Adams review 1

Maureen O'Sullivan "No Average Jane"
(A Review by David Adams)

In Maureen O'Sullivan "No Average Jane" David Fury has written what must be considered the definitive biography of the actress who gained her widest fame in her role as Jane with Johnny Weissmuller's immortal portrayal of Tarzan of the Apes.
     Fury's method of telling is straight forward without complicating his narration with psychological meanderings. He presents an interesting story of Maureen's somewhat stormy upbringing and childhood in Ireland that leaves one with the impression that her beauty, charm and inner strength came with some difficulty, which supported her well throughout a long career of making 70 motion pictures. It is this portrait of a staunch, strong-willed woman that informs this biography, and it leaves the reader with admiration for her many accomplishments.
     Each of her pictures is given a synopsis and a fine commentary, including her thoughts about each role. Fury worked closely with O'Sullivan on this biography, and the text comes across as vividly as though she were in the room, telling of her life and many roles in person. It is a lively and engaging account that makes each film seem an important piece of her life's story rather than a simple listing of facts.
     O'Sullivan got her big break by being cast as Jane, and she is most remembered for this sterling role that she played so famously well. However, until I read Fury's book, I did not think of her as one of the early stars of the Golden Age of film in the 1930's. Even though she often played a secondary role in her pictures, she was an actor who always had a job because she filled an important role as the sweetheart of the other couple in the story. She was among those actors who are often overlooked but seem strangely familiar to us when we see those many films of long ago.
     I must say, that for those of us who grew up in the 1940's, the Weissmuller/O'Sullivan duo were the REAL Tarzan and Jane, and all others who came after were but pale imitations. It was only seeing those Tarzan pictures again in maturity that I came to realize the sizzling sex this pair brought to the screen. Back then, O'Sullivan was more of a Mom figure to us for indeed she treated the Weissmuller Tarzan like a big boy most of the time, explaining the world to him and setting him on the right course in life. We know from the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs that this was not Tarzan and Jane as he envisioned them, yet even he was charmed by the portrayal, and the relationship will always remain a classic, playful love that I'm sure that many a boy carried over into his own marriage.
     Fury's overall approach as a biographer is to be all-inclusive as to the facts of her films and is filled with a kind of star-struck admiration for the lady herself. As well as including the many reviews of each minor picture, we get all the juicy details of the gossip columns of Louella Parsons on her every flirtation and date up to her marriage with John Farrow. One might do a bit of skimming when it comes to reading the description text of each and every B-picture, and the hungry following of the love-affairs, though somewhat tedious, does put one into the context of the times when Hollywood was brash and young in the 1930's.
     Maureen O'Sullivan is an actress we vaguely recognize when we watch many great pictures of the 1930's. She was in: The Thin Man (1934) The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) David Copperfield (1935) Cardinal Richelieu (1935) Anna Karenina (1935) A Day At The Races (1937) A Yank At Oxford (1938) Pride and Prejudice (1940) -- all films I finally figured out who the familiar actress was about half-way through the picture. She played with nearly all the great actors and actresses of Hollywood of the time. We take her fine job of acting almost for granted, as did Hollywood, and say, "Oh, yes, that 's Jane." Fury's account opens our eyes to her many fine roles, and we gain a new appreciation for her amazing career.