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Sydney Ladensohn Stern

The Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope, Heartbreak, and Hollywood Classics (Hollywood Legends Series) Hardcover – October 2, 2019

by Sydney Ladensohn Stern (Author)

180 ratings

Part of: Hollywood Legends (37 Books)

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Winner of the 2020 Peter C. Rollins Book Award
Longlisted for the 2020 Moving Image Book Award by the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation
Named a 2019 Richard Wall Memorial Award Finalist by the Theatre Library Association

Herman J. (1897–1953) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909–1993) wrote, produced, and directed over 150 pictures. With Orson Welles, Herman wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane and shared the picture’s only Academy Award. Joe earned the second pair of his four Oscars for writing and directing All About Eve, which also won Best Picture.

Despite triumphs as diverse as Monkey Business and Cleopatra, and Pride of the Yankees and Guys and Dolls, the witty, intellectual brothers spent their Hollywood years deeply discontented and yearning for what they did not have―a career in New York theater. Herman, formerly an Algonquin Round Table habitué, New York Times and New Yorker theater critic, and playwright-collaborator with George S. Kaufman, never reconciled himself to screenwriting. He gambled away his prodigious earnings, was fired from all the major studios, and drank himself to death at fifty-five. While Herman drifted downward, Joe rose to become a critical and financial success as a writer, producer, and director, though his constant philandering with prominent stars like Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, and Gene Tierney distressed his emotionally fragile wife who eventually committed suicide. He wrecked his own health using uppers and downers in order to direct Cleopatra by day and finish writing it at night, only to be very publicly fired by Darryl F. Zanuck, an experience from which Joe never fully recovered.

For this first dual portrait of the Mankiewicz brothers, Sydney Ladensohn Stern draws on interviews, letters, diaries, and other documents still in private hands to provide a uniquely intimate behind-the-scenes chronicle of the lives, loves, work, and relationship between these complex men.

Print length

480 pages
Language

English
Publisher

University Press of Mississippi
Publication date

October 2, 2019
Dimensions

6.3 x 1.6 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1617032670
ISBN-13

978-1617032677
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Stern ... succeeds in keeping the narrative strands of their livessufficiently separate to make for easy reading while simultaneouslyilluminating the instructive similarities in their personalities, bothof which come through with lively clarity. Above all, she tells theirtightly entwined stories thoughtfully and well, with a sympathetic buthonest appreciation of their talents---andlimitations."

-Terry Teachout, Commentary

".... beautifully researched and deftly structured....This model biography tells a storyof two gifted brothers, only one of whom exceeded expectations. Butunderneath the surface wit and brio, The Brothers Mankiewicz is a harrowing tale of a subtly lethal sibling rivalry that ulitmately strangled them both."

-Scott Eyman, Wall Street Journal

"meticulous research and penetrating writing"

-David Thomson, Sight & Sound

Book Description

Sydney Stern does a terrific job with a fascinating pair of subjects. Not only does the book read smooth as butter but it?s full of great film history. I was amazed to find out how much I didn?t know! -- Marion Meade is a biographer whose subjects include Nathanael West, Buster Keaton, Dorothy Parker, and Woody Allen.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University Press of Mississippi (October 2, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1617032670
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1617032677
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.9 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.6 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #405,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #155 in Individual Directors
- #301 in Movie Director Biographies
- #521 in Video Direction & Production (Books)

Customer Reviews:
180 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		75%
4 star		18%
3 star		5%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Dona Munker

Everything a good biography should be

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2019

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I don't read many Hollywood biographies, but I love the good ones because of the insights they give you into creative men and women who inhabited a world most of us will never enter. That's what a serious biography should do, and this book about two brothers--one troubled but likable, the other troubled and not so likable who are important figures in the history of films--is absorbing from the get-go. It's well-written and insightful, keeps its eye on the ball in spite of what must have been a labyrinthine amount of research, and doesn't pass judgment on its two difficult subjects. Highly recommended.

23 people found this helpful

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James Cooper

That's Entertainment!

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2019

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I was fortunate to see Citizen Kane on its first release when I was an 11-year-old. What an enthralling experience! Nine years later I was equally captivated by All About Eve. So it was a delight indeed to read about the gestation and execution of these terrific films and the life and times of the brilliant brothers Mankiewicz. Author Sydney Stern has done an excellent job of bringing the siblings to life, and I read her book, in huge gulps, with delight. What an entertaining, incident-filled saga. It's a pity that a great read was marred by many obvious typos.

20 people found this helpful

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The Brothers Mankiewiciz is an outstanding dual biography of two showbiz siblings of Hollywood fame

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2020

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Last month I was watching TCM my favorite channel when Ben Mankiewicz introduced Sydney Stern to his audience. She is the author of this new book on the two brothers who made a major impact on Hollywood history. The brothers were sons of a distinguished Ph.D father who taught in several colleges in New York and Los Angeles
. Frank (1897-1953) became a reporter and covered Broadway. He graduated high in his class at Columbia University. Frank was a member of the famous Algonquin Roundtable and was friends which such literary luminaries as George S. Kauffman, Ben Hecht, Robert Benchley, Marc Connelly and many more. He relocated in Hollywood and became a valued screenwriter. Frank co-wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane winning a screenwriting Oscar with his cowriter Orson Welles. Frank liked to drink, gamble and womanize although he remained married to Sara for over sixty years. He was an alcoholic known for his wit who died too young.
Younger brother Joe (1911-1993) followed in his brother's footsteps. He became a famous producer at MGM and bedded such stars as Joan Crawford, Loretta Young, Gene Tierney and more. He was twice married. He won several Oscars for his work and produced such classics as A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Cleopatra. He too loved to drink, gamble, womanize and sail boats.
Both the brothers were intellectuals who enjoyed reading and studying politics. They represent a vanished Hollywood studio system. The author has produced a beautiful book filled with period photos of the colorful era when the brothers were at their creative peak of wit, humor and a clever writing style. This is one of the best Hollywood books I have read in quite a while. If you love the movies this book will entertain and enlighten you!

12 people found this helpful

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Fascinating and detailed look at two Hollywood giants

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2019

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Beautifully researched view of two Hollywood legends. It is an incisive portrait of the brothers Joe and Herman, with their sharp wits, formidable intellects, and who thrived in a nascent industry rife with sexual temptation and power plays.

9 people found this helpful

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Diane OC

Fantastic lives unfulfilled

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2020

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The author takes you through the worlds of two of Hollywood’s seminal and largely unsung geniuses and plumbs the depths of their psychology with affectionate care.
The Mankiewicz brothers' studio battles are bittersweet, but recognizable to any but the most successful writers of the oeuvre. One wishes that Joe Mankiewicz lived during the seventies, when auteurs like Altman, Coppola, Scorsese, etc. could shine outside the studio system. Alas, there was no Tisch school or Sundance institute in his day. But arguably, he blazed a trail through the studios for the writer/ directors who followed. Great read!

4 people found this helpful

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dolgag

Beautifully written--hard to put down

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2019

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The lives and history of the Mankiewicz brothers is a fascinating read. The author's use of words is enchanting and has me going back to read some passages over and over.

7 people found this helpful

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John Sittig

Rare inside look inside the studio system.

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2020

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Very well documented account of Joe and Herman Mankiewicz from birth. Excellent insight into Hollywood from the silent era forward. Enjoyed the inside stories involving Herman on Citizen Kane and Joe going from writer to producer to director on some of Hollywood’s most honored films like All About Eve, Letter To Three Wives and his fights with studios and guilds for screen credit

5 people found this helpful

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Skiman

Great info of the lives of both Mankiewicz brothers

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2020

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Good book and a fun read it your inter in old Hollywood and the background of these 2 famous brothers

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Wingate

Sets the record straight on Kane

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2020

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Both brothers were exceptionally talented. Herman writing the screenplay for the best film ever made.Joe for many films that remain classics.The author does an excellent job of melding these two fascinating careers and lives together

stephen kuzak

Great book on old Hollywood!

Reviewed in Canada on February 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

I've read many books on the old days of La La Land and this is one of the best! Both brothers are interesting and had a huge hand in shaping early Hollywood. A great read. Goes well with TCM...

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