REVIEW BY LEE PFEIFFER
20th Century-Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the
Creation of the Modern Film Studio by Scott Eyman (Running Press/Turner Classic
Movies) $28, 304 pages, Illustrated (Colour & B&W), Hardback, ISBN ‎978-0762470938
Scott Eyman has authored high profile biographies of numerous
screen legends including John Wayne, James Stewart, John Ford, Louis B. Mayer
and Cary Grant. Now, Eyman sets out to examine the career of another
larger-than-life Hollywood icon, Darryl F. Zanuck. There’s plenty of fertile
ground to examine, too, as the mercurial producer had a long, dramatic career
that could have formed the basis of one of his films. He saved the fledgling
Fox film corporation early in his career then became the tyrannical head of its
subsequent incarnation, 20th-Century Fox. Over the decades, Zanuck
would be feared and despised, rarely liked, but always respected as his early knack
for creating hits was legendary.
How
tough was he? On the set of The Longest
Day, he publicly humiliated John Wayne for making an offensive remark about
the French. Now, that’s tough. Eyman follows his life through the
many highs and lows, from being dismissed from Fox only to be called back to
stave the red ink from Cleopatra. The
new glory years were followed by disaster due to Zanuck backing money-losing roadshow
productions in the 1960s and 1970s. He also famously battled for control of the
studio with his own son Richard, all the while still chasing women who were
young enough to be his granddaughter. The book provides some fascinating insights into the Zanuck's track record. Despite some major hits such as Patton, Planet of the Apes and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the majority of their productions proved to be money losers, resulting in Zanuck passing the blame to Richard and backing the board in firing his own son. All you need to know about Zanuck's persona is that a previous biography of him, published in the 1980s by Mel Gussow, was titled "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking". It all makes for a highly compelling read
that you will find difficult to put down.
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