Title: Irving
Thalberg: Prince Of Hollywood
Narrated By:
Stanley Tucci
Director: Robert
Trachtenberg
Running Time: 74
minutes without commercials
Media: TCM Original
Documentary (NTSC VHS Screener)
Premiere Tuesday,
February 1, 2005, at 8pm (ET)/9pm (PT)
Network: Turner
Classic Movies (Check your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV Rating: Not
Available At Time Of Review
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
The
Irving C. Thalberg Memorial Award is voted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences Board of Governors and is presented to “creative producers whose
bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality in motion picture
production.” Named after the man who became head of production at the
Universal Film Manufacturing Co. at the age of 20 and three years later vice
president and head of production for Louis B. Mayer. A year later, Mayer’s
studio became part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) with Thalberg assuming the
position of vice president and supervisor of production. Over the next eight
years, MGM became Hollywood’s most prestigious film studio with Thalberg
personally supervising the studios top productions. Thalberg died of pneumonia
in 1936 at the age of 37. The year after the Academy instituted the Irving
Thalberg Memorial Award. Among the recipients of this honor include the likes of
Stanley Kramer and Steven Spielberg.
This
TCM original documentary follows Thalberg’s journey from being a sickly young
man barely over his teenage years to becoming one of the most important and
historic figures in the history of the motion picture industry in Hollywood.
Thalberg enabled women to become accomplished screenwriters and had a knack for
cultivating acting talent and creating strong character driven vehicles to help
them grow in their craft. The documentary sheds an interesting light on a man
who truly refused to take screen credit for his behind-the-scenes labors and is
perhaps one of the most well known names by those who appreciate film and
filmmakers and yet Thalberg never once took credit for directing or writing in
any of the projects he was involved with. He was truly like the candle that
flickers twice as bright, but lasts half as long. This is an entertaining and
even educational documentary for novice film historians that is narrated by
Actor Stanley Tucci and was directed by Robert Trachtenberg.
Turner
Classic Movies will be celebrating Thalberg’s legacy as part of a 24-hour,
ten-film salute that begins with the premiere of “Irving Thalberg: Prince Of
Hollywood” and continues onward as a part of TCM’s 31 Days Of Oscar®, which
will run from February 1, 2005 through March 3, 2005. Check your local cable and
satellite listings for additional information.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.