Sam Spiegel: The Incredible Life and Times of Hollywood's Most Iconoclastic Producer, the Miracle Worker Who Went from Penniless Refugee to Showbiz Legend, and Made Possible The African Queen, On the

Rating:
Summary: French journalist?
Review: Astonishing mistake in the Editorial Review above. That Natasha Fraser could be called a "French journalist" boggles the mind, since her father was the British M.P. Hugh Fraser, her mother is Lady Antonia Fraser (herself daughter of the Earl and Countess of Longford), and her mother is married to Harold Pinter! Authors all.

This woman comes from as distinguised a line of BRITISH authors as can be imagined.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Astonishing mistake in the Editorial Review above. That Natasha Fraser could be called a "French journalist" boggles the mind, since her father was the British M.P. Hugh Fraser, her mother is Lady Antonia Fraser (herself daughter of the Earl and Countess of Longford), and her mother is married to Harold Pinter! Authors all.

This woman comes from as distinguised a line of BRITISH authors as can be imagined.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I found this book difficult to read much less follow. I have a great interest in "old" Hollywood and have read many books on the subject. This book would be at the bottom of the list.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at best
Review: I have a deep interest for history, especially Hollywood history, and Sam Spiegel is a name that crops up all over the place and, until now, has really garnered very little attention in the way of biography relative to his peers. Natasha Fraser-Cassavoni had a personal relationship with Spiegel (he produced a film based on a play by her stepfather Harold Pinter) and is perhaps as qualified as anyone to write the life story of this great producer.

The problem is, although his catalog of films can stand alongside that of anyone in the history of the industry, as a person he doesn't really have any particular standout characteristics that make you take any real interest in him beyond his work. Instead he seems to fit the bill as the stereotype of the Hollywood producer and maybe that alone is enough to make him interesting, but it doesn't come across. The best chapters focus on the films, not the man. There's no denying he was very good at what he did, but this book proved a supreme disappointment simply because I came away not knowing anything more than what I could have learned from a basic filmography. Three stars is a more than generous rating but I give it that because the films are worth the analysis.