Peter Ford (1)

Considering that this book was written by the son of its subject, a famous and beloved Hollywood star, it is surprisingly objective, well-researched, and well-written. Achieving even one of those qualities in a book one writes about a parent is unlikely. To pull off all three is something of a miracle. I have read a good many biographies of actors by family members, and there is almost always a tendency either to elevate or to demonize beyond objectivity, with the writer's bias flying hard in the breeze. Peter Ford, however, has managed to show his father in a loving light without ever giving the impression that he is sweeping skeletons out of the closet and under the rug. Glenn Ford comes off as a wonderful man and simultaneously as a most difficult, moody, and petty man, and it is to Peter Ford's credit that his star-father comes off human, likable, and admirable even as his behavior is depicted as at times reprehensible. It's a delicate balancing act, and not, it seems, one designed in order to be balanced, but rather in order to clarify the balancing act that Glenn Ford worked (unconsciously?) to maintain in his life. Adding to the pleasures of the book is the fact that Ford fils has done serious research into his father's career, not content to rely on either family stories or vague remembrances to support his depiction of his father's professional life. As a film historian myself, I look closely at such books to see where they diverge from the kind of facts that only researchers know, and Peter Ford has an academic's eye for verifying his facts. That he writes in an engaging and completely humble fashion is an unexpected and added bonus. Glenn Ford maintained a long career that included real cultural milestones in movie history, and while he is overshadowed by the iconography of some of his contemporaries, he richly deserves a well-wrought biography. This most certainly is it.… (meer)