The Last Mogul

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.

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.

CINEPHILE ALERT!!! This film shows without a doubt how Hollywood was born out of mafia management strategies, and it was 'clean' guys like Lew Wasserman who were able to use their brains, guts, and influence to make the entertainment industry legit (so to speak) despite its financial underpinnings.

Lew Wasserman did keep one troubling trait (for researchers) that he picked up from his mob associates, NEVER write anything down. That's right, somehow he ran an entire motion picture empire without writing so much as one memo, it was all kept in his head until the day he died in 2002. However, he also had a legendary temper that won't be soon forgotten by his associates, though it only erupted when things didn't go his way. As legit as appeared, he was still one of those guys who could end a labor problem on a movie set with one phone call (if you know what I mean).

Luckily for the filmmakers, there were still quite a few people that were willing to speak about THE MAN though much of the information in the film comes second-hand because people still fear Wasserman's wrath from the grave.

MUST-SEE viewing if it comes your way, and remember that Robert Evans was just a blip on the Hollywood radar compared to Lew Wasserman so if you thought "The Kid Stays in the Picture" was informative just remember that that documentary was only the tip of the Hollywood iceberg.

Check this one out, you won't regret it. Educational and entertaining or as Lettermen likes to say, "it's INFO-tainment"!

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.