If there ever was a TV at back that is so inconsistent in nature, it's this version of the Harold Robbins soap opera about life in movie make him during the silent era, going up to the fight to bring in sound. The first half of the two-parter is a realistic if fictional version of how the film's went from the flickers to to railers to full-length films, and finally the studio system as filmmakers went West. The money man obviously stayed back in New York, so you do get to see the ruthlessness of the start affecting the creativeness of the advancement.
While there are many ruthless elements of the creation of the business and newcomers who want to contribute their own type of creativity, the real corruption is shown by the writers who work on destroying the main characters from the first part by turning them into completely different people in the second part. Mark Harmon basically remains the same, just growing up and becoming more serious, and "Mothers-in-Law" star Kay Ballard surprisingly different from her role on the 60's sitcom and other TV series and Broadway shows, playing Harmon's surrogate mother and mother-in-law to be.
Howard Duff and Robert Culp remain consistently slimy as well. Vincent Gardenia is believable in his changes as he goes from struggling businessman to movie mogul, a fair representation of the real life moguls who ran the studios during the golden age. Morgan Fairchild unfortunately goes from troubled young lady to egotistical star with a ruthless streak, and her transition is not handled very well even though she is very good with what she is given to do. Cameos by Eve Arden, Carolyn Jones, Ray Milland, Fernando Lamas, Morgan Brittany and Jose Ferrer only demonstrate how overstuffed this is, proving that sometimes less is more while this ends up being a pinata that has a ton of candy, some sweet yet a lot of it sour.
While there are many ruthless elements of the creation of the business and newcomers who want to contribute their own type of creativity, the real corruption is shown by the writers who work on destroying the main characters from the first part by turning them into completely different people in the second part. Mark Harmon basically remains the same, just growing up and becoming more serious, and "Mothers-in-Law" star Kay Ballard surprisingly different from her role on the 60's sitcom and other TV series and Broadway shows, playing Harmon's surrogate mother and mother-in-law to be.
Howard Duff and Robert Culp remain consistently slimy as well. Vincent Gardenia is believable in his changes as he goes from struggling businessman to movie mogul, a fair representation of the real life moguls who ran the studios during the golden age. Morgan Fairchild unfortunately goes from troubled young lady to egotistical star with a ruthless streak, and her transition is not handled very well even though she is very good with what she is given to do. Cameos by Eve Arden, Carolyn Jones, Ray Milland, Fernando Lamas, Morgan Brittany and Jose Ferrer only demonstrate how overstuffed this is, proving that sometimes less is more while this ends up being a pinata that has a ton of candy, some sweet yet a lot of it sour.