Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince / Edition 1

by Mark A. Vieira

Overview

Hollywood in the 1920s sparkled with talent, confidence, and opportunity. Enter Irving Thalberg of Brooklyn, who survived childhood illness to run Universal Pictures at twenty; co-found Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at twenty-four; and make stars of Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Jean Harlow. Known as Hollywood's “Boy Wonder,” Thalberg created classics such as Ben-Hur, Tarzan the Ape Man, Grand Hotel, Freaks, Mutiny on the Bounty, and The Good Earth, but died tragically at thirty-seven. His place in the pantheon should have been assured, yet his films were not reissued for thirty years, spurring critics to question his legend and diminish his achievements. In this definitive biography, illustrated with rare photographs, Mark A. Vieira sets the record straight, using unpublished production files, financial records, and correspondence to confirm the genius of Thalberg's methods. In addition, this is the first Thalberg biography to utilize both his recorded conversations and the unpublished memoirs of his wife, Norma Shearer. Irving Thalberg is a compelling narrative of power and idealism, revealing for the first time the human being behind the legend.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520260481
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	11/05/2009
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	526
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Mark A. Vieira is a photographer, filmmaker, and Hollywood historian. His previous books include Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits and Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part One The Merger
1 The Boy Wonder
2 A Funny Little Man
3 Three Shaky Little Stars

Part Two The Perfection of Silence
4 A Studio Style
5 Wicked Stepchildren
6 A Business of Personalities
7 Top of the Heap
8 “More Stars Than There Are
in Heaven”

Part Three The Talkies
9 The Golden Silents
10 All-Talking, All-Singing,
All Profitable
11 The Production Code

Part Four “His Brain Is the Camera”
12 Visiting Royalty
13 New Morals for Old
14 The Right to Be Wrong
15 Hollywood Icarus

Part Five The Thalberg Unit
16 The New Setup
17 Honor with Credit
18 “To Hell with Art!”

Part Six The Crown Prince of Hollywood
19 “Napoleon Thalberg”
20 A Feverish Energy
21 A Labor of Love
22 The Gods Are Jealous

Part Seven The Legacy
23 Unfinished Projects
24 Marie Antoinette

Epilogue

Appendix: The M-G-M Films
of Irving Thalberg
Notes
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
Illustrations

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Vieira has accomplished something quite extraordinary. . . . This is the definitive volume about a towering figure in the history of Hollywood."—Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy

"Vieira has written the definitive biography of Thalberg." STARRED REVIEW—Library Journal

"The third biography of Thalberg, and far and away the most thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and penetrating . . . as close to definitive as any biography of Irving Thalberg is likely to get."—The Weekly Standard

"Vieira writes with great verve and enthusiasm, and he has a flair for narrative movement that suits these exponents of the new storytelling . . . well written and extensively researched."—New Republic

"Among the many virtues of Mark Vieira's biography is the use he makes of the story conferences preserved in the MGM archives."—The Economist

Editorial Reviews

An important book on a pivotal figure in Hollywood history. . . . Vieira’s biography is an invaluable resource.

Jrnl Of American Culture - Camille McCutcheon

The third biography of Thalberg, and far and away the most thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and penetrating . . . as close to definitive as any biography of Irving Thalberg is likely to get.

The Weekly Standard - Joseph Epstein

Vieira’s excellent biography reveals a master player...[and] sheds much needed light upon significant, influential life.

Magill's Literary Annual / Salem Press

A fast-paced and well-researched new biography of Thalberg.

Film Comment - Kent Jones

Vieira takes students of movie history deep into the bowels of MGM.

The National Post - Robert Fulford

This is a worthy, well-documented account of [Thalberg’s] life.

Choice - R. D. Sears

An engaging new biography . . . an unusually animated and revealing tour of Hollywood in the 1920s and '30s.

Bookforum - Noah Isenberg

Vieira has accomplished something quite extraordinary. . . . This is the definitive volume about a towering figure in the history of Hollywood.

Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy - Leonard Maltin

Among the many virtues of Mark Vieira’s biography is the use he makes of the story conferences preserved in the MGM archives.

The Economist

This is a sympathetic, diligent, and intelligent account of a wondrous era in Hollywood.

Jewish Book World

Vieira has put the enigmatic producer back in the spotlight with his biography . . . a thorough and readable book.

Forward - Matthew Rovner

If you want to know about Hollywood’s Golden Age, then you must know about Thalberg. And if you want to know about Thalberg, then you must read this book.

Screening The Past - Anthony McKenna

A well-researched and readable biography.

Wall Street Journal - David Yezzi

The jury has been out for 70 years on the MGM studio chief, even though F Scott Fitzgerald immortalised him as the “last tycoon”. Was Thalberg art’s gift to Hollywood, with his well-bred epics (Romeo and Juliet, Marie Antoinette)? Or was he a mogul playing to the middlebrow? Read this impressively researched study and decide.

Financial Times - Nigel Andrews

Vieira writes with great verve and enthusiasm, and he has a flair for narrative movement that suits these exponents of the new storytelling . . . well written and extensively researched.

New Republic - David Thomson

Irving Thalberg's name is mostly lost to history, but his body of work as a film producer survives—Grand Hotel, A Day at the Races, Freaks, and Red Dust are just a few. When he died tragically in 1936 at age 37, Hollywood lost its boy wonder, the man who ran Universal Pictures at 20 and cofounded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer four years later. Over the seven decades since his death, Thalberg's achievements have faded from memory, his name known only to film buffs and scholars. Building on his previous book on Thalberg, Vieira (Hollywood Dreams Made Real: Irving Thalberg and the Rise of M-G-M) now brings the enigmatic producer back from the fog of history. VERDICT Using previously untapped sources like production files, financial records, and correspondence, Vieira has written the definitive biography of Thalberg. Highly recommended to those looking for a well-researched work on the foundation of the studio system and the people who made Hollywood.—Teri Shiel, Westfield State Coll. Lib., MA

Library Journal