The greatest movie ever made..!

Some things I liked some I did not.

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Watching The Last Mogul is like leaving an expensive restaurant by the rear entrance next to the dumpster. It exposes the odious greedy reality behind the glamour of Hollywood under the control of the most powerful figure in perhaps Hollywood history. Great producer, director, writer, actor? Nope a ten per center, talent agent Lew Wasserman. Never heard of him. For ,good reason, he was from Henry Ford school of never complain never explain, wrote nothing down and gave no interviews. But he could have easily written the most telling memoir in Hollywood history since he had nearly every major star in his stable. From Doris Day to Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck to Jimmy Stewart to Alfred Hitchcock he made them all very rich as well as pave Ronald Reagan's way to the White House.It is a fascinating but unsettling look at an unctuous business filled with bottom line types grasping for every dime they can get by hook and by the doc's innuendo crook. Wasserman began his career in Cleveland booking bands at club's including Al Capone's joints in Chicago. Going to work for talent agent and promoter Julie Stein he moved on to where the action was NYC but Swifty Lazar ran things there so he and Julie moved on to Hollywood and the rest is history. MCA was soon monopolizing the film industry, would take over Universal and go on to greater heights with an almost complete monopoly of television. Meanwhile he wasn't doing too bad in the movie business backing films like The Sting, Jaws and Airport. When close scrutiny threatened he would employ all his power from mob lawyers, union thugs and sitting Presidents (Reagan) to smooth things over.Wassermann was a man of remarkable insight and energy who truly understood power and how to use it. The film is interspersed with interviews and archival footage of many people he had love hate relationships with, still cautious in their criticism and coy about Lew so in awe of his power that you get the feeling they believe he could come back from the grave to deal with them. Many shed tears for Wasserman leaving it up to David Carr to handle his surly side and provide a counter view to the slavish worship of his lackeys. Eventually Wassermann is undone by the Japanese and the new kid on the block CCA CEO Danny Ovitz who undermines Lew with his own play book. How Shakespearean and why not, Wasserman in his own way cast a shadow every bit as large as Lear and Richard the Third.

*Spoiler/plot- The Last Mogul- Lew Wasserman, 2005, Follows Lew Wasserman's life and work in the entertainment business until his death.*Special Stars- Many friends and colleagues of the title man.*Theme- Growing and taking chances keeps you relevant and alive.*Trivia/location/goofs- TV movie, documentary. Early showcase of Mr. Wasserman's career to his major role leading Universal Inc.*Emotion- An excellent documentary explaining, seeing and brilliant decisions of a studio mogul long after the film studio chairman had ended.

A biography of powerful Hollywood agent and executive Lew Wasserman.Of all the powerful people in the history of Hollywood, Lew Wasserman is not as well known as he probably should be. He was not an actor, not a director... he was not even one of the well-known studio heads. But he had a huge influential on movies, television and just about anyone who was a star at one point or another.Some of the early history is a bit sketchy -- the parts about Jim Colosimo and Al Capone are highly suspect, and even Moe Dalitz may be less than accurate (though I am not a Dalitz scholar by any means). But once the Hollywood part starts, it stays on target the whole time.

Had I been a personal friend of Lew, I am sure this biography would have meant a lot more. I viewed this documentary as part of a film festival, and I suppose that meant I was expecting a little bit more. But I did not get more in any sense of the word.My knowledge of the man before I saw this film was limited to his name and existence as an influential person in Hollywood, and now I still know little else. What information I did gather felt similar to an hour long Biography special on A&E. If he truly was an amazing man with enough history and intrigue to warrant a 2 hour documentary, then the director did not do justice to this character.The film consisted largely of the friends/ co-workers speaking out about Wasserman, but after one introductory title informing me who the friends were, the director assumed I would recognize the face and relationship through to the end... I think a lot of tension and importance was lost on me because I did not understand the value of the praise etc given.I believe this would have been best viewed on TV on a rainy Sunday afternoon.