it fell far short of capturing Fontaine. She is an interesting personality and I wish this book had been more thorough and captured what her fans already know.

Lost in Translation

From the awkward pun of the title, through his somewhat overwrought introduction (think Gwynnie Paltrow at the Oscars with added emotion) where he thanks all those "who gave me the energy to keep going when I was exhausted" (this book has less than 50 pages of text), to the apparent surprise of "When she found out that I was going to write this book ... she refused to speak to me anymore" Mr Garrett is quickly revealed to be something of an over-zealous fan, apparently spurned by his idol, cashing in his fandom, but having absolutely nothing to say. Perhaps 'fan' is too strong a word, as "Letters ..." is ripe with inconsistencies, neither is there any sense of the author having had any kind of significant correspondence with Ms Fontaine whatsoever, other than the twenty or so banal 'thank you' notes he reproduces proudly by way of conclusion (I half expected to see a polite "No milk today, thank you", but you can't have everything). It is in fact the only time he quotes her directly.

None of this would be too disastrous I suppose if this were at least an engaging read, but Mr Garrett is to the written word what Madonna is to acting. His 'style' is all over the place, jumping from one topic to the next, often from sentence to sentence, and back again, which is somewhat bewildering. It's like overhearing the teenage babysitter gossiping ten to the dozen down the phone. Probably to a wrong number. He simply presents tittle tattle as fact. There is no framework or structure. No sense of chronology. Nor is there any attempt at discussion of Ms Fontaine's film roles, other than to blurt out titles. In this book Joan Fontaine the woman/actress exists only in terms of how she relates (or does not relate) to her equally famous GWTW-starring sister, Olivia, who receives pretty much equal (and equally inadequate) coverage. They didn't get on you know. Hold the front page! Events are endlessly repeated so you have to keep checking you haven't opened the thing at the wrong place. There is nothing that isn't already in the public domain. Joan's entry on Wikipedia is more revelatory.

The remaining two thirds of the book is taken up with photographs of Joan, which were probably once quite lovely. Unfortunately they've been reproduced on the same flimsy paper as the textual portion and the quality is decidedly spotty. A bit like this book in general. To be frank, I'm unsure how it ever came to be published. As many of these criticisms have already been covered by other readers obviously Mr Garrett's style has rubbed-off on me. One can only speculate as to the exact source of some of the glowing reviews it receives here. A tremendously inconsequential read. That's 20 minutes of my life I'll never see back.

One star for the luminous cover shot.

More of a pamphlet than a book
And a very poorly done one, at that. Other reviewers of this book hit the nail on the head -- the poor grammar and spelling, the glaring inaccuracies, and the measly 48 pages of text (which includes acknowledgements, introduction, and a filmography) make this a poor excuse for a biography. Most of the poorly reproduced photos are autographed, which indicates to me the author culled them from his personal collection. When the pages of photos outnumber the pages of text almost 2:1, you know something's amiss.

As for his claim in the Acknowledgements that he will "delve into the personality and life of Joan Fontaine via her personal letters to yours truly"? Well, don't hold your breath on that one, because the "personal letters," as revealed in the last chapter, are nothing more than polite thank you notes from Ms. Fontaine for the many (unwanted, it is implied) gifts the author has given her. After reading this book (and it took about 20 minutes), I can well understand why poor Ms. Fontaine wants to be left alone and shuns publicity.

Oh, and the reviewer who commented that all the negative reviews must have been written by the same person? I can assure you that's not the case. We're just all in agreement that the book is that bad. Had I thought to read the reviews beforehand, I never would have put this book on my wish list.

Do as others have advised and try to dig up a copy of Ms. Fontaine's autobiography, "No Bed of Roses."

Downright vicious
I picked up this book just to see what all the hype was on Amazon.com.Some reviews were downright hateful, some thoughtful, some repetitive.So, out of curiosity, I bought the book.Yes, of course, the usual criticisms of bad grammar, misspellings, and missteps are true.Myself, I am not so anal retentive that I would trash a book for its misgivings and minute details of bad language (I sometimes wish that these same people that pick on such things would care so deeply about the current state of public education in America, but that is for another time and place).I am certainly also curious about the reviewer(s)--whom I believe to be the same person--who often attacks the writer personally with such viciousness.Could it be the same person?The usage of language is the same throughout these "reviews" and certainly does indicate that it probably is the same person.I would fret to think what type of insane phone calls the publisher is getting as a result, if such a person is so willing to pontificate their dissatisfaction in such a personal way.However, I will leave that up to the viewer of these pages.Look, this is no Nobel laureate caliber writing nor is it completely garbage.Yes, it is tabloidish in nature, but then again, everyone who reads such a book consumes such things with joy.There are some definite tidbits about the persona of Ms. Fontaine.She does have a lot of remorse, arrogance, and downright megalomania found in her actions with Mr. Garrett.Like many hardened stars of yesteryear, Ms. Fontaine has alienated a lot of people and this is one man's story about this.I congratulate Mr. Garrett on writing a book about his interaction with Ms. Fontaine.If any others have a problem with it, then find a more applicable place to set your dirge upon the world:BLOGS.

`Thank You Notes From An Extremely Gracious Woman Who Really Wants To Be Left Alone'
I'm glad that I borrowed this book instead of wasting my money on it. The writer obviously did not do any research or he would know the very basics on Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland. Such as, Joan's middle name. It is de Beauvoir not Beauvoir and she is not two years younger than Olivia, she is one year and three months younger. It's all in Joan's autobiography - you might want to read it. If Olivia is still alive in 2009 for the 70th anniversary of `Gone With The Wind' she will be 93 not 92. Joan was doing a play not a movie when her mother passed away. I've come to the conclusion that the writer doesn't really know anything about Joan or her family. He is just an obsessed fan and so-called writer using this book to further his obsession. Why do I say `obsessed' well in Chapter 12, Letters From A Known Woman (which really should be titled `Thank You Notes From An Extremely Gracious Woman Who Really Wants To Be Left Alone'), Joan clearly stated that she no longer wanted any gifts especially candles but the writer couldn't grant her that wish. It's no wonder why she is no longer answering fan mail. I do believe that this so-called writer ruined the relationship between Joan and her fans with all of his nonsensical gifts and a book that is nothing but mixed up tabloid trash. The only thing that may have given this book a chance are the photos but the writer didn't even get that right with not having them printed on satin paper. All of what could have been beautiful photos came out with poor quality which fits the very essence of this book - tacky. The captions are mixed up with a horrible spelling error and one photo is printed twice. So in a nutshell, don't waste your money or your time. If you want to know about Joan Fontaine, read her book `No Bed Of Roses'. Joan knows her story and she is a wonderful writer. ... Read more

Product Description
Always in competition with her older, more famous sister, Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine had a varied and successful career of her own. She eventually attained stardom for her work in the film Rebecca, which won the 1940 Academy Award for best picture. The following year, she won the Academy Award for best actress in Suspicion, beating out her sister for the coveted prize. This book tells the story of her rich career and provides details about her many performances. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Joan Fontaine, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 724 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Joan Fontaine (born October 22, 1917) is a British American actress. Along with her older sister Olivia de Havilland, Luise Rainer, Maureen O'Hara, Gloria Stuart, Ann Rutherford, and Deanna Durbin, Fontaine is one of the last surviving leading lady stars from Hollywood of the 1930s. Fontaine is the only thespian to have won an Academy Award for a performance in a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. ... Read more