Superb biography of Wasserman, the agent turned movie tycoon - actually its not just on Wasserman, but also on MCA, the agency created by Jules Stein. Wasserman went to work for MCA and became number two in the organisation, making it the leading agency. MCA moved into production in the 1950s and eventually bought out Universal Studios. Wasserman was a player second to none in his day - smart, clever, ruthless, not without honour... he was fortunate to be the smartest young exec in Hollywood at a time (the late 40s and 50s) when the old moguls were still around but struggling to adapt to the post-1948 environment; it was a time of a gap and Wasserman filled it. He and MCA were so skilled, so good at what they did that at times they seemed omniscient. In the 50s and 60s that certainly seemed to be the case. Universal did suffer in the movie recession of the late 60s and Wasserman almost was kicked out in a coup, but recovered and loved the 70s.
However, everyone's reign comes to an end in Hollywood - it happened to Mayer, Selznick, Zanuck, etc. Wasserman's position slipped in the late 70s - perhaps not coincidentally around the time the emergence of the first super agency since MCA, CAA - but then he went and sold Universal to the Japanese. There are heaps of tycoons who sell their businesses towards the end of their career - they almost always regret it (Zanuck, Sam Arkoff, Frank Packer). You'd think such smart people would realise that about themselves, but I guess if you devote your life to chasing the good deal, its hard to give it up... even when it means destroying yourself.
This book has the advantages of interviews with Wasserman plus access to Stein's unublished memoirs. Occasionally Wasserman gets lost in the stuff about politics and organised crime (there is a lot on organised crime) - I suppose that's inevitable. Also inevitable is that it doesn't focus on films and filmmakers as much as I would have liked (a few get discussed, such as producer Ross Hunter, Isadora, Steven Spielberg). Wasserman doesn't seem to have been as colourful as Mayer or Cohn... but he was married a long time to a wife who would cheat on him even though he knew about it, so he had some kinks. He seems to have been a bit like Kerry Packer in business - ruthless and a bully, sharp and using loyalty when it suited him, but he never did anything the government didn't let him. Which to be honest wasn't a lot!
Bruck has done much research and is written in that easy to read style of New Yorker articles. I enjoyed it immensely.
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