"Hearst Over Hollywood" is a remarkably scholarly
book that should stand as the final word on this media/movie mogul.
Every page doesn't deal directly with the movies, but Pizzitola
is adept at bringing all the pieces of Hearst's life together
as a well-connected puzzle that ultimately reveal his influence
in the movie world. It is enlightening to see the man as more
than a "Sugar Daddy" for Marion Davies who financed
her film career. Hearst's interests in movies and Hollywood began
long before his affair with Davies, and Pizzitola reveals to us
how Hearst saw the movies as a natural extension of his publishing
empire and how both were mediums for realizing his dreams. The
author also makes it clear that Hearst's influence over Hollywood
was more than we have previously believed. The book shows us how
Hearst's interest in film making goes back as far as McKinley's
inauguration and the Spanish-American War continuing with early
animation, serials such as "The Perils of Pauline" and
such controversial early films as "Patria." The reader
looking for insight into the Hearst-Davis relationship won't be
disappointed either, as we delve deeper into the complexion of
this love affair than ever before. Pizzitola has organized his
book into an easy-to-read chronological (as much as possible,
at least) tale the progresses logically while holding the reader's
interest throughout. This, along with Marion Davies' autobiography
The Times We Had, and the Fred Lawrence Guiles bio
of Davies, completes the picture on the famous star and her benefactor/paramour.
Purchase
this book from
Just click
on the link above and type in the author's name
