Irving Thalberg: Prince of Hollywood

Irving Thalberg: Prince of Hollywood (2005)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Entertaining documentary about the life and career of Irving Thalberg, the legendary producer who accomplished so much in such a short period of time. Thalberg got his start at Universal but when he switched over to MGM this is when his career really took off as he was involved in some of the biggest pictures that the studio had and turned many stars into legends. The film covers the majority of his career as well as stuff in his personal life including his ill health and his marriage to Norma Shearer. Michael Blake, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. and Bob Thomas are just some of the historians who are interviewed and we also get some archival interviews with the likes of King Vidor and Helen Hayes. If you're unfamiliar with who Thalberg is then this documentary will probably answer all of your questions. It covers how he helped turn MGM into a powerhouse and how he used a style that was pretty much used like a factory to make sure the product got out each week. The documentary also goes into detail about how he would preview a film and then go back for reshoots just to make sure it was as good as it could possibly get. In between all the interviews we get countless film clips from the movies he helped make and we also get a taste of how many actors he pretty much found and turned into stars. The documentary does a very good job at giving you an idea of what Hollywood was like before and after Thalberg.

Vapid bio of Irving Thalberg and Norma Shearer as a power couple at MGM in the 1920s and 30s.

Thalberg is certainly an interesting topic for a documentary, but if the filmmakers were going to spend so much time on the the stars he helped create: Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, John Gilbert, Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery, Marie Dressler, Greta Garbo, Wallace Beery, Lon Chaney, Ramon Novarro, plus Shearer and the Marx Brothers, why on earth would they skip Marion Davies and William Haines, two of MGM's top stars of the era?

The documentary continues the "cancel culture" (even before it was named) of trying to wipe out the significant careers of these two stars. They are consistently omitted from books and documentaries about this time in Hollywood.

While much time is spent on Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer and the rise of MGM, it's idiotic to omit Marion Davies. Davies was a major star of the silent era and a major catch when she signed with MGM in 1925. Davies, along with William Randolph Hearst, were instrumental in making MGM a major studio. Davies was a star long before Shearer or Crawford and brought a lot of name recognition to MGM's new stable of stars. Hearst brought money and his massive media empire to hawk MGM movies and stars.

Haines was an MGM star from 1926 on and was a bigger box office draw than John Gilbert or Ramon Novarro. His BROWN OF HARVARD and TELL IT TO THE MARINES were among the biggest hits of the decade. Haines was actually the #1 male box office star in the early 1930s. Haines is neither mentioned nor shown in the clips.

Marion Davies is shown several times in this documentary but she's never mentioned. Even the bit on San Simeon, which shows Thalberg clowning in home movies, mentions Hearst but does not mention Davies ... even when discussing the lavish, legendary parties she gave.

These two power couples, Shearer and Thalberg, Davies and Hearst, were the very core of MGM's power in the 1920a and early 1930s.

Thalberg is a worthy figure for a documentary, but he also deserves better than this pale Turner Entertainment entry.

A wonderful glimpse into an astonishing career. The story is well paced and given the focus it deserves. The film makers do a wonderful job with what must have obviously been a limited supply of material given Thalberg's short life -- photos and clips are not repeated or lingered on for an unnecessarily long time. Thalberg's imprint on the early days of Hollywood were powerful -- ranging from creative aspects to union disputes and everything in between. His powerful reach extended beyond the walls of the studio and into the world of politics as a significant behind the scenes player. The film deftly touches on these and other areas of his life. There are also interesting insights into his marriage to Norma Shearer and the effect Thalberg had on her career. The film also gives substantial insight into the early days of the studio system. Highly recommend.

Fraid I'll have to respectfully disagree with previous reviewer planktonrules on two points. One is his feeling that this film needed to be longer. To my mind a concise documentary about someone whose great career was tragically cut short feels like it fits its subject quite neatly. And as to plankton's objection that you get none of Thalberg's personal life I would make the demurral that it seemed from this doc that there was little personal life to get. Instead, I agree with what I feel is well delineated in director Robert Trachtenberg's work, that Thalberg was your classic control freak/workaholic whose main love was for movies and that that was pretty much it in the personality department, aside, that is, from a fair amount of charm that made him a favorite of the people with whom he worked, other than Louis B Mayer, of course, whose supply of charm resembled a half empty canteen in the desert.

How would Thalberg have fared if he had lived into his seventies or eighties and been productive into, say, the early 1970s? My guess is that it would have been a tough slog for him, particularly in the 1950s and 60s when his disdain for the director as opposed to the producer (and writer) would have clashed with the post WW2 ethos, in film, of Director as Boss, if not auteur. I could imagine him eventually moving to television, where the opposite is the case. And needless to say his right wing politics would not have flown in the Hippie and anti Vietnam mid to late 60s, although they would have been just dandy in the HUAC era. So, let's say his catching pneumonia at thirty six was a good career move and it's a good thing we didn't have to see him in his post glory days somewhere between a fading David O Selznick (kind of the guy's double) and a prestige TV show runner (kind of a glorified David Susskind).

Bottom line: A most thought provoking documentary and entertaining to boot, with interesting tidbits scattered throughout, like Mayer calling on President Hoover for help in warding off Fox, and Norma Shearer neglecting her kids, (always had a vague dislike for this gal and now I have a specific reason why). Give it an A minus.

For movie fans especially, this examination of the life of Irving Thalberg does justice to the man and his legendary career as a visionary pioneer of the Golden Age who knew how to give audiences what they clamored for at MGM.

It also provides insight into the relationships he had with the bigwigs of his era, including Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn and David O. Selznick, all of whom he came into contact with as he made his way up the ladder of success. It also serves to look at his love affair with Norma Shearer, whose blossoming career was well nurtured by Irving's insistence on managing and abetting his wife's movie star image.

Anyone with an interest in films per se, how and why they were made in the 20s and 30s, will find this documentary an interesting way to spend 90 minutes behind the scenes at the MGM studio factory where there were "more stars than there are in heaven." He inspired the Irving G. Thalberg award that is given by the Academy to celebrate significant contributions to the art of the motion picture.

Of interest are the comments on Irving by such people as Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., Helen Hayes, Anita Loos, Bob Thomas and King Vidor, and Deborah Thalberg.