George O'Brien - A Man's Man in Hollywood [Paperback]

As a film fan, I want a book that is richly researched and full of countless photos. David W. Menefee's new biography of George O'Brien (who is one of my favorite movie stars) is this and much more. Drawing from literally hundreds of sources including the estate of his son, Darcy O'Brien, and many interview quotes straight from O'Brien himself, Menefee dove deep into the past and brought out many things about George that I never knew. Particularly fascinating are the chapters that deal with his surviving the San Francsico earthquake as a kid, and how he got his start in the movies. People think that he was one of those overnight stars, but the truth is that he spent hears working in every conceivable type of job in the film business before getting a break. The book has a richly researched biographical portion, which is then followed by an equally well-researched Filmography. Both of these are overfilled with hundreds of photos and illustrations. Either one of those would have been a book in and of itself, but there's more. The final third consists of a portrait gallery chocked full of dozens of those great 8x10 studio pictures that I wish I had been able to collect over the years, but they're all here! This is three books in one. Any George O'Brien fan will be more than pleased. The book is beautifully composed by BearManor Media with a detailed Bibliography and extensive Index.

I was delighted that someone has finally taken on George O'Brien, one of the greatest stars that never lived up to his initial promise. Let me explain. My first conscious introduction to George was a viewing of SUNRISE. I was stunned by his performance, albeit a silent one. At a time when great acting was equated by an actor's physicality and expression, this man definitely had it all. I started digging up anything I could find about George and realized I had a major disconnect. George was also the handsome actor whose old cowboy movies I watched on tv as a kid. I couldn't understand how a person with such undeniable charisma could evolve into a Saturday matinee idol. And so began my not altogether successful oddysey to find George O'Brien. And now thanks to David Menefee, someone has finally put all the bits and pieces together and completed the puzzle.
While most of the information provided was not new to me as a diehard O'Brien fan, the author did an admirable job researching his subject by accessing surviving family members and friends. Menefee fleshed out his subject and wrote a couple of riveting chapters concerning the 1906 San Francisso earthquake based on O'Brien's recollections as well as historical accounts of the event and seamlessly merged the two. He also wisely avoided innuendo regarding O'Brien's so-called racy love affair with frequent co-star Olive Borden and rumors re: O'Brien's sexuality. From what I've been able to determine there is little to no evidence to support either. Where the book falls flat are sparse details concerning his only wife and his family. However, in fairness to Menefee I have to assume that this project may have begun after the death of author Darcy O'Brien in 1998. Two interesting segments of this book were a vintage photo gallery and a filmography. While Sunrise might represent O'Brien's most substantial contribution to the history of film, he performed admirably in other films as well and was not a one film wonder.

BearManor Media presents "GEORGE O'BRIEN: A MAN'S MAN IN HOLLYWOOD" (Paperback) - by author David W. Menefee, like no other book on actor George O'Brien --- George O'Brien was an American actor, popular during the silent film era and into the talkie era of the 1930s, best known today as the lead actor in F. W. Murnau's 1927 film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans --- American leading man of classic silent films who became a different kind of star in B-Western talkies --- The son of a policeman who later became police chief of San Francisco and then California Director of Penology, O'Brien was raised around police stables and quickly became adept at horsemanship --- He was a star athlete in school and intended to study medicine, but with the advent of World War I, he joined the Navy and volunteered to serve as a stretcher-bearer with the Marines.

Following his discharge, a chance encounter with Tom Mix led to a job as camera assistant with Mix's production company --- O'Brien takes on small jobs as a prop man, extra, stunt man, and finally bit player --- John Ford spotted the husky young man and cast him in the lead role of his early Western The Iron Horse (1924) --- He continued to work for Ford and became a popular leading man for a number of top-flight directors --- With the coming of sound, he moved almost exclusively into Westerns and became a popular star of low-budget oaters --- George remained popular until sound came along --- By that time, his popularity was sliding, but he did make the transition to sound --- With his rugged looks and physical size, he was soon a Western Cowboy Star --- He was in some of the best stories ever written, Riders of the Purple Sage (1931),

George O'Brien became a popular star of Westerns and rarely took parts outside of the Western film genre --- Throughout the 1930s, O'Brien was a consistent Top Ten box-office draw appearing in scores of Westerns, often atop his horse named Mike.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: (Chapter, Title and Page Numbers)
Introduction - 1
Acknowledgments - 3
Foreword - 4
Preface - 6
PART ONE: Biography
CHAPTER 1 - A Rough Beginning -17
CHAPTER 2 - Football Fields & Battlefields - 27
CHAPTER 3 - Mixing Up Careers - 40
CHAPTER 4 - Iron Wills & Iron Horses - 60
CHAPTER 5 - Fig Leaves - 69
CHAPTER 6 - Sunrise & Success - 81
CHAPTER 7 - Noah Speaks - 99
CHAPTER 8 - From A Ford To A Stagecoach - 118
CHAPTER 9 - Marguerite & Marriage - 131
CHAPTER 10 - In The Navy Again - 152
CHAPTER 11 - Sunset On The Trail - 163
PART TWO: Filmography - 175
PART THREE: Portrait Gallery - 325
Appendix: George O'Brien Defends Movies For Children - 385
Bibliography - 389
Index - 413

BIOS:
1. George O'Brien
Date of Birth: 19 April 1899 - San Francisco, California
Date of Death: 4 September 1985 - Tulsa, Oklahoma

Hats off to Ben Ohmart and his staff at BearManor Media --- author David W. Menefee has given us the Ultimate George O'Brien Book --- everything you wanted to know about O'Brien's career on the big silver screen and behind the scenes --- Director John Ford made him an overnight star by casting him in the lead of a silent film "The Iron Horse" (1924), until his last film "Cheyenne Autumn" (1964), again with John Ford --- If you're into the memories of the early B-Western, this is the one you've been anxiously waiting for --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Pages: 442 ~ BearManor Media #ISBN-13: 978-1593934736 ~ (10/31/2009)