#Books4Babes Book Club~Week 1

Hey babes! Welcome back to the #Books4Babes #BookClub! 😇

BUT FIRST~~~~What is BOOKS 4 BABES? Who are the babes?

A babe is anyone who wants to learn more about the world, have a good time, meet new friends, and engage with some interesting books. Babes can be anyone, anywhere. #bookbabes4lyfe. If you wonder for even a single second if you're a #bookbabe then.... you are. 👏 BABE. Gals, gays, queerdoes, straight boys, dogs wearing glasses, aliens~~~~join us as we read new books and I share my thoughts each Monday here on Vocal. If you're interested, message me at [email protected] to chime in with your thoughts! You might even be featured in a future post.

This week we read When Hollywood had a King by Connie Bruck, Chapter 1: The Two Caesars

Chapter Summary

The book is about how Lew Wasserman came to be the most powerful man in Hollywood, but Connie Bruck spends most of Chapter 1 laying the groundwork for his rise. The chapter explores the early life of Jules Stein, Wasserman's mentor and the founder of Music Corporation of America. Bruck covers every single factor that lead to the expansion of MCA from a Chicago-based company that booked musical acts at venues in the Midwest into a nation-wide media production, booking, and nightclub conglomerate that took post-studio collapse Hollywood by storm.

Stein's ambiguous ties to Al Capone and other mobsters, kidnapping attempts, the expansion of radio and the one-night bandstand tour, the promise of a new beginning in LA, the social politics of Hollywood, antique furniture from England, the growing focus on Hollywood in MCA's business interest, Wasserman's beginnings as a talent agent, and the impact of the union leaders are all explored. I really loved how packed with information this chapter was, and each layer of information added more depth to the picture Bruck was painting for us until finally CLICK the early history of MCA made total sense, thus setting the stage for Lew Wasserman's new role as president of the company.

This left me with some questions:

1. From Connie Bruck's description of the entertainment and nightlife business during and after Prohibition, it seems like it would have been impossible to run a successful enterprise without being involved with the mob. At the very least, Jules Stein would have had to pay the mob. At the most, he was an accomplice to "The Outfit" and willfully took part in illegal and unethical behavior to advance his company and maximize profits. Are there parallels to this power hierachy today? In Hollywood? In Tech and other industries? What is the 2021 equivalent to "The Outfit?"
2. Bruck points out that although "corporate culture" was not a phrase yet, the cut-throat work enviroment at MCA was "survival of the fittest" and led to fierce competition between agents. I haven't worked in a corporate environment, but am interested in learning more about work culture in different industries. Is this business culture unique to MCA or is it very common in American companies, even to this day?
3. Bruck insinuates that Frank Sinatra covered for Stein's connection to the mob by taking the heat publicly after rumors surfaced Sinatra delivered two million dollars in a suitcase to gangsters in Cuba. She writes on pg 85, "And while Sinatra was a star, he was just and entertainer after all; for Jules Stein, one of America's most successful businessmen, to be exposed as a partner of the Fischetties would have caused a furor." Are celebrities with star power still seen this way by American businesses? Does star power mean more in 2021 than it did in 1947?
4. Jules Stein and MCA used many not-illegal-but-kind-of-ethically-questionable business techniques that a court later found negatively impacted nightclubs that did not have exclusive contracts with the booking agency. It felt like a classic American story: a driven entrepreneur doesn't break the law but acts in ethically questionable ways to maximize profits and personal gain. This makes me think of Adam Nuemann at We Work, or Elizabeth Holmes at Theranos. What are some other examples of All-American businesses with ethical dilemmas, and why does the economic landscape still create the circumstances for these businesses?
5. The media at the time clearly did not have the full picture of Stein's power and control in the nightclub and entertainment realm, as evidenced by the "client theft" debacle on page 84-85. Bruck makes it clear that Stein had much more power than he ever let on publically in his lifetime, and implies that he heavily edited his story when he did speak to media outlets. What is the media's obligation to investigate and report on businesses like this? How is the media landscape different today? How is it the same?

Word Scavenger Hunt

These words stuck out to me while I was reading. I think as a list they give a good overview of the Chapter! See if you can find them in context!

• Hollywood Canteen
• Pickfair
• Gully
• delectable new pleasures
• glamour
• déclassé
• kind of happy symbiosis
• principles
• kickbacks
• nonreturnable loan
• Conservative businessmen
• pragmatists
• embezzlement
• intuition….insecurity
• faster and sharper
• temper
• secrecy
• ultimate heresy
• cardinal
• exclusives
• orchestrating from the wings

Favorite Sentence

"He was a stubby volcano of a man, erupting at the slightest provocation in streams of tortured syntax peppered with profanity and delivered, raspingly, out of the corner of his mouth."

(In reference to Caesar Petrillo, American Federation of Musicians union leader and lifelong friend/business associate of Jules Stein. Chapter 1, Page 5)

A notepad pome I wrote in response to Chapter 1

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts on WHEN HOLLYWOOD HAD A KING by Connie Bruck, including your responses to my reflection questions, any art or creative writing responses to the book, or any thoughts on the book that you want to share! Email me (Joe 😇 ) at [email protected] with yr thoughts! If enough people are interested, we could have a zoom #books4babes bookclub meeting.

If you want to join in, feel free to catch up or jump right in on Chapter 2!

When Hollywood had a King Reading Schedule:

Read Chapter 1 by Monday, May 24, 2021

Read Chapter 2 by Monday, May 31, 2021

Read Chapter 3 by Monday, June 7, 2021

Read Chapter 4 by Monday, June 14, 2021

Read Chapter 5 by Monday, June 21, 2021

Read Chapter 6 by Monday, June 28, 2021

When Hollywood Had a King Final Wrap-up Monday, July 5, 2021