An extremely good look at the career of Mankiewicz, one of the best known writer-producer-directors from Hollywood's golden age. He had a remarkable career - he made it to the top relatively quickly and stayed there until the end. He managed to retire with his money, his respect and his marbles, which is pretty good.
Mankiewicz came from smart stock - dad was educated, so was mother. He got into films via his brother Herman, who was a journalist who became a screenwriter and was famous for co writing Citizen Kane and not living up to his potential. He drank and Joe didn't. Joe was also a better politician -he could charm, particularly actresses, many of whom he had affairs with. He found a good home at MGM and earned his reputation with Manhattan Melodrama.
I was surprised how many flops were on his resume but he always bounced back. He hit a sort of producing peak with Woman of the Year and The Philadelphia Story but Louis B Mayer wouldn't let him direct so he went to 20th Century Fox, where he thrived under Daryl Zanuck. He's best known for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve but made many other solid films, such as Five Fingers and The Ghost and Mrs Muir. Even misfires like People Will Talk are interesting.
Mankiewicz left Fox, whereupon a lot of Zanuck apologists say he never made another decent film. I think that's not true. He's work was always interesting, even when flawed - Guys and Dolls, Suddenly Last Summer, The Quiet American. Of course the biggest "flawed achievement" was Cleopatra which almost killed Mankiewicz but has some great stuff in it - it's definitely one of the better epics, especially in the first half.
He hung on, managed to make a bunch of other films including Sleuth - this book features some fascinating observations of the making of the film, including Mankiewicz's directing technique.
There's lots of fantastic quotes, particularly from Mankiewicz who was very much alive when the book was written. Surprisingly little about his son Tom's career. The author admires its subject but not to the point of ignorance.
There are some annoying little errors - David and Bathsheba was actually a big hit - and some items where I questioned the writers taste (All the Presidents Men a bad screenplay?). Mankiewicz's power over women - they all fell in love with him apparently - seems a little more suspect to read about in the MeToo era, and also I note all the girls who loved him were neurotic actresses.
Still this is easily the best book on Mankiewicz out there.
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