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.
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 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.