David Bret

[1] Lewis Jones, in the Telegraph wrote that Bret "for decades has churned out sensationalist biographies of such figures as Diana Dors, Barbra Streisand and Tallulah Bankhead.

In the New York Times Sunday Book Review, Ada Calhoun wrote "How does Bret, the author of numerous celebrity biographies, know so much about Hollywood stars’ sex lives?

Jonathan Glancey writing for The Guardian described it as "David Bret's thoughtful book about the life and unhappiness of an entertainer who would surely never make it anywhere near the top now.

Digging into previously unsourced material and collating fresh stories from friends and fellow studio employees, he tries to close the two major gaps in his subject's life.

[4]Fowler concludes by saying: "Bret's biography is rightly partisan and fully prepared to name enemies, which makes it a bracingly pleasurable read in these anodyne times.

"[5] See writes: But suppose you gorged on old movie magazines and ghostwritten gobbledygook and pieces of weird gossip you overheard and then decided to rewrite what has been written and rewritten again for 80 years or so, and you picked as your subject Joan Crawford, "gay icon par excellence"?

"[5] An unsigned review in Publishers Weekly is more neutral, writing: "Bret chronicles her films, her feud with Bette Davis and dismisses her daughter's Mommie Dearest tirade, but he revels in Hollywood's sexual excesses, and fans who crave a lively insider view will most appreciate this bio.

It may be difficult for some to reconcile Bret's assessment of Flynn as some sort of hard-living heroic figure, or an "essentially good man," after reading about the actor's deplorable treatment of women, his sexual voyeurism, his penchant for underage girls and his hatred of Jews.

"[10] The review goes on to say: "Bret supports his biography with authoritative sources, although on occasion his facts are askew, as when he makes a reference to 'John F. Kennedy and his mother, Ethel.

'"[10] An unsigned, undated review in Publishers Weekly says of Morrissey: Scandal & Passion: Thankfully, author Bret's profile is not the sensationalist expose one might expect given this volume's titillating subtitle.

[11]An unsigned, undated review in Publishers Weekly says of The Mistinguett Legend: Bret focuses on her many eccentricities, connections with Parisian low life and multitudinous love affairs....

In other documentaries/television retrospectives for the BBC and other major channels he discusses Maria Callas, George Formby, Gracie Fields, Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, Morrissey, Marlene Dietrich and Elvis Presley.

"Darvinz of Zarumna"; "Chanson, A Story of Forbidden Love During The German Occupation of Paris"; "Dante Alfonso: Italian God of the Silent Screen".