DVDS

Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer

color & b/w. 93+ min. Leslie Zemeckis, dist. by Cinema Libre Studio, www.cinemalibrestudio.com. 2018. DVD UPC 881394126527. $19.95; streaming via Amazon & Vimeo. BIOG
COPY ISBN
Mabel Stark, born into extreme poverty in rural Kentucky in 1889, was determined to live a life that was bigger than expected. Escaping a Dickensian childhood and running away to join the circus, she worked her way through various jobs until she looked a tiger in the eye and decided her destiny. She became a single-minded trailblazer, developing her own style and animal training techniques and was the first woman to train tigers, earning the center ring despite being told that women couldn't work the big cats. She endured misogyny and failed marriages, persevered through humiliations and physical anguish (mauled badly by her own tigers), until she was finally recognized as a legend in her field.
VERDICT This is a story of a woman as fierce as her animals. Libraries with collections supporting women's studies should find a place for this.—Ellen Druda, formerly with Half Hollow Hills Community Lib., Dix Hills, NY
Reviewed by Ellen Druda , Nov 15, 2018
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