Review: Daughter of Daring by Mallory O'Meara

Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood's First Stuntwoman

by Mallory O'Meara

Release Date: February 18, 2025

2025 Hanover Square Press

Ebook ARC; 384 Pages

ISBN: 978-1335007933

ASIN: B0CFYF4B8Q

Audiobook: B0CMDZBRH6

Genre: Non-Fiction / History / Biography

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

4 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Helen Gibson was willing to do anything to give audiences a thrill. Advertised as “The Most Daring Actress in Pictures,” Helen emerged in the early days of the twentieth-century silent film scene as a rodeo rider, producer, performer and stunt double for iconic stars of the era. Her exploits were as dangerous as they were glamorous, featured in hundreds of films and serials—yet her legacy was quickly overshadowed by the increasingly hypermasculine and male-dominated evolution of action films in the decades that would follow her.

In this fast-paced and feminist biography, award-winning author Mallory O'Meara presents Helen’s life and career in exhilarating detail, including:

• Helen’s rise to fame in The Hazards of Helen, the longest-running serial in history

• How Helen became the first-ever stuntwoman in American film

• The pivotal and overlooked role of Helen’s contemporaries—including female directors, stars and stuntwomen who shaped the making of narrative film.

 

My Thoughts

Daughter of Daring is actually more than just a biography of Helen Gibson, but is an exploration of Hollywood and Los Angeles during the time period when Helen rose to prominence as a film star and a stuntwoman.  I appreciated learning about the development of the various Hollywood studios as well as learning more about the other women involved in the early days of the business.  It definitely enhanced the experienced and made the story that much richer as it gave you a good grasp of the situation at the time and what it would have been like for Helen to persevere during this time period.

 

First of all, this is an exploration of women in film and in particular, as stuntwomen, before the golden era of Hollywood in the 1930s.  It highlights the diversity of women working in the industry and how many were responsible for producing and developing film ideas and story lines, involving themselves as directors, producers, writers, screenwriters, film stars, stuntwomen, etc... It also highlights how the industry slowly became more male-dominated and pushed many of these women out of the industry throughout the years, highlighting the lack of involvement of women even in today's era. I thought we had become more progressive during the years, but this quickly taught me otherwise and I have realized we have such a long way to go. And the fact that it was often other women groups who were integral in the causation of a more male-dominated industry just drives me insane. I know that it happened, but reading about it just sets my teeth on edge, to know that women would create groups to censor other women, and to stop progression over the years because they held with old-fashioned ideas and thought progression was bad for people.  The censorship rules were absolutely crazy, but I'm not surprised. What surprised me more is how long it took for them to be created. And how much the public is manipulated by these films.  And I found absolutely fascinating the types of films that were made in the early days as I had no idea; everything dealing from infidelity to abortion to women's suffrage to abuse to LBGTQ as well as the serials which were so popular and exciting.

 

Helen Gibson became a star in the midst of all of this and her story is fascinating as it follows both her rise and her downfall as the more male-dominated society came into power later in her career. As a star horse rider, she was athletic and was able to do stunts that few women could do at the time and became popular because of this. She put herself in danger quite a few times as some of the stunts she did were done without safety harnesses or crash mats. Her career had its ups and downs and I was fascinated by what happened to her (some of it her fault, some of it due to the increasing male-dominated industry), but the author exposed the behind-the-scenes of this time period in such a way that was utterly fascinating.   

Verdict

Daughter of Daring was a compelling narrative that I had difficulty putting down. I definitely appreciated Helen's narrative being women amidst the information given about the time period, but to be honest, I really enjoyed learning about the time period and the film industry itself as I found it fascinating. The author is a filmmaker and understands the frustrations of being a woman in the industry so I found her candour to be refreshing.  I definitely appreciated her writing about this time period though, and the forgotten women of the industry who were integral to its current success.