The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, McA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read
Review: My library is filled with books about the inner workings of the entertainment industry, but none of them have even hinted at the massive power and influence of MCA, Dr. Jules Stein and Lew Wasserman. For over thirty years they controlled what Americans were entertained by. As agents, they handled the vast majority of important actors, musician, singers and writers. And you couldn't hire an MCA talent without agreeing to hire others. In addition, they had insider deals with the unions that no other talent agency or television production company enjoyed. In addition, MCA invented the dubious practice of setting up production companies for entertainers so that they could avoid paying taxes. Of course later, when the star's career started to fade, that same production company became an ever-hungry money pit. I don't think it is possible to truly understand why entertainment is what it is in the twentieth century without reading this book. Despite being published by a major house and receiving rave reviews, you are unlikely to see this author on your local talk shows or to find his book in any of the major chain stores, because so many still fear the subject of this book. Do yourself a favor and order the book from Amazon. It is a must-read for any fan of entertainment books.

Rating:
Summary: Low Grade Hatchet Job
Review: The author has prejudged individuals and essentially uses anecdotes, gossip, and rumor to validate his prejudices. The author's descriptions, his uncritical acceptance of information that fits his preconceptions, and his attempts to create suspicions from seemingly innocuous facts, suggests that the matter is personal. As for the writing, the book is rambling, redundant, and generally poorly written. An excellent example of how a fascinating and riveting history can be made tiresome.

Rating:
Summary: Low Grade Hatchet Job
Review: This is a great book for anyone who loves Hollywood and the history of Hollywood. It is a great read, filled with details of past deals, and well defined characters. From the early days with Jules Stein, up until the sale of the company, this is a history book which is valuable for anyone who wants to know why certain movies were made, why hollywood functions as it does, and who the true power brokers were over the past 40+ years. The only thing better than reading about Lew Wasserman would be to meet the man, and listen to his stories, including Hollywood, MCA, Universal, Jules Stein, and all of the stars who worked for him.

Rating:
Summary: The Last Mogul Is Alive And Well Worth Reading!
Review: This is a great book for anyone who loves Hollywood and the history of Hollywood. It is a great read, filled with details of past deals, and well defined characters. From the early days with Jules Stein, up until the sale of the company, this is a history book which is valuable for anyone who wants to know why certain movies were made, why hollywood functions as it does, and who the true power brokers were over the past 40+ years. The only thing better than reading about Lew Wasserman would be to meet the man, and listen to his stories, including Hollywood, MCA, Universal, Jules Stein, and all of the stars who worked for him.

Rating:
Summary: Great Agents Not So Nice Humanbeings
Review: To many of us outside of Hollywood, Juluis Stein and Lew Wasserman resemble the sharp shrewd amoral quickbuck artists typically cast in movies and TV as " Hollywood Movie Agents." That they are extremely zealous and very bright is clear from this excellent biography. That they are not above any sort of misrepresentation or other form of deceptive yet quasi-legal business practice is also apparent. These are men who are vain, superficial and abundently successful. They are miles ahead of both their competition and studio heads. Are they decent men? Well if you consider that they spent their professional careers deceiving one another, misrepresenting or withholding facts from their peers and clients and sharply navigating thru numerous shady and questionable practices and relatioinships you have your answer. Top it off with avoidance(legal if you will) of taxes and wartime service to their nation and you have a couple of well dressed thinly venired operators who always seem to get the best of their competitors. The author here does and excellent job, without suggesting any personal bias, of layering one either shady or morally questionable practice over another. I conculded that this is simply how one gets business done in Hollywood and that furthermore it hasn't gotten any worse in recent years since it always a nasty and unforgiving eniormnment to make a buck. There are many minor factual errors in the book but they are more then overcome by the writers assertion of details that are without doubt accurate and important in describing the business and moral, or lack thereof, climate inherit in the movie trade.