ReadOut

by D.L. Groover

TALES OF TWO DIVAS

Pop these new Cecil Beaton and Judy Garland books under the tree

• The Unexpurgated Beaton: The Cecil Beaton Diaries as He Wrote Them, 1970–1980

Edited with introduction by Hugo Vickers (Knopf)

Sir Cecil Beaton—Vogue’s preeminent chronicler in high-glam photography for 50 years, Oscar- and Tony-winning costume and/or set designer (My Fair Lady, Gigi, Coco, Saratoga), jet setter par excellence, British royal family confidante, lover of Garbo, unflagging diarist—was one evil old queen. When Jean Cocteau described Beaton as Malice in Wonderland, he wasn’t kidding.

In his seventh and final book of diaries, covering the last decade of his life from 1970 to 1980, Beaton goes even farther than social gadabout Truman Capote self-destructing with his society tell-all, Unanswered Prayers. Talk about biting the hand that feeds. Beaton gleefully tears off the liver-splotched claw and chomps down. Of all the hundreds of people he describes, perhaps five get compliments. He attends society’s endless dinner parties, sponges off the rich and famous, stays in their castles, or takes their picture (sometimes all at once, it seems), and then viciously slashes at them with what can only be called pure spite.

Devastating and bitchy, his portraits lovingly draw blood in their warts-all accuracy under his uncanny powers of observation (Katharine Hepburn’s is especially poisonous and spot-on), yet there’s something quite sad about it all. Musty, too—like a wax-works museum depicting an era whose time has certainly passed. Like Capote, Beaton betrays the trust of those who are paying. The ugly boors, down on their luck, showing their mummy skin, don’t deserve the skewering from someone they thought was a friend. They get their comeuppance with a vengeance, but so does Beaton. He comes off in his own work as unworthy.

Saddest of all, he writes so well and observes this out-of-it world with a crystal purity that’s a beauty to read. That he spent his spare time writing about those who didn’t deserve his skill is the ultimate waste of his immense facility. This world of fox hunts, lavish parties, couturier culture, and air kisses isn’t worth his chronicler’s powers. Although he desperately chased the acclaim associated with being a dramatist, his two plays were received with scant notice. The only times he seems truly happy are when he putters in his garden, fretting over the layout of pink lilies, verbena, and sweet peas. If you want ample evidence of why the rich and famous are usually despised, read all about them here.

• Judy Garland: A Portrait in Art and Anecdote

By John Fricke, foreword by Lorna Luft (Bulfinch Press)

If you’re a Garland queen, you will not find any new news in this ultimate photo fan-zine on her tumultuous life of brilliant entertaining. She could sing, dance, act, and laugh unlike anyone else in showbiz history. What she couldn’t do was pick husbands and stop the drugs and alcohol. As we all know, she died in June 1969 and was buried the first day of the historic NYC Stonewall riots. This was one of the reasons the patrons at the Greenwich Village bar were so on edge the night the police staged their raid. She was but 47 years old, and often looked 77. She self-destructed in true meteoric Hollywood style, but left an indelible stamp on vaudeville, film, radio, recording, nightclub, and television. No one could do what Garland could—nor do so much that was so good in so little time.

Fricke’s tribute is not about the personal demons that consumed her with a fury (you won’t read that second husband film director Vincent Minnelli was gay or that her son-in-law Peter Allen was one of the boys, or too much information on booze and drugs); there are bios out there galore that document the ravages (Anne Edwards, Al diOrio, Christopher Finch, and David Shipman gleefully relate the many downs).

But what you will get for your $50 is well worth it. It’s the pictures in this coffee-table tome that deserve praise: beautifully printed rotogravures, crisp black-and-white on-the-set pix, vibrant international heralds, and lobby cards. They chronicle her constant bouts with ballooning weight, sudden and scary waif-like dieting, incredible glamour and sophistication. Accompanied by short vignettes written by co-stars, dance extras, professional peers, and her children (all of whom say the same thing: she was great, unique, professional), the fab pictures are evidence of what a phenomenon Garland was. You can hear that powerful heart-catching voice in every picture. That’s celebration enough.

D.L. Groover writes about the arts for the magazine.

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