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Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope, Heartbreak, and Hollywood Classics Hardcover – 1 October 2019
Sydney Ladensohn Stern (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Herman J. (1897-1953) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909-1993) wrote, produced, and directed over 150 pictures. With Orson Welles, Herman wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane and shared the picture's only Academy Award. Joe earned the second pair of his four Oscars for writing and directing All About Eve, which also won Best Picture.
Despite triumphs as diverse as Monkey Business and Cleopatra, and Pride of the Yankees and Guys and Dolls, the witty, intellectual brothers spent their Hollywood years deeply discontented and yearning for what they did not have--a career in New York theater. Herman, formerly an Algonquin Round Table habitué, New York Times and New Yorker theater critic, and playwright-collaborator with George S. Kaufman, never reconciled himself to screenwriting. He gambled away his prodigious earnings, was fired from all the major studios, and drank himself to death at fifty-five. While Herman drifted downward, Joe rose to become a critical and financial success as a writer, producer, and director, though his constant philandering with prominent stars like Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, and Gene Tierney distressed his emotionally fragile wife who eventually committed suicide. He wrecked his own health using uppers and downers in order to direct Cleopatra by day and finish writing it at night, only to be very publicly fired by Darryl F. Zanuck, an experience from which Joe never fully recovered.
For this first dual portrait of the Mankiewicz brothers, Sydney Ladensohn Stern draws on interviews, letters, diaries, and other documents still in private hands to provide a uniquely intimate behind-the-scenes chronicle of the lives, loves, work, and relationship between these complex men.
- Print length480 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity Press of Mississippi
- Publication date1 October 2019
- Dimensions16 x 4.06 x 22.86 cm
- ISBN-101617032670
- ISBN-13978-1617032677
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Review
If you want to know everything there is to know about the Golden Age of Cinema, as seen through the eyes of two amazing siblings, read The Brothers Mankiewicz. Herman wrote Citizen Kane, while Joe wrote All About Eve and wrote and directed Liz Taylor in Cleopatra--that's just for starters. Sydney Ladensohn Stern has done a terrific job writing about the public and private lives of these remarkable men who both became legends. It's a generous, knowledgeable, fascinating account--I couldn't put it down.--Patricia Bosworth, author of biographies on Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, and Jane Fonda, and contributing editor at Vanity Fair
Given the overlapping arcs of their careers, a dual biography of the two men makes perfect sense, and Sydney Ladensohn Stern, author of The Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope, Heartbreak, and Hollywood Classics, proves far more than equal to the formidable technical challenges of writing it. She succeeds in keeping the narrative strands of their lives sufficiently separate to make for easy reading while simultaneously illuminating the instructive similarities in their personalities, both of which come through with lively clarity. Above all, she tells their tightly entwined stories thoughtfully and well, with a sympathetic but honest appreciation of their talents--and limitations.--Terry Teachout "Commentary"
With her recent publication, Stern has provided a comprehensive account of not only Herman's life and career, but also that of his younger brother Joseph (1909-1993), called Joe, the director, screenwriter and producer of a range of films that are regarded as 'classics' today. This double biography is rich in facts regarding the brothers' social circle and the films they made or were involved with. . . . I have nonetheless enjoyed learning more about the two brothers and their contributions to film history, and fully recommend this book for fans and researchers of Hollywood cinema and those interested in (film) biographies.--Hanja Daemon "Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television"
Eleven years apart, and growing up with different family tensions, the Mankiewicz brothers became two of the most brilliant and charismatic men ever to ply their sometimes dubious trade in Hollywood. As allies and competitors, loyal yet also subject to intense mutual irritation, they make for a fascinating dual portrait. In Sydney Ladensohn Stern's enthralling account, their very social lives, their many enchanting and enchanted females (some of them wives), their witticisms for every occasion, furnish ample entertainment, but her book is also a thorough and judicious assessment of their extraordinary contributions to cinema.--Molly Haskell, American film critic
It's a novel introduction for those who are unfamiliar with either of them, but for those already well-versed with their respective output, the text serves as an impetus to drive one back to watching items from both of their filmographies.--Nicholas Bell "IONCINEMA.com"
Sydney Stern does a terrific job with a fascinating pair of subjects. Not only does the book read smooth as butter but it's full of great film history. I was amazed to find out how much I didn't know!--Marion Meade is a biographer whose subjects include Nathanael West, Buster Keaton, Dorothy Parker, and Woody Allen.
This is one of the best of the recent biographies of screenwriters. . . . A particular strength of the book is that it is exactly a dual biography, which means Stern can and does bounce the two brothers off each other. Their relationship was complex, to say the least, something that Stern gets better than the earlier writers.--Tom Stempel "Script"
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Product details
- Publisher : University Press of Mississippi (1 October 2019)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 480 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1617032670
- ISBN-13 : 978-1617032677
- Dimensions : 16 x 4.06 x 22.86 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 255,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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. Frank (1897-1953) became a reporter and covered Broadway. He graduated high in his class at Columbia University. Frank was a member of the famous Algonquin Roundtable and was friends which such literary luminaries as George S. Kauffman, Ben Hecht, Robert Benchley, Marc Connelly and many more. He relocated in Hollywood and became a valued screenwriter. Frank co-wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane winning a screenwriting Oscar with his cowriter Orson Welles. Frank liked to drink, gamble and womanize although he remained married to Sara for over sixty years. He was an alcoholic known for his wit who died too young.
Younger brother Joe (1911-1993) followed in his brother's footsteps. He became a famous producer at MGM and bedded such stars as Joan Crawford, Loretta Young, Gene Tierney and more. He was twice married. He won several Oscars for his work and produced such classics as A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Cleopatra. He too loved to drink, gamble, womanize and sail boats.
Both the brothers were intellectuals who enjoyed reading and studying politics. They represent a vanished Hollywood studio system. The author has produced a beautiful book filled with period photos of the colorful era when the brothers were at their creative peak of wit, humor and a clever writing style. This is one of the best Hollywood books I have read in quite a while. If you love the movies this book will entertain and enlighten you!