Trisha Shetty (Editor)

The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
7.8
/
10
1
Votes
Alchetron
7.8
1 Ratings
100
90
80
71
60
50
40
30
20
10
Rate This

Rate This

Country
  
United States

Publication date
  
October 2000

Pages
  
440

Author
  
Diana McLellan

Genre
  
Non-fiction

3.9/5
Goodreads

Language
  
English

Media type
  
Hardcover

Originally published
  
2000

Page count
  
440

Publisher
  
St. Martin's Press

The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood t3gstaticcomimagesqtbnANd9GcQnJsfRvsttSjujeu

Subject
  
Hollywood, Gay and Lesbian, Politics, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead

Nominations
  
Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Studies

Film books
  
The Sewing Circle, Hollywood Babylon, Shot/countershot, The World of Cinema, John Woo: Interviews

The Girls: Sappho Goes To Hollywood is a 2000 book by Diana McLellan that speculates on a romance between Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. The Observer found it "purely speculative" and "uncorroborated". Kirkus found it "lively". Publishers Weekly was more approving, saying McLellan was able to "bring a broader context and new sense of scholarship to the subject". The Houston Chronicle praised "exhaustive" research and found the book far from salacious.

Contents

It was nominated in the Lesbian Studies category for the 13th Lambda Literary Awards.

Synopsis

Diana McLellan reveals the complex and intimate connections that roiled behind the public personae of Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, and the women who loved them. Private correspondence, long-secret FBI files, and troves of unpublished documents reveal a chain of lesbian affairs that moved from the theater world of New York City, through the heights of chic society, to embed itself in the power structure of the movie business. The Girls serves up a rich stew of film, politics, sexuality, psychology, and stardom.

Notable media mentions

  • The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood by Norah Vincent, The Baltimore Sun, September 24, 2000
  • The Girls: Sappho Goes To Hollywood Publishers Weekly, October 2, 2000
  • “Screen Sirens” by Dawn Trouard, The Washington Post, November 12, 2000
  • "Secret Sirens: Fresh dirt on the lesbian amours of Garbo, Dietrich, and Hollywood's golden girls" by Michele Kort, The Advocate, December 5, 2000
  • “Closet Hollywood” by David Freeman, The New York Times, January 7, 2001
  • “Ladies who lie together…” by William Langley, The Telegraph, January 9, 2001
  • “‘I Want to Try Everything Once’ / Tallulah Bankhead’s bisexual braggadocio stands up to scrutiny” by Nancy Warren, The San Francisco Chronicle / SF Gate, January 26, 2001
  • “Marlene, she’s making eyes at me” by Gaby Wood, The Guardian, April 7, 2001
  • “New in Paperback” by The Washington Post, October 7, 2001
  • “Wild Girls” by Molly Haskell, The Guardian, January 8, 2004

    • References

    The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA