Book Review: Lightner on Lightner

I'm always predisposed to like a show business biography covering someone who hasn't already been the subject of a dozen books. On that score alone, Winnie Lightner: Tomboy of the Talkies (University Press of Mississippi) starts with an advantage. In fact, author David L. Lightner, a history professor, says that one of the book's goals is to alleviate the "public amnesia" that has left Lightner, a popular star of stage and screen in her day, largely forgotten today.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Lightner was a musical comedy star at Warner Brothers, often cast as a fun-loving golddigger. But her film success was short-lived. As the grim realities of the Great Depression (not to mention the Motion Picture Production Code) set in, Lightner's best opportunities began to slip away. She was soon demoted to supporting roles, usually as the heroine's best friend, and by 1934 she threw in the towel altogether, saying she "never gave a hang for fame" anyway.

Lightner (the author) does a fine job of bringing out his subject's personality, as well as the life she lived before, during, and after her film career. Her relationship with film director Roy Del Ruth (with whom she had a son) is covered in detail. This book is well worth a look for film buffs.