One of the 20th century's greatest unfinished novels, The Last Tycoon, is heartbreaking in its unrealised potential. The book presents a portrait of Hollywood studio czar Monroe Stahr and is based on Fitzgerald's experience of working as a screenwriter for producer Irving Thalberg at MGM, the premier Hollywood studio. The esteemed critic and editor, Edmund Wilson writes in the Foreword, "Scott Fitzgerald died suddenly of a heart attack (21 December 1940) the day after he had written the first episode of Chapter 6 of his novel."
What Wilson did publish is roughly a third of the novel, which Fitzgerald had revised to certain extent, before his untimely death. Aside from its elegant prose style, the book's appeal lies in the nascent romance between Stahr and the young screenwriter Kathleen. The glamour of Hollywood is given its due, as well as an insider's "take" of the movie industry; and the machinations peculiar to a studio conglomerate.
Eventually, The Last Tycoon was adapted for the movies, in 1973 with Robert de Niro as Stahr, amongst an illustrious cast. However, the film proved to be a box-office flop.
VIDEO: the glamour of Hollywood at night
VIDEO: the glamour of Hollywood at night
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