Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation

Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation - Hardcover

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Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation
  • Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation
Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation - Hardcover

Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation - Hardcover

by Kenneth Turan
$30.00
$30.00

Book Overview

by Kenneth Turan (Author)

Kenneth Turan brings to life the extraordinary partnership of Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg and their role in creating the film industry as we know it

"Sharply observant."--Farran Smith Nehme, Wall Street Journal

A New Yorker Best Book of the Year

One was a tough junkman's son, the other a cosseted mama's boy, but they dreamed the same mighty dream: that the right movies could make a profit and change both the culture and individual lives. Sharing a religion and an evangelical zeal for film, Louis B. Mayer (1884-1957) and Irving Thalberg (1899-1936) were unlikely partners in one of the most significant collaborations in movie history. Over the course of their decade-long relationship, as key players at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and major players in Hollywood, they joined forces in redefining and mastering the template for the film industry.

Mayer, older by more than a dozen years, was the business-minded face of the studio, while Thalberg worked closely with the creative corps, especially writers; together they rarely set a foot wrong. And while Mayer initially viewed Thalberg as the son he never had, the two would go from passionate friends to near enemies before Thalberg's shocking death at the age of thirty-seven.

In the first joint biography of the two men in fifty years, film critic Kenneth Turan traces their fraught relationship while examining the complicated history of Jewish identity in Hollywood.

Author Biography

Kenneth Turan was the film critic of the Los Angeles Times for nearly thirty years and was also a film critic for National Public Radio. He is the author of Not to Be Missed: Fifty-Four Favorites from a Lifetime of Film, among other books. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Number of Pages: 392
Dimensions: 1.2 x 8.3 x 6.1 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: February 04, 2025
ISBN9780300254495
Author Kenneth Turan
PublisherYale University Press
GenreBiography and Arts
FormatHardcover
PublishedFebruary 2025
LanguageENG- English
Pages392
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Biography & Autobiography Nonfiction Performing Arts

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More by Kenneth Turan

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Free for All: Joe Papp, the Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Every Told - Paperback

Free for All: Joe Papp, the Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Every Told - Paperback

By Kenneth Turan and Joseph Papp

About Kenneth Turan

Kenneth Turan has been a film critic for the Los Angeles Times since 1991 and the director of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes since 1993. He teaches nonfiction writing and film criticism at the University of Southern California and provides regular reviews for Morning Edition on National Public Radio. Joseph Papp (1921-1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954 with the aim of making Shakespeare's works accessible to the public.

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