Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

THE MAN WHO SEDUCED HOLLYWOOD

THE MAN WHO SEDUCED HOLLYWOOD: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer. B. James Gladstone. Chicago Review Press; 2013. An A Capella Book.

Now that pretty much all of the major stars of classic Hollywood have been written about ad nauseam, authors have turned to supporting players [Mary Wickes] or talented minor stars who never quite got the breaks [Ann Dvorak]. And now The Man Who Seduced Hollywood is about a fringe figure who has wandered into biographies over the years, lawyer Gregson Bautzer, who dated famous stars such as Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers,  and Dorothy Lamour [and who married Dana Wynter of Invasion of the Body Snatchers fame], and who made a great many deals for the power brokers of Hollywood, as well as representing them and their players in court. Bautzer was tall, dark and handsome, but he also had a severe drinking and anger management problem; he also had completely undistinguished WW2 military service. At times the hero worshiping-tone seems overdone and unwarranted, but while the material isn't always presented in the most dramatic fashion, this is still a workmanlike and interesting job.

Verdict: Behind the scenes in Old Hollywood. ***.

5 comments:

angelman66 said...

This is a must-read for me...have always been fascinated by Bautzer and his relationships with Crawford, Turner et al.

Steve Forrest played him in Mommie Dearest--and I love when Faye snarls at him, “You're nothing but a rotten, crooked lawyer....supplying the grease that makes this sh***y movie business work.There isn't a cover-up in this business that I don't know about, and your hand is in every one of them. You reek of it!!”

William said...

Good line!

angelman66 said...

Just bought the book - will elt you know my feedback!

angelman66 said...

Enjoyed this book and agree 100% on your astute observations...many of the stories and anecdotes were fascinating and new to me, but could have been presented with a more dramatic through-line for the protagonist. I feel I didn't get quite close enough to Bautzer or get into his head the way I wanted to...he was indeed a colorful character with lots of flaws; maybe I expected him to come to life a little more vividly...But all in all, a really good read!

William said...

It was a good read, but you got the idea there was, somehow, more to say about this man and his private problems.