TYRONE POWER: The Last Idol

by Fred Lawrence Guiles ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 2, 1979

Rarely, as this book in your hands suggests, has any man been loved by so many. . . ."" So concludes celebrity-biographer Guiles (Marion Davies) after limply meandering through the films and loves of ""slightly neurotic"" Tyrone Power, covering much the same ground as Hector Arce (The Secret Life of Tyrone Power, p. 418), but with far less psychological hoo-hah about Power's homosexuality or his famous-father complex. Guiles prefers to dwell on the movies themselves, on the Hollywood star-making machine--he works hard (without much success) to present Power as an underrated great who had ""without qualification the finest romantic voice of this century"" and was (like Cagney or Edward G. Robinson) ""forever kept from the list of critics' darlings."" (Guiles even suggests that Power could have redeemed Billy Wilder's Sherlock Holmes with his ""wry humor."") And when it does come to romance, Guiles shies away from specific homosexual liaisons (except for enigmatic lifelong companion Watson Webb) and sees none of the guilt that Arce brooded on: ""Tyrone never felt compelled as do so many young men to clarify his sexual preferences."" He concentrates instead on Tyrone's movie-star wives--patient Annabella, corrupting Linda Christian--and, with hyperbole, on two superstar mistresses: druggy, possessive Lana Turner (""by far the most important relationship of her life"") and Judy Garland, who aborted their baby and ""never would love anyone again as deeply as she loved Tyrone. She would settle for something less in every case."" Arce's abysmally written study is certainly less than convincing, but it at least tries to put all the gossip into some psychological context. Guiles just piles it on, fan-magazine style, and, despite his efforts to give Power a buildup and a whitewash (""Everybody loved Tyrone""), this is ultimately a less flattering, pastier portrait than Arce's--with only Guiles' Hollywood savvy providing occasional film-biz bits of interest.

Pub Date: Nov. 2, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION