Review of "Bad Girls Film Fatales Sirens and Molls," by Tony Turtu

Review of

Bad Girls Film Fatales Sirens and Molls, by Tony Turtu ISBN 1933112034


Five out of five stars

 This is a book about the “bad girls” of the movies, the movie roles containing female characters that largely followed the stereotype of the “fallen woman.” Many of the movies cited as examples are openly listed as B level or lower. Nearly all of the women are stunning beauties and most of the major female stars before 1970 appear in a caption. Even such celebrated “good girls” such as Doris Day and Lucille Ball are the subjects of a caption.

 The movies are placed in seven categories for organizational purposes. Each caption has two parts, a large paragraph of explanatory text with an associate image. The source of the image is stated, from lobby cards, to scene stills, to posters to magazine covers. Some of the roles cited range from the start of a career to the bomb that essentially terminated a career. I especially enjoyed the captions featuring Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny in the James Bond films) and Barbara Hale (Della Street in the Perry Mason television series.)

The descriptions are interesting, if you are looking for a movie that is so bad it is good, look here. If you are interested in seeing women in roles not usually associated with their work, this is also a good reference for that.