Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince

Review
"Vieira has accomplished something quite extraordinary... This is the definitive volume about a towering figure in the history of Hollywood."--Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy "Vieira has written the definitive biography of Thalberg." STARRED REVIEW--Library Journal "The third biography of Thalberg, and far and away the most thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and penetrating ... as close to definitive as any biography of Irving Thalberg is likely to get."--The Weekly Standard "Vieira writes with great verve and enthusiasm, and he has a flair for narrative movement that suits these exponents of the new storytelling ... well written and extensively researched."--New Republic "Among the many virtues of Mark Vieira's biography is the use he makes of the story conferences preserved in the MGM archives."--The Economist "The third biography of Thalberg, and far and away the most thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and penetrating ... as close to definitive as any biography of Irving Thalberg is likely to get."--The Weekly Standard "Vieira writes with great verve and enthusiasm, and he has a flair for narrative movement that suits these exponents of the new storytelling ... well written and extensively researched."--New Republic "Vieira writes with great verve and enthusiasm, and he has a flair for narrative movement that suits these exponents of the new storytelling ... well written and extensively researched."--New Republic "Among the many virtues of Mark Vieira's biography is the use he makes of the story conferences preserved in the MGM archives."--The Economist "Among the many virtues of Mark Vieira's biography is the use he makes of the story conferences preserved in the MGM archives."--The Economist
Product Description
Hollywood in the 1920s sparkled with talent, confidence, and opportunity. Enter Irving Thalberg of Brooklyn, who survived childhood illness to run Universal Pictures at twenty; co-found Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at twenty-four; and make stars of Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Jean Harlow. Known as Hollywood's "Boy Wonder," Thalberg created classics such as Ben-Hur, Tarzan the Ape Man, Grand Hotel, Freaks, Mutiny on the Bounty, and The Good Earth, but died tragically at thirty-seven. His place in the pantheon should have been assured, yet his films were not reissued for thirty years, spurring critics to question his legend and diminish his achievements. In this definitive biography, illustrated with rare photographs, Mark A. Vieira sets the record straight, using unpublished production files, financial records, and correspondence to confirm the genius of Thalberg's methods. In addition, this is the first Thalberg biography to utilize both his recorded conversations and the unpublished memoirs of his wife, Norma Shearer. Irving Thalberg is a compelling narrative of power and idealism, revealing for the first time the human being behind the legend.

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