THE ZANUCKS OF HOLLYWOOD: The Dark Legacy of an American Dynasty

by Marlys J. Harris ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 13, 1989

Harris, a senior writer for Money magazine, presents the lives and legal suits of the Zanucks--following the fabulous path of Darryl F. Zanuck from his days as Hollywood's boy-wonder studio head to his fadeout in alcoholism, Alzheimer's disease, and lost grandeur at 77 to the gigantic legal battles of his heirs, which Harris charts with an eagle eye. In telling the separate stories of Darryl and Virginia Zanuck, of their children Darrylin, Susan, and Richard, and of their fated grandchildren, Harris repeats many of the same incidents from the conflicting points of view of the participants, a method that somehow fails to deepen these scenes and leaves them simply gross and messy with no added richness. Zanuck's flaws and sins were as legendary as his early success. He founded Twentieth Century after becoming dissatisfied with his bosses at Warner Brothers, where he already was overseeing the production of half the company's gritty movies about big-city life. Zanuck prided his eye for storytelling, but it was only when he was working for someone else that his megalomania (fueled by alcohol) was kept in bounds. At Twentieth Century-Fox he produced an impressive array of lavish historicals (which today seem less vital than the outputs of his major rivals), eventually left his post as studio head to produce his own films--which foundered on his lavishness. Meanwhile, his sex life was spectacularly unbridled. His flaws were visited upon his child ten and grandchildren, whose lives were swept with alcohol, drugs, and early death. Having abandoned Virginia for 17 years, he returned to her bearing his French mistress (who was not allowed into the house), and spent his last years in deep fog by his swimming pool. A gripping read, clearly but not memorably written.

Pub Date: July 13, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION