Beauty of the Beasts: Tales of Hollywood's Wild Animal Stars Book

THE BEAUTY OF THE BEASTS is a chronicle of many years Ralph Helfer spent as a Hollywood animal behaviorist, and is full of behind–the–scenes accounts of the many television programs and films in which Helfer's animals appeared, including Charlie's Angels and The Ten Commandments, and the stars he and his animals worked with such as Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood, and Marilyn Monroe. But this is more than a story of the famous, both four and two–legged –– it's also about the important roles animals play in our lives, and how much less human we would be without them.

Library Journal

Helfer has provided an interesting insight into the training and use of animals in motion pictures. His anecdotes are interesting and humorous, and his devotion to animals is evident throughout. The book's only major defect is the author's repeated references to the animals' love for him and his family. This anthropomorphism is handled somewhat differently than in Hope Ryden's Lily Pond (LJ 9/1/89) in that Helfer admits that these animals are being held in non-native environments and humans owe them more consideration because of this. He also discusses the other method of animal training based on the animal's fear of its trainer, but he does not actually explore this mistreatment issue. Interesting for general readers.-- Mary J. Nickum, Fish & Wildlife Reference Svce., Bethesda, Md.