Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master

Sragow's "Victor Fleming" a triumph

The customer review published here by "Benis" is extremely puzzling. Why would someone review a book they haven't finished but intend on finishing? And review it negatively? I'm happy to report that I disagree with the earlier review in almost every point. I believe that primary purpose of any biography of an artistic figure is to demonstrate how the life of the subject influenced his or her work and art. Michael Sragow does this so lucidly and clearly that his book has the pull of a great novel. It's hard to stop reading at almost any part. And the chapters on the making of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind" are infused with an excitement that can make you breathless. Sragow's research is impeccable-he seems to have found out every possible detail of Fleming's life and work, but I've read many incredibly well-researched biographies that inundate you with fact after lifeless fact so that the person being explored becomes dull and flat. Not so in this case. Sragow's prose is so lively, and his arrangement and presentation of what most of been the overwhelming details and records of Fleming's life are presented in such a logical, elegant narrative, that the book fairly crackles with life. The family history and love life of an artist are of course the primary influences on an artist's work, and Sragow would have been remiss to leave out Fleming's troubled marriages and passionate affairs-this is the stuff out of which Fleming created such enduring art. And the passages on the great work of Fleming's that has been lost can make you cry out in frustration. How can it be that these films were allowed to vanish? Sragow's book stands proudly beside Eileen Whitfield's great tome on Mary Pickford ("Pickford-The Woman Who Made Hollywood") as a definitive restoration of a major early Hollywood artist whose work has been previously undervalued or forgotten. Sragow breathes life into this complicated vibrant figure, finally giving Fleming his due. "Victor Fleming" is a hell of a read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Review of Sragow's biography of Victor Fleming

The book was given to me as a Christmas present, based on my suggestion. I had read a review of Sragow's attempt at capturing the essence of one of Hollywood's most prolific directors -- but a person who is a lover of films (like me) knew little about. I was looking forward to reading it.

The book is interesting, researched and written well, but so far (I'm about a third of the way through it,)there is for my part, too much emphasis on detailing the plots of the films Fleming either shot or directed. I would like to know more about the man, the times, his colleagues, perfecting his art, how the technology evolved, and how Fleming's style and talent affected the industry.

There is also too much of a 'soap opera' approach to the social side of Fleming's life -- as to who was sleeping with whom. I know these little tidbits are part of the culture of the times (even more than today) but the emphasis gets a little old.

In fairness, being only 200 pages into the book, I will withhold final judgement until all 645 pages have been read. I'm only mildly disappointed that it's not the page-turner I had hoped it would be.

When I reach the point in 1938-39, when Fleming directed "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With The Wind" all in the same year, hopefully the pages will beging rolling by at a faster pace.

Respectuflly submitted,


Benis

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

All You Need To Know About Victor Fleming, the Man!

In this immaculately researched, breakthrough book on Victor Fleming -- the first ever published in America on the most popular movie director of all time -- Michael Sragow takes great pains to fill in all minor and major details of Fleming's personal and professional life. Most of the movies he directed are scrupulously set in their studio contexts. (Sragow neglects to give any artistic account of Fleming's work as a photographer, even though several of these movies are available). Where the author falls down is in his failure to inspire readers to race out and view Fleming's films for themselves. The author piles background detail upon detail, but a movie-lover's heartfelt enthusiasm for the artistic, emotional and entertainment quality of a Fleming production is often sadly lacking. On the other hand, non-enthusiasm does not gain ground either. As to whether the movie is a turkey or a masterpiece, Sragow always seems reluctant to give a personal opinion. Although his text is loaded with studio politics and shooting details, he often fails to set the reader hankering to actually view Fleming's movies.

"Ditto"

Well-its strange but I agree with all three previous reviews.This book is extremely detailed and probably NOT for the casual reader. It covers the life of the most famous Hollywood director you've never heard of. The "Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind" are just two films that this giant directed. For me, I also count "Treasure Island"( Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper) as well as "Captains Courageous"(Spencer Tracy)as favorites. The fact that he's relatively unknown has as much to do with his early life(covered extensively in the early chapters) as the fact that he died relatively young after finishing "Joan of Arc"(Ingrid Bergman)and shuned publicity in his later life. After reading this book I will definately look for some of his films that I have previously bypassed("Tortilla Flat", "Test Pilot", "A Guy Named Joe", "Bombshell").A must for film historians.

Scholarly tome takes time getting past Fleming's early years...

I have to say I agree with the other reviewer who had trouble wading through the enormously detailed earlier sections of the book dealing with Fleming's family background and experiences before setting foot in Hollywood. It does take patience to read these early chapters and there seems to be, as the other comment indicated, too much time spent on giving the plot details of even lesser films that no longer exist.

It isn't until the chapter on Clark Gable that I began not having to force myself to read further. It's an extensive biography and the reports of behind-the-scenes details on films like THE WIZARD OF OZ, GONE WITH THE WIND and JOAN OF ARC, are practically worth the price of the book--but the extensively researched material on many other aspects of Fleming's life are going to frustrate any reader looking for a typical biography of a filmmaker.

Sragow never quite makes his case for films Fleming made after 1940, despite his earnest attempts to do so. Nevertheless, the book is well written and the subject is certainly worthy of a book encompassing his life and career as the man who directed two of the most famous films of all time in the same year.

But much of its 645 pages are heavy going. Definitely not light summer reading--a film for film scholars that will probably find a permanent place among the biographies of well-known directors.

No text was provided for this review.