www.film-philosophy.com 83

A major star in 1920s Hollywood, John Gilbert had worked for Fox and MGM, starring alongside such cinematic legends as Lon Chaney and Greta Garbo. Highly successful and popular during the Silent Era and associated with a variety of scandalous and high-profile romances, Gilbert faced a rapid decline at the advent of sound film, culminating in his death at the age of 38. Due in part to his tumultuous personal life and in part to the dramatic transitional moment in cinema history that he forms a part of, numerous myths have formed around the story of his career and untimely demise. He has become one of the symbols of the tragic silent film star, destroyed by the onslaught of sound because of his inability to adapt to his rapidly changing industry. Addressing all of the speculation and misconceptions surrounding John Gilbert, Eve Golding has amassed an impressive collection of documents and primary and secondary accounts in an attempt to construct a definitive biography and distinguish fact from fiction. The book spans Gilbert’s entire life and career, arranged chronologicall