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MGM: Saving The Best for Last

Name: MGM: Saving The Best for Last
Author: Charles Ziarko
ISBN: 978-1491036075

DORE SCHARY AND THE DEATH OF MGM

by Charles Ziarko ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 2013

A loving, if roughly executed, guide to a classic Hollywood studio at its height.

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Ziarko looks at nearly every film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while it was under Isadore “Dore” Schary’s control, arguing that it was the studio’s finest era.

One day in the late 1960s, when the author was working as an apprentice at MGM, he discovered an official ledger of financial and production details for nearly every film the studio made during Schary’s tenure from 1948 to 1956—the tail end of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Ziarko took the book home, meticulously copied it by hand and returned it. Now, decades later, after having corroborated the information with sources from the Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he presents it here in book form. The author assumes that readers have at least a working knowledge of the era’s Hollywood history and major players, and, as such, this book isn’t recommended for neophytes. It also has significant structural issues: After some relatively brief introductory chapters, it presents charts, followed by a short discussion of each film; however, these discussions seem to have no clearly defined purpose. Some provide the author’s personal responses to a film, while others discuss a film’s backstage drama, historical context or how well it fared at the box office. Overall, the book feels unpolished—more like disconnected trivia rather than a well-formed narrative. That said, Ziarko has an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject, and a great passion for movies that is genuinely infectious; he writes with unbridled joy. As a result, film buffs will likely be fascinated by many of his stories and expert opinions, and truly charmed by his conversational, enthusiastic tone.

A loving, if roughly executed, guide to a classic Hollywood studio at its height.

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2013

ISBN: 978-1491036075

Page Count: 416

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2013

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.