( 8 reviews )
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Posted: Jul 23 2009
Louis B. Mayer and MGM - these names alone evoke a golden age of stars and starlets, glitz and glamour, the good life, the fame and fortune of which many people dream. But, Scott Eyman allows us the opportunity to peer under the veneer to find what is, at its foundation, a cold and calculating business. Mayer was its architect. Lifting himself from junk dealer's son to the pinnacle of Hollywood wealth and power was no mean feat. An angel couldn't have made it and Lion of Hollywood makes this abundantly clear. Eyman's treatment is admirably impartial, however. Mayer was a paradox - a man loved and detested. There didn't seem to be neutral ground. Lion of Hollywood combines the biography of this industry titan with the inner-workings of the illustrious studio he ran. It is compelling stuff. Eyman's effort brings a piece of earlier LA to the reader and a look inside the industry that made it grand. Palm trees and boulevards, sunshine and surf, and roughly 15 million less people in the general area to share it with. It all makes for thrilling reading and easily merits 5 big stars.
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Posted: May 10 2009
The book provided a good overview of man who was responsible for creating much of Hollywood and it's legends. Unfortunately, he also held traditional and somewhat antiquated values which were out of touch with those of movie subjects in the 50's and 60's. Then, TV became one of the final nails in his coffin as more people watched the box than went to movies. The book also reflects the business world, who replaced Mayer with Dore Schary at a moment's notice with no remorse whatsoever. Mayer was a bigger man than his bosses were. Of course, all they were concerned about was their money. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Isn't that right Bernie Madoff?
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Oct 23 2007
How and when did so many great Americans get thrown into the dust bin of history? We really need hero courses in our schools to provide kids with information on these grand, legendary figures. Instead, we work to undermine what little hero worship there is. John D. Rockefeller is one such figure, Teddy Roosevelt another. No doubt, one could come up with a dozen such creators of new worlds, but instead they are belittled and destroyed by neglect. Louis b. Mayer has his detractors and no doubt deserves them, but the man we are talking about created one of the greatest arts institutions in the world. Unlike the founders of theatres and ballet companies, however, this great institution will last forever, or certainly as long as the great movies he produced can be preserved. The studio itself is long gone, of course, but through Turner we learn the films themselves will survive. This is a well-written, well-documented biography of one of America's titans of industry. His flaws are great, but in the end we must acknowledge the result of this man's devotion to great film making and admit that if he was flawed so are we.
