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Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating tale of a frustrated, perfectionist director
Review: Erich Von Stroheim was surely the most unique director of the silent era. Of all of his films, only THE MERRY WIDOW survives in a form that is close to what he wanted. Yet this film is the least representative of his films. He was probably fired from more movies that anybody else in Hollywood. Yet producers recognized that he was an artistic genius and they kept him employed for over a decade. Von Stroheim gave his critics plenty of rope to hang himself, as he worked his crews incredibly long hours and he busted the budget of almost every movie that he filmed. Still, it is sad that Fox producer Sol Wurtzel killed any chances Von Stroheim had in sound films by re-shooting most of his last film, WALKING DOWN BROADWAY.Almost every film Von Stroheim made is now considered a classic, such as BLIND HUSBANDS and GREED. In the sound era, he had many of memorable supporting roles as an actor in films like THE GREAT GABBO, THE GRAND ILLUSION, SUNSET BOULEVARD, and FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO. I alreay have the earlier incarnation of this book THE MAN YOU LOVED TO HATE. I was glad that I bought this updated version, because there is a lot of new information in it. If you are interested in silent film history, you will love this biography.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating tale of a frustrated, perfectionist director
Review: Erich Von Stroheim was surely the most unique director of the silent era. Of all of his films, only THE MERRY WIDOW survives in a form that is close to what he wanted. Yet this film is the least representative of his films. He was probably fired from more movies that anybody else in Hollywood. Yet producers recognized that he was an artistic genius and they kept him employed for over a decade. Von Stroheim gave his critics plenty of rope to hang himself, as he worked his crews incredibly long hours and he busted the budget of almost every movie that he filmed. Still, it is sad that Fox producer Sol Wurtzel killed any chances Von Stroheim had in sound films by re-shooting most of his last film, WALKING DOWN BROADWAY. Almost every film Von Stroheim made is now considered a classic, such as BLIND HUSBANDS and GREED. In the sound era, he had many of memorable supporting roles as an actor in films like THE GREAT GABBO, THE GRAND ILLUSION, SUNSET BOULEVARD, and FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO. I alreay have the earlier incarnation of this book THE MAN YOU LOVED TO HATE. I was glad that I bought this updated version, because there is a lot of new information in it. If you are interested in silent film history, you will love this biography.
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