Van Johnson: MGM's Golden Boy (Hollywood Legends) [Kindle Edition]

Although Mr. Davis had to rely on mainly second-hand information to attain all the facts he needed to write this book, he did an excellent job, and he imparts the info in such a way that it is seamless, and cannot be discerned as not having been the result of his own research.
The principles in the book were not, for one reason or another, available for inclusion here, nevertheless, Mr. Davis has done an admirable job and his writing and relating of pertinent facts have done him proud...
Being familiar with his sources and the "players" in the book, I was still able to read through it with pleasure, interest and admiration for his capable relating of the facts at hand. All in all, a very informative and interesting read.
My name is Schuyler Van Johnson, and it is about my father and some of it relates to me, and I can tell you that is an excellent work and came out extremely well. Some of it was hard to get through, being an interested party, but also somewhat cathartic and nice to put away on a shelf as part of my distant past, best left on the shelf, once read...Would that the living of some of it had been that easy!

As a screenwriter and friend of Van Johnson, I have knowledge of this man in both professional & private settings. Now living on opposite ends of the country, we see very little of each other, but stay in contact by phone & e-mail. The last time my wife & I saw the Johnson's was in Las Vegas where Van had a showing of his paintings at the MGM Grand. First of all, rumors of homosexuality are false. Placing that tag on good looking actors is considered a Hollywood pasttime whose victims have been Cary Grant, Randolf Scott, Howard Hughes to Tom Cruise & Keanu Reeves. Van is a warm, non-judgmental, kind and humorous human being. All this and more besides being an outstanding actor when given the right role(Caine Mutiny). His personal and family problems are similiar to the crosses people in all walks of life have to bear. Yet, Van has always rebounded with hope & eternal optimism. This is a great guy with limitless good qualities. Approaching 90, that twinkle in his eyes remains ever present.

First let me say I am in no way a fan of Van Johnson. At best, he was only a slightly talented actor, he was mainly as the author notes a bobby-soxer teen idol who girls of the 1940's briefly made one of the top three box-office draws in America. Teen idols, then as now, are rarely on anybody's list of great actors or of particular interest to anyone outside of contemporary teenaged girls. I only picked up this book because I enjoy reading movie star biographies but I am sorry I wasted my time on this little effort, the very definition of a hatchet job. The author reveals - shock, shock - Van Johnson was a homosexual. Actually, he only manages to be the author of the first biography on Johnson and states this, previous books (including one written by Johnson's stepson) have proclaimed this tidbit and in fact quoting those books is pretty much the limit of Mr. Davis' details on Johnson's homosexuality. Oh, that and a brief, unsourced report that Johnson once propositioned an man in a Texas store. Davis feigns journalistic impartiality but it seems clear his opinion of Johnson as one might expect from a professor at Southern Methodist University or author of book on John Wayne. Practically from the first page it's obvious Davis wants to paint Johnson's as a pathetic, empty life (he certainly gives no evidence on why anyone would be interested in Johnson today, dimissing his talent repeatedly.) Friends of Johnson seem to have been avoided to keep any good words about him out, other than Janet Leigh. One of Davis's main sources is Johnson's ex-wife, from whom he had a very bitter divorce. Davis seems to take everything she has to say as the undiluted truth. Davis keeps up his attack on Johnson right to the last page, proclaiming he is not a legendary figure like John Wayne or Marilyn Monroe (oh no! I thought Van Johnson was one of the five greatest stars ever!!) and as such presumably unworthy of future attention. So what's the point of the book?? He even insults Johnson down to his very last sentence, basically dismissing him as a worthless fake. I never dreamed I would ever have sympathy for a man who has cut off contact with his only child (one of the most unfortunate effects of the divorce) but Johnson's often incredibly sad and hollow life should move many people though clearly not Mr. Davis, who at no point seems to have compassion for Johnson and his life in the closet and the cost of it on him (though he does have sympathy for the other victims of Johnson's private life like his ex-wife and child.) Saddest of all is Van Johnson is still living and around to read this malicious effort. A final word: this book's design and size are appropiately ugly (it's scarcely bigger than a small softcover book, a strange size for a hardcover biography) for such a mean-spirited tome. This is allegedly the first in a series of books on "Hollywood Legends" edited or written by Mr. Davis, one hopes this series ends very soon.