COMPETING WITH IDIOTS

In this fascinating, complex “dual” biography of Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, we meet two “dazzling” and “dark” brothers whose competitive drive and enmity “ultimately undid them both.”

Herman co-wrote Citizen Kane and brought the world such Marx Brothers’ films as Monkey Business, Horse Feathers and Duck Soup as well as over 90 other movies. Called “the funniest man who ever lived,” he was also immature and warm-hearted.  Ultimately, he became one of the highest paid writers in Hollywood.

Joe was not a mirror image of his older brother.  He was far more organized and enjoyed a  “more distinguished career.”  His films, some of which he produced, wrote and/or directed, include The Philadelphia Story, All About Eve and Letter to Three Wives. His career was turned upside down, however, by the failure of Cleopatra, which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Author Nick Davis, Herman’s grandson, gives us an insider’s look at the brothers’ “dreams and desires, their fears and feuds…and the driving forces that kept them bound to a system they loved and hated.”

You may order Competing with Idiots: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, A Dual Portrait by Nick Davis from: 

• Flashlight Books in Walnut Creek: https://flashlightbooks.handseller.com/home/bookdetailsin/140004183X
• Rakestraw Books in Danville: https://www.rakestrawbooks.com/book/9781400041831
• Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore in Berkeley: https://www.mrsdalloways.com/book/9781400041831
• Your preferred local bookstore or online retailer.

Admission is free. Note: IJWC Year-round programming subscribers will be registered directly as this author event is co-sponsored with EBIJFF. 

Upon registration, you will first receive a confirmation email. An hour before the program begins, we will email the Zoom link you need to join the event. If you don't see these emails, please check your spam/junk folder to retrieve them. We suggest you add "notifications@wixevents.com" to your contacts list as well.

Sponsored by the CCJCC and Cong. B’nai Shalom in partnership with the EBIJFF.