Books: Shadows from a Lunarium

FIRST PERSON PLURAL (249 pp.)—Dagmar Godowsky—Viking ($3.95).

A seedy-looking firing squad aimed its rifles at Dagmar Godowsky. Her father, Pianist Leopold Godowsky, turned to Marie Dressier and said: "Tell me the truth. Marie, do you think Dagmar has a future in pictures?" Replied Veteran Comedienne Dressier: "Definitely." The guns went off and Dagmar, playing Mata Hari. fell to the ground. As she recalls the moment: "My fate was sealed. It was the movies for me."

In First Person Plural Dagmar, now 58, presents a jaunty flashback to the splendiferous silent days "when money was thrown to the winds [but] always landed right back...