Excellent career review of Hollywood producer Wanger, who always seems to appear in film lore as poor old Wanger, whether shooting Jennings Lang in the testicles for rooting his wife, or going bankrupt, going to gaol, producing two of the most infamous flops in Hollywood history (Joan of Arc, Cleopatra).
This has tended to obscure the fact that Wanger's career was littered with successes, but they are mostly unknown (he was head of Paramount production age 26 in the 1920s, had a distinguished stage career producing Nazimova) or were hits that are known for being auteur works (eg John Ford's Stagecoach, Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers and - dare we say it - Maria Montez's Arabian Nights.)
Bernstein sketches Wanger's career with great skill and much research, illuminating his strengths (charm, taste, hands off approach) as well as weaknesses (story construction, hands off approach). It also is excellent on the notion of independence in Hollywood - perhaps at the expense of character and flavour which this is a little thin in (the only criticism).
Most extensive analysis goes to Wanger's 50s trilogy of comeback films: Riot in Prison Block 11, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and I Want to Live! - perhaps Wanger's most auteurist works - plus Cleopatra. I guess if your career's gotta end, it can end with a bang!
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