具体描述
This is the extraordinary story, told for the first time, of Joseph P. Kennedy’s remarkable reign in Hollywood, in which he ran three movie studios simultaneously, led the revolution in sound pictures—and made the fortune that became the foundation of his empire.
Kennedy saw filmmaking as “a gold mine” when movies were an idea one week, in front of the camera the next, and in theaters within the month.
It was 1919; Kennedy was thirty-one years old.
Between 1926 and 1930, Kennedy used his talents to position himself as a Hollywood leader. He ran Film Booking Offices (FBO), was brought in to run Pathé and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theaters, and became the chairman of their boards. Within months, he was asked to head First National film company. By 1928, Kennedy—merciless, electrifying, a visionary—was running three studios at once.
In Joseph P. Kennedy Presents, Cari Beauchamp writes about the genius behind Kennedy’s profiteering and his importance in changing the way Hollywood conducted business. As one of the first nonfamily members to be given access to Kennedy’s personal papers, Beauchamp, through years of meticulous research and countless interviews with those close to Kennedy, has dug through the maze of deals and the files of memos and notes, only recently made available, to tell in full how he made it all happen: how he charmed, cajoled, and bullied; how he juggles various backers—and managed to line his pockets with millions.
Beauchamp writes about the movies Kennedy produced and the stars he made, about the studios he razed and those he reorganized, about the jobs that were lost and the careers that were ruined (among them, that of silent film cowboy star Fred Thomson—one of America’s top box-office draws).
Beauchamp tells for the first time the full story of Kennedy’s affair with the feisty Gloria Swanson, the “reigning Queen of Hollywood”—an extravagant escapade that became legend and that triggered one of Hollywood’s biggest financial fiascos. It began with Kennedy taking over Swanson’s personal and professional life (“Together we could make millions,” he promised), and ended with his first failure (personal and public) and her career on the brink of ruin, a million dollars in debt.
Beauchamp writes as well about the Hollywood titans surrounding Kennedy: William Randolph Hearst (Kennedy was a welcome guest at “the ranch”) . . . Cecil B. De Mille . . . David Sarnoff, who, with Kennedy, masterminded the unprecedented deal that resulted in the founding of RKO, and that made Kennedy millions.
A fascinating tale of business genius and personal greed that brings to light not only the way Joseph P. Kennedy made his fortune, but how he forever changed the business of movie-making.
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评分我必须承认，这本书在某些侧面的挖掘深度远超我的预期。原本以为这会是一部比较传统的、注重时间线索的编年史，但事实是，它更像是一部关于“权力与家庭”的社会学论文，只不过披着一个引人入胜的故事外衣。最让我震撼的是作者如何解构那些被公众神化的“光环”，将光环背后的汗水、妥协乃至不为人知的牺牲，以一种近乎残酷的诚实展现在读者面前。书中对幕后运作的描写，那种对体制和体制内人物行为模式的深刻洞察，简直让人拍案叫绝。它不是简单地赞扬或批判，而是在提供一个更完整、更具层次感的观察视角。我特别留意到关于那些女性角色的处理，她们并非仅仅是附属品，而是拥有自己独特的智慧和影响力，在看似固定的轨道上，巧妙地施加着自己的意志。这种对“边缘”声音的捕捉与放大，使得整部作品的立体感大大增强，不再是单线条的英雄史诗，而是多股力量相互作用的复杂系统展示。读完之后，我对那个时代背景下的社会结构有了更深一层的理解，感觉自己的知识体系被某种无形的力量拓宽了。
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