Lana Turner Documentaries

Lana Turner Documentaries:

The following are television documentaries focusing on, or having to do with Lana Turner:

Lana Turner: Hollywood's Screen Siren

(A&E 2000)

Synopsis: A segment of A&E's biography series which focuses on Julia Jean Turner's birth in the northwest mining town of Wallace Idaho, her almost instant rise to fame in the era of the studio system, her many marriages and often chaotic personal life, and finally her lonely death from cancer at aged 74.

My Review: I think they are a tad too rough on Lana here. A&E's Biography show is hardly The E! True Hollywood Story, but I think this bio tends to portray her as a bubble head, who tended to be nothing more than a clothes horse-sex goddess. An example that stands out in my mind is when they get to Madame X. They actually say that it was "another tired old melodrama", when in my opinion she had never been better than she was in that film! Making things interesting are reminisces by co-stars Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson and Janice Paige, as well as Lana's loyal maid of 44 years Carmen Cruz and her hairdresser Eric Root (response from me: Why?). Conspicuously missing is daughter Cheryl Crane, who would have probably brought an interesting flavor to the mix. She DID do a documentary of her own a few years later however.

Your Review: What are YOUR thoughts on this film? Contact me at Liza@lanaturneronline.com

Lana Turner: A Daughter's Memoir

(Turner Classic Movies 2001)

Synopsis: Cheryl Crane (with a little help from Turner Classic Movies) remembers Mama in this wonderful documentary that is loaded with MGM film clips and backstage stories.

My Review: Well worth the price of admission. Cheryl Crane and TCM would have done Lana proud with this 90 minute documentary about Hollywood's favorite blonde bombshell. It opens with the death of Lana's father when she was just a little girl of 10 and follows her life from MGM starlet, to MGM star, to legitimate survivor and beyond that. (Note: If you are interested in viewing this documentary, it is on the "B" side of The Bad and the Beautiful DVD.) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Your Review: What are YOUR thoughts on this film? Contact me at Liza@lanaturneronline.com

MGM: When the Lion Roars

(PBS 1992)

Synopsis: Extensive documentary about the history of Lana's home studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, from it's beginning's in 1925 to it's remarkable golden age and beyond.

My Review: A treasure trove for film buffs, this documentary is six hours long and split up into three different parts. You won't get through it in one sitting and may have to set aside a few days just to watch it. Not much new about Lana here, just a retelling about how she was called "The Nightclub Queen" before she was 21 years old, yet never missed an early morning studio call. It's a great look about how it was behind the scenes of all of those wonderful MGM films and especially what was going on in the executive offices. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

(Note from me: Where was Lana? She was still with us in 1992 when this documentary was being made and judging from the film and interview clips, it must have taken years to put it all together. I wonder if she was asked to participate but begged off due to poor health.)

Your Review: What are YOUR thoughts on this film? Contact me at Liza@lanaturneronline.com