User Reviews

"E! Mysteries and Scandals" was a rather salacious, but interesting, series that lasted three seasons. Its bios of the stars tended to focus on the sensational and illegal and sleazy...and I was worried they'd do a real hatchet job on Normand. But, on balance, it seemed quite fair AND I must acknowledge that Normand did quite a bit herself that actually was sensational and sleazy. Like most episodes, they show uses a variety of old film clips as well as experts on the person in question, in this case a few writers who have written about Normand, her life and her crazy off-screen exploits...and they were many.

If you want to see this one, it is currently posted on YouTube.

E! Mysteries & Scandals: Mabel Normand (1999)

Betty Fussell (biographer), Sidney Kirkpatrick (author), William Sherman (author), Marc Wanamaker (film historian) and Jerry Herman (composer) are interviewed about the troubled career of silent screen star Mabel Normand.

Once again we're treated to an excellent episode thanks in large part to Normand's life being so bizarre and so full of bad situations. It seems Normand got into one scandal after another and of course this led to the end of her career as well as an early death. The authors and historians here do a very good job at explaining Normand's rise to fame and her quick downfall once the newspapers started to tell lies about her. The now notorious murder that took place in her home is stuff of Hollywood legend and it too is covered here. If you're a fan of Normand then there's a lot of good stuff here. Fans of the show will enjoy hearing the various twists and turns.

Episode: A-