directed by Barry Avrich
102 minutes
This documentary is about (mostly) the rise and (to a lesser degree) the fall of Lew Wasserman as a major figure behind the scenes in Hollywood from the 1940s to the 1990s. He came from a poor family in Cleveland, OH. He was the child of immigrants He quickly made an impression on people in the entertainment industry. He had connections with people who were known to be part of organized crime. He never wrote anything down and did not give interviews.
Wasserman became the head of MCA in the late 1940s. He made deals that increased the company's business greatly in the movie and television industries. Everything did not go MCA's way forever. MCA eventually got in trouble with the US Government because it exerted too much control in Hollywood. MCA was forced to reinvent itself. Wasserman missed opportunities later in his life that could have kept the company relevant. He was forced out in the end after he lost control of the company.
Lew Wasserman's story is told through interviews with people that knew him, worked with him, and people who knew of him. Some of the interview subjects are names that I recognize but many are not. Some of the interview subjects had strong feelings for Wasserman and were very moved by talking about what happened to him.
Journalist Kathleen Sharp is one of the people interviewed for this documentary. She wrote Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire (2004) which according to Wikipedia was the basis for the documentary. She is credited as consulting producer in the credits. The writing credit for the documentary belongs to the director, Barry Avrich.
It's hard for me to feel sorry for someone who was so successful. He rose very high in the world in which he operated, fairly early in life. He was just in his early 30s when he became president of MCA.
There is only a very little bit of focus on Wasserman's personal life. None of his relatives or descendants were interviewed for this movie. I'm not sure what that says about him, his family, or the people that made this documentary. In many ways this documentary feels like a history of MCA from the 1940s to the 1990s, in part because there is so little about Wasserman's personal life.
This is a well made doc. I'm not an expert or even well read in the subject matter so I can't really speak to how accurate it is. It is eighteen years old now. Probably three-quarters of the people interviewed have since died, I recommend this documentary to people who are interested in the history of the business of Hollywood.
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