The Last Mogul

If you do a title search on IMDB, apparently everyone who ever grew old in Hollywood is "The Last Mogul"! Jack Warner. Daryl Zanuck. Even Dino De Laurentiis or Golan and Globus!

Look, sure, these were all important enough figures in their way. But Wasserman was a guy who actually changed the underlying structures of Hollywood; who had the power, where the money flowed, what sort of compromises needed to be made. He was a guy who affected Hollywood (and, dare we say it, the US), not just one company.

This documentary does a great job of explaining just why he mattered and the ways in which he affected the industry. The talking heads documentary is difficult form to master - most are utter garbage, starting with the choice of subject matter. Thus it's fascinating to see one done right, from interviewing the correct people (and tossing out the interviews that add nothing) to the sequencing, to the correct balance of interviews versus data presented in other ways like voiceovers or old clips.

For anyone who considers themselves an expert on the movie industry or is an insane cinephile, this documentary about Lew Wasserman is a definite must-see. That's because although most folks have no idea who he was, he was a HUGE power player in Hollywood and did tons to shape the city into what it is today. Starting with a small agency, MCA, which represented musicians, Wasserman was able to expand by now representing big-name actors. But, it didn't stop there. Over time, his empire expanded to creating MCA/Universal, buying Paramount's library of films, to Decca Records, to a television production company. Like a proverbial octopus, Wasserman's company seemed to have it's arms into everything!

Had the film stopped with these accomplishments, it would have been well worth seeing. However, unlike many documentaries, this one was not just about the rise of Wasserman but his miscues as well as his eventual fall. This makes it a much more complete film than most. BUT, in one way the film still fell a bit short. It gave you little insight into the person. Other than wheeling and dealing and being a power broker, who was Lew Wasserman? In some ways you know clearly--but often you do not. For example, when Wasserman died, it sounded as if some thought it was about time! But, a few (such as Suzanne Pleshette--who I have no idea why she was included in the film) were quite saddened. Worth seeing and about 95% of what I was hoping to see about this incredibly powerful man.

A biography of powerful Hollywood agent and executive Lew Wasserman.

Of all the powerful people in the history of Hollywood, Lew Wasserman is not as well known as he probably should be. He was not an actor, not a director... he was not even one of the well-known studio heads. But he had a huge influential on movies, television and just about anyone who was a star at one point or another.

Some of the early history is a bit sketchy -- the parts about Jim Colosimo and Al Capone are highly suspect, and even Moe Dalitz may be less than accurate (though I am not a Dalitz scholar by any means). But once the Hollywood part starts, it stays on target the whole time.

Had I been a personal friend of Lew, I am sure this biography would have meant a lot more. I viewed this documentary as part of a film festival, and I suppose that meant I was expecting a little bit more. But I did not get more in any sense of the word.

My knowledge of the man before I saw this film was limited to his name and existence as an influential person in Hollywood, and now I still know little else. What information I did gather felt similar to an hour long Biography special on A&E. If he truly was an amazing man with enough history and intrigue to warrant a 2 hour documentary, then the director did not do justice to this character.

The film consisted largely of the friends/ co-workers speaking out about Wasserman, but after one introductory title informing me who the friends were, the director assumed I would recognize the face and relationship through to the end... I think a lot of tension and importance was lost on me because I did not understand the value of the praise etc given.

I believe this would have been best viewed on TV on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Watching The Last Mogul is like leaving an expensive restaurant by the rear entrance next to the dumpster. It exposes the odious greedy reality behind the glamour of Hollywood under the control of the most powerful figure in perhaps Hollywood history. Great producer, director, writer, actor? Nope a ten per center, talent agent Lew Wasserman. Never heard of him. For ,good reason, he was from Henry Ford school of never complain never explain, wrote nothing down and gave no interviews. But he could have easily written the most telling memoir in Hollywood history since he had nearly every major star in his stable. From Doris Day to Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck to Jimmy Stewart to Alfred Hitchcock he made them all very rich as well as pave Ronald Reagan's way to the White House.

It is a fascinating but unsettling look at an unctuous business filled with bottom line types grasping for every dime they can get by hook and by the doc's innuendo crook. Wasserman began his career in Cleveland booking bands at club's including Al Capone's joints in Chicago. Going to work for talent agent and promoter Julie Stein he moved on to where the action was NYC but Swifty Lazar ran things there so he and Julie moved on to Hollywood and the rest is history. MCA was soon monopolizing the film industry, would take over Universal and go on to greater heights with an almost complete monopoly of television. Meanwhile he wasn't doing too bad in the movie business backing films like The Sting, Jaws and Airport. When close scrutiny threatened he would employ all his power from mob lawyers, union thugs and sitting Presidents (Reagan) to smooth things over.

Wassermann was a man of remarkable insight and energy who truly understood power and how to use it. The film is interspersed with interviews and archival footage of many people he had love hate relationships with, still cautious in their criticism and coy about Lew so in awe of his power that you get the feeling they believe he could come back from the grave to deal with them. Many shed tears for Wasserman leaving it up to David Carr to handle his surly side and provide a counter view to the slavish worship of his lackeys. Eventually Wassermann is undone by the Japanese and the new kid on the block CCA CEO Danny Ovitz who undermines Lew with his own play book. How Shakespearean and why not, Wasserman in his own way cast a shadow every bit as large as Lear and Richard the Third.