Book Review – MOGULS: The Lives and Times of Hollywood Film Pioneers Nicholas and Joseph Schenck

Title: MOGULS: The Lives and Times of Hollywood FilmPioneers Nicholas and Joseph Schenck

By: Michael Benson and Craig Singer

Publisher: Citadel Press

ISBN 978-0-8065-4308-6 (hardcover)

ISBN: 978-0-8065-4310-9 (ebook)

When you think about movie moguls from Hollywood’s Golden Age, who comes to mind? You’ve probably heard or know something about Louis B. Mayer, Darryl F. Zanuck, Samuel Goldwyn, and maybe Harry Cohn. All of these men were the public faces of powerful movie studios. But were they really the ones in charge?

Authors Michael Benson and Craig Singer examine the lives of two brothers: Nicholas and Joseph Schenck. Russian Jewish immigrants, both came to America with dreams and ambitions and fulfilled them in ways almost impossible to believe.

The brothers grew up on the mean streets of New York City’s Lower East Side. Eventually, the Schenck family moved uptown to Harlem. An upgrade for sure, but not an easy life. The boys helped their families by selling newspapers and working other odd jobs to earn money.

Joe got his high school diploma by attending night classes while working during the day. Later he took night courses at the New York School of Pharmacy and became a licensed pharmacist.

Together the brothers worked in several pharmacies in the city and worked hard to purchase one of their own. Eventually, they owned several pharmacies and could have made a comfortable living but they wanted more.

They opened a beer hall with dancing and  Paradise Park, an amusement park that would eventually be called Palisades Amusement Park atop the cliffs of New Jersey. It became one of the most famous amusement parks on the East Coast and the United States. It had rides to rival Coney Island and the world’s largest saltwater pool. But the success of the amusement park wasn’t enough for brothers Nick and Joe.

Norma Talmage

The two were always drawn to the movies. From the early days of the Nickelodeons, the brothers were eager to get into the movie business. As if by fate, the brothers met Marcus Lowe who owned penny arcades, nickelodeons, and movie theaters. He told the Schenck brothers he wanted to open a concession at their amusement park. Before you knew it, Nick and Joe were in the movie business and developed a life-long friendship and business association with Lowe. Lowe would become a legend in his own right as the head of Lowes, Inc., the parent company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He was Louis B. Mayer’s boss.

Joe eventually became a vaudeville talent booker and movie producer. Fatty Arbuckle, a silent film comedian whose films were produced by Joe, whose popularity rivaled that of Charlie Chaplin, introduced Joe to Norma Talmage, an actress Arbuckle felt could be a major movie star. It was love at first sight for Joe. They eventually married and Joe spent most of his time doing everything he could to promote Talmage’s career.

Where Joe was outgoing and everyone’s friend, brother Nick was more reserved and conservative. Joe loved publicity and being in the public eye, but Nick hated it. In fact, Nick had a “publicist” whose job was to keep his name out of the papers. Joe was liked by everyone and everyone was afraid of Nick. Nick was a family man and Joe, before and after his marriage to Talmage, was a playboy. Despite their differences, they were devoted to each other and worked well together.

The brothers became entrenched in the movie business. They held controlling interests in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Twentieth Century-Fox, and United Artists. Unlike the moguls we know, the brothers preferred being behind the scenes, often pulling the strings of Louis B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg, and Darryl F. Zanuck.

Buster Keaton

So many film legends passed through the brothers’ lives: Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, Thelma Todd, Merle Oberon, and Marilyn Monroe. So many in fact that it’s hard to keep track and almost unbelievable. 

The authors have written a nonfiction account of the Schenck brothers that reads like a novel. They have presented Nick and Joe in a way that brings their characters alive; you come away feeling like you know them. The book is filled with so much fascinating history of film and Hollywood that it’s hard to put down.

Nicholas and Joseph Schenck may not be household names. However, without the grit and determination of the brothers, classic Hollywood, as we know it, may never have existed.