Infamous Players: A Tale of Movies, the Mob (and Sex)
Weinstein Books, May 2012
In 1967, Peter Bart, then a young reporter for the New York Times, decided to upend his life and enter the dizzying world of motion pictures. Infamous Players is the story of Bart's remarkable journey at Paramount, his role in its triumphs and failures, and how a new kind of filmmaking emerged during that time.
When Bart was lured to Paramount by his friend and fellow newcomer, the legendary Robert Evans, the studio languished, its slate riddled with movies that were out of touch with the dynamic sixties. By the time Bart left Paramount, in 1975, the studio had completed an extraordinary run with such films as The Godfather, Rosemary's Baby, Harold and Maude, Love Story, Chinatown, Paper Moon, and True Grit. But this new golden era at Paramount was also fraught with chaos and company turmoil. Drugs, sex, runaway budgets, management infighting, and even the Mafia started finding their way onto the Paramount back lot.
Bart reflects on the New Hollywood era at Paramount with insider
details and insightful analysis; here too are his fascinating
recollections of the icons from that era: Warren Beatty, Steve
McQueen, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Marlon
Brando, Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski, and Frank
Sinatra, among others.
Paperback | ISBN: 9781602861664 | Publication Date: May 2012
Reviews:
"Maybe it's because I came of age with the great movies that Peter
Bart brought to the screen, but I couldn't put this book down. I
thought I knew a thing or two about Hollywood, and that's exactly
how much I did know. Herewith, the rest."
-- Bill Maher
"A fast, funny, no-nonsense, and graphic account of Paramount's
most dizzyingly high times. [Bart] may have been a studio
executive, but he started out reporting. He's a sharp-eyed
reporter still."
-- Janet Maslin, New York Times
"Readers are fortunate to have such a well-placed guide. He is
not only an insightful journalist but an insider: He immersed
himself in Hollywood's curious culture of that era."
-- Edward J. Epstein, Wall Street Journal
"Perhaps the only truthful account of moviemaking in the sixties,
and it is so frank and full of detail and history-as-gossip, I
just couldn't resist it."
-- Liz Smith, Wowowow.com
"Hollywood made some great movies during this whacky period of
time. Bart manages to capture it all with his droll sense of
humor. I found it thoroughly enjoyable."
-- Michael Douglas
