Joan Crawford returns to MGM in 1953. Her comeback to her alma mater is to make the garish musical Torch Song. Joan suspects that it's hokum, and that she's getting too old for such parts, but she is desperate to make it work. That includes living at the studio in her dressing room during production. All the while, a psycho killer Joan Crawford drag queen stalks Hollywood to eliminate other Joan Crawford drag queens, and Joan is so strung out on vodka and super strength diet pills that she isn't sure if she has taken up murder herself. Her gay best friend is poised ready to help her party. A powerful gangster is only interested in saving her reputation until death, and her loyal hairdresser has a son who has his own sneaky Joan Crawford secrets. The final epic showdown between Joan Crawford and Joan Crawford is beyond any movie ending ever filmed. Followed by the sequel The Joan Crawford Monsters.
Check it out at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Crawford-Murders-Peter-Joseph-Swanson/dp/1600760775/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310327558&sr=1-1
A review by Gretchen Lee Bourquin
The Joan Crawford Murders
April 29, 2009
Think you know Joan Crawford? Think again. I thought I knew Joan. I loved "Mommie Dearest" and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" so I figured Peter Joseph Swanson's "The Joan Crawford Murders" would be a fun read. And it was. I mean, what's not to like?
Joan's making her big MGM comeback with the musical "Torchsong." As testement to her dedication and professionalism she's living in her dressing room, kicking back plenty of vodka and diet pills to help keep her girlish figure, hobnobbing around the studio with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Debbie Reynolds -- and of course Joan Crawford. She's seeing Joan Crawford EVERYWHERE! Not the REAL Joan Crawford, of course. She's the only real Joan Crawford, which is a good thing because when she does Joan is usually wearing an ensemble from one of Joan's older films -- not to mention being dead. Now that's inconvenient, if not a little frightening. The real victims are actually drag queens, dressed as Joan Crawford in various stages of her career.
This was all very entertaining, of course, but what surprised me was how much I learned about the ins and outs of a Hollywood Studio, and about Joan Crawford herself -- enough that I actually stopped hearing her shout "No more wire hangers!" and started to empathize with her as a character, and by the end I'm rooting for her all the way as Joan Crawford saves the day. But what else can you expect? She IS Joan Crawford.
The Joan Crawford Murders
April 29, 2009
Think you know Joan Crawford? Think again. I thought I knew Joan. I loved "Mommie Dearest" and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" so I figured Peter Joseph Swanson's "The Joan Crawford Murders" would be a fun read. And it was. I mean, what's not to like?
Joan's making her big MGM comeback with the musical "Torchsong." As testement to her dedication and professionalism she's living in her dressing room, kicking back plenty of vodka and diet pills to help keep her girlish figure, hobnobbing around the studio with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Debbie Reynolds -- and of course Joan Crawford. She's seeing Joan Crawford EVERYWHERE! Not the REAL Joan Crawford, of course. She's the only real Joan Crawford, which is a good thing because when she does Joan is usually wearing an ensemble from one of Joan's older films -- not to mention being dead. Now that's inconvenient, if not a little frightening. The real victims are actually drag queens, dressed as Joan Crawford in various stages of her career.
This was all very entertaining, of course, but what surprised me was how much I learned about the ins and outs of a Hollywood Studio, and about Joan Crawford herself -- enough that I actually stopped hearing her shout "No more wire hangers!" and started to empathize with her as a character, and by the end I'm rooting for her all the way as Joan Crawford saves the day. But what else can you expect? She IS Joan Crawford.
Bless You! By MattLJohns "MLJ" on August 18, 2010 Format: Paperback
MGM Queen Joan Crawford reigns supreme in this camp drama that occurs whilst Joan is filming of her `Technicolor comeback' - Torch Song.
In her attempt to be thin and beautiful in `Technicolor' Joan guzzles MGM formula diet pills and drinks oceans of vodka whilst barking at people on and off the set.... Meanwhile a Joan Crawford drag queen is slashing people. Who is the REAL Joan Crawford....will the REAL Joan be found guilty of slicing people up? Even she is not sure... under the influence of booze and pills...she is STRUNG OUT! `Balls!'
I have not laughed out loud whilst reading novel for so long, and Swanson has obviously done his research. If you are a Joan fan you will understand the nuances and references...if you are casual readers you will just love the story, which is the second instalment in his `Tinseltown Trilogy.' I always think a novel is successful if the reader can suspend disbelief, even in the most ridiculous circumstances, which is certainly what these circumstances are....
MGM Queen Joan Crawford reigns supreme in this camp drama that occurs whilst Joan is filming of her `Technicolor comeback' - Torch Song.
In her attempt to be thin and beautiful in `Technicolor' Joan guzzles MGM formula diet pills and drinks oceans of vodka whilst barking at people on and off the set.... Meanwhile a Joan Crawford drag queen is slashing people. Who is the REAL Joan Crawford....will the REAL Joan be found guilty of slicing people up? Even she is not sure... under the influence of booze and pills...she is STRUNG OUT! `Balls!'
I have not laughed out loud whilst reading novel for so long, and Swanson has obviously done his research. If you are a Joan fan you will understand the nuances and references...if you are casual readers you will just love the story, which is the second instalment in his `Tinseltown Trilogy.' I always think a novel is successful if the reader can suspend disbelief, even in the most ridiculous circumstances, which is certainly what these circumstances are....