A PRIVATE VIEW

by Irene Mayer Selznick ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 25, 1983

Looking back at her 1924 diary, Irene Mayer Selznick--daughter of Louis B., wife of David O.--feels ""sorry for that girl. My family gave me everything except privacy and a sense of my own worth."" But if there are traces of regret or anger in this crisp, candid memoir, they are firmly overshadowed by the voice (and actions) of a no-nonsense woman who enjoyed the good things while they lasted--and specialized in ""quitting while I was ahead."" Irene was the younger, less glamorous of Mayer's two overprotected daughters: their Hollywood lifestyle was modest, ""wholesome"" above all; young men were unwelcome (even when Mayer's beloved Irving Thalberg came to dinner, the girls were ""constantly admonished"" to take no romantic interest whatsoever); Irene got a Hollywood education from previews and post-mortems--but Hollywood glamour was oddly absent (though she helped ""Uncle William"" Hearst build his beach-house) and the risks of college were off-limits. Then, however, enter buoyant suitor David O. Selznick: ""poet and promoter,"" a brief wonder-boy at studio after studio, in his way as family-bound as Irene. (""Until David got married, his father put him to bed every night."") Friendship grew into unlikely, non-whirlwind romance--between ""the girl most disciplined and the man least constrained."" And, after a grand Selznick/Mayer battle over David's independence (the Romeo-and-Juliet aspects have been exaggerated, however, says Irene), the magnate's daughter became the wife of the most ambitious young hotshot in town. ""I can't think of a more complicated life-work than keeping the engines running and wheels greased for a man like David""--a workaholic oblivious to time, a compulsive gambler, an erratic father. (""Children were an ornament and a pleasure--at his convenience""; after two sons, a third pregnancy was aborted.) Still, Irene fully, intensely shared in the early great triumphs--Gone With the Wind (weeping over George Cukor's dismissal), Rebecca (backing Joan Fontaine for the lead). And it was only when success-struck David became increasingly over-extended, wild, and thoughtless (leaving Irene behind on Oscar night), that she turned to psychoanalysis, sought non-movie work. . . and finally walked out. (She learned of the Jennifer Jones affair after asking for the separation--and ""Jennifer hadn't caused our situation. . . there was something deeply wrong with the marriage."") So then Irene went to New York, largely freed of her ""Girl Scout"" complex to take care of everyone's problems; encouraged by Moss Hart, she became a Broadway producer--with solid backstage tales of N.Y./London productions of Streetcar Named Desire. (But her own most personal contributions were a curtain moment for Rex Harrison in Bell, Book and Candle and helping Enid Bagnold to rewrite The Chalk Garden.) And again she quit while ahead--devoting much of the time thereafter to firmly sketched friendships. Throughout, in fact, Selznick is a gifted, shrewd-yet-tender portrait artist--with the vivid David O. (seen in later years, too, compassionately) joined by fine cameos of Paulette Goddard, Ingrid Bergman, Katharine Hepburn, and Henry Luce (a fellow stutterer). And while her own story may lack the shape, depth, and drama of great autobiography, there's an alluring balance here between soul-journey and objective observation--making this one of the richest and wisest of Hollywood memoirs.

Pub Date: May 25, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1983

Categories: NONFICTION