A spirited portrait of a Hollywood legend.

Publisher's Weekly

Whether Joan Crawford mattered artistically is debatable; that she still matters culturally is Samuel Garza Bernstein's exuberantly argued thesis. In Starring Joan Crawford, Bernstein holds a loupe to Crawford's deathless high-camp persona—both on—and offscreen.... Starring Joan Crawford is a splendid pastiche. Bernstein supplies copious photos; film-by-film synopses with original credits; the odd reproduced-in-full article by or about Crawford; and recaps of his fantasy Crawford vehicles (e.g., 2023's Barbie). Bernstein implicitly makes the case that humor and serious criticism aren't unnatural bedfellows, as when he offers this measure of Crawford's still-thriving legacy.

Shelf Awareness

In the new book Starring Joan Crawford: The Films, the Fantasy, and the Modern Relevance of a Silver Screen Icon, Hollywood historian Samuel Garza Bernstein draws on reams of press coverage and never-before-seen restored images from movie posters and stills, publicity shots, sheet music, and magazine covers. Starring Joan Crawford is both a celebration and a compelling exploration of how she informed ideas about wealth and class, femininity and gender roles, identity, and fulfillment.

South Florida Sun Times

Playwright and biographer Bernstein illuminates actor Joan Crawford’s enduring popularity by spotlighting her long career. He provides details of her entire filmography, which began with silent films in the 1920s and lasted until the early 1970s. Where this biography shines is in Bernstein’s inclusion of quotes from Crawford’s interviews and from reviews of her films over the years…. [W]here so many other books on Crawford have made her into a caricature, this volume evaluates her work on its own merits. The long shadow cast by Mommie Dearest even today, nearly 50 years after Crawford’s 1977 death and the memoir’s publication (to say nothing of the subsequent film), is perhaps inescapable, but this book provides much-needed insight and perspective on popular culture’s continuing fascination with Joan Crawford. An enjoyable read that stands out among the numerous books written about Crawford over the years.

Library Journal

In a new book by writer Samuel Garza Bernstein titled Starring Joan Crawford: The Films, the Fantasy, and the Modern Relevance of a Silver Screen Icon, a more complete and nuanced picture of the Hollywood icon is painted.

Provincetown Magazine

Starring Joan Crawford looks at her career and her meaning, at why Crawford continues to resonate.

Parade