What Makes Sammy Run?: Part 1

"What Makes Sammy Run" is an incredibly jaded look at Hollywood. It follows the career of Sammy Glick--a guy who would probably shoot his own mother if he thought it would help his career! And, it makes for a very interesting and very jaded look at Hollywood--much in the tradition of films like "The Great Man", "Death of a Scoundrel" and "What Price Hollywood?". But we all know that unlike this movie, Hollywood couldn't possibly filled with such conniving, dishonest jerks (ha!!).

When this made for TV movie begins, Sammy is only a lowly copy boy at a newspaper in New York. Yet, within a brief instant, he's gotten a huge promotion and is sharing an office with Al Manheim (John Forsythe). Not too long after this, he's off to Hollywood to work on a movie project. And, surprisingly, he convinces Al to join him later to help him. Al is thrilled but a little worried--after all, Sammy seems like a conniving rat. And, after spending some time there, it's rather apparent that Al's instincts were right--Sam is a rat! And, the ultimate jerkish thing that Sammy has done is claim credit for a script he didn't even write! Nice guy, huh? To learn the rest of the story, tune in to episode two.

Larry Blyden did a great job in the film as Sammy--plus the likes of Forsythe, Dina Merrill, Barbara Rush and David Opatashu sure helped make this a fine acted movie. But the big star was the incredibly biting script by Bud Schulberg--which was based on his best-selling 1941 tell all book. Schulberg was a natural for this, as his father, B.P. Schulberg was an old-time Hollywood exec--the sort of mover and shaker that make the city. Well worth your time.

Just watched this, the first hour part of the TV version of Budd Schulberg's novel "What Makes Sammy Run?" which was adapted by him and his brother, Stuart. In this one, Sammy Glick (Larry Blyden) goes from copy boy to radio columnist at a New York paper where he is monitored by proofreader and fellow writer, Al Manheim (John Forsythe). He then goes to Hollywood where he quickly becomes a big shot producer and starts an affair with novelist Kit Sargent (Barbara Rush). Manheim later comes there hoping to write screenplays but quickly becomes disillusioned, along with Ms. Sargent, with Glick's slick personality...Quite a compelling first hour of the way things were run in the movie capital at the time and a little witty with the references to various important celebrities of the period. Producer/director Delbert Mann keeps things snappy with both dialogue and camera movements that you're caught in the whirlwind of Sammy's world as Manheim likes to refer to it near the end. Blyden, Forsythe, and Rush as well as the supporting cast brings life to the sometimes self-conscious lines to the point that you don't want to leave right in the middle but since this was a one hour TV slot, you had to wait for the following week to see the conclusion when this show first aired. Fortunately, I only have to switch to Part 2 on the DVD I watched this off of...