Peter Bart

Frequently, when one watches an awful movie or television program, one wonders how such a disaster ever could have been produced and released. Reading Peter Bart's Boffo!: How I Learned to Love the Blockbuster and Fear the Bomb, though, makes it clear that even hugely successful productions overcome numerous obstacles, including times when many fear the project will become a disaster.

Bart, a former film executive, who was the long-time editor-in-chief of Variety when this book was released show more in 2006 (he has since retired), provides the back stories of 31 movie, television, and theater hits. Using his experience as a former executive at Paramount and MGM, he sorts through the anecdotes to write brief, but informative, and entertaining accounts of such diverse blockbusters as "Cats," "CSI," and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In most of these back stories, these projects languished for years with criticisms that they would simply never work. A musical based on Abba songs (Mamma Mia!)? Or T. S. Eliot's poems about cats (Cats)? A movie about disabled war veterans struggling to readjust to life on the homefront released shortly after the end of World War II (The Best Years of Our Lives)? A feature-length cartoon (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)?

All of the stories -- with one notable exception -- are fascinating, brimming with insider knowledge about the odd decision-making process that dominates the visual arts in the US, particularly in Hollywood and New York. The exception is Bart's chapter on The Godfather, which is presented as a bizarre roundtable rather than as a single narrative. Perhaps Bart feels he is too close to that project to offer a coherent and objective narrative (he was an executive at Paramount at the time), but the "cacophony of voices" approach he takes is unhelpful.

Even so, the other chapters are enjoyable, as is the breadth. It is unlikely that a reader would be familiar with all of the projects, particularly the older ones (such as the big Broadway hits of pre-1945: Abie's Irish Rose, Tobacco Road, and Life with Father), which means that it will also present the theater lover, cineaste, and TV junkie new titles to explore. show less

The author collects his own published articles with a light linkage of prose which suggests a stripe of narcissism not unlike that which he implies is the fatal weakness of Hollywood movers and shakers. That aside, it is instereting to read of the integrity of Bruce Willis, the real world basis for plot of The Godfather III, the shallowness of Warren Beaty and how Waterworld almost sunk.

This is a tale of movies; there is material about mob involvement, but it is more concentrated on the difficult relationships between studio executives and the demands of business corporate boards. It is still a good read for the insights into the development of rising stars such as Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, and Clint Eastwood. Then there are the tales of the decline of Marlon Brando, the rude public persona of Frank Sinatra, and the introvert nature of Coppola. These are the sort of show more insider stories we like to read without getting caught in a check-out line buying tabloids. While we can justifiably be skeptical about the truth of tabloid presentations, Bart brings the personal credibility of personal involvement so we feel comfortable that we, the readers, are getting accurate information. A reader with too much time on hand might want to go back to discover author bias in certain cited situations, but my overall impression is that there was just enough balanced presentation of, for example, corporate power play issues (that may have been grounded in drugs, sex, or personal ego foundations) to mitigate charges of author bias. A reader can race through this book in one sitting while watching some sort of classic movie channel with movies starring the characters highlighted in the book. show less

Peter Bart was famously hired as a powerful studio exec at Paramount in the late '60's, solely on the basis of being a smart New York Times reporter, at a time when all the old rules were being thrown out and no one seemed to know what audience wanted.

Bart, who later headed up Variety, is willing to own up to his mistakes -- fiascos he saw coming and didn't stop, or didn't see coming. He also takes some credit for some major good calls, like pushing LOVE STORY when no one wanted it.

It's a show more book of war stories. I don't know that anyone actually needs to know what Hollywood was like in the 1970's. But if you're in the biz, you're expected to be able to talk about the old days, even if you weren't there for them. It shows respect to the culture of the industry. It also reminds you that every movie legend has his share of flops and bad calls. And everyone in showbiz experiences ridiculous amounts of frustration over their career. show less