There have been biographies of Joe and Herman but they came out when key people were alive so it's an ideal time to revisit both. Joe inevitably overshadows his brother because he lived longer, did more, and was a director, so more of his work was clearly his, whereas Herman was often rewritten or rewrote... but it was Herman who paved the way, whether establishing himself in journalism, or in Berlin, or Hollywood, while Joe followed.
People seemed to adore Herman with his quick wit and genuine talent - he also got a lot of gigs because people felt sorry for his long suffering wife Sarah (who he seems to have been faithful to). A witty columnist, writer and guest he seemed to struggle to write anything of substance on his own - no truly memorable play or novel for instance. He thrived in the collaborative environment of Hollywood and was promoted to writer-producer, having a long run at Paramount. Actually he kept employed for a long time, turning out Citizen Kane of course (which earned him an Oscar) as well as fun pictures like The Spanish Main.
Joe also thrived in Hollywood, working as a producer at MGM. He must have been very charming - all the top stars wanted to work with him. He was more manipulative and destructive than possibly even he realised - he was constantly having affairs with insecure, self destructive women, and while sending them to psychoanalysis and treating them as smart, and leaving them loving him, in the long run they didn't turn out well: Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, his second wife Rose Strander, Gene Tierney, Linda Darnell.
The book is well written and excellent researched, accessing some private letters and what not. He clearly has tremendous admiration for his subjects but doesn't worship them - Herman's drinking and Joe's gaslighting get appropriate criticism.
It helps that so many of the films the brothers worked on were interesting - for Herman there's Citizen Kane of course but he caused entertaining trouble at Paramount. Some of Joe's films had memorably chaotic productions - The Barefoot Contessa, The Quiet American and of course Cleopatra. Worth a read.
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