The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"The Last Tycoon" is an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, written in the early 1940s, that explores the complexities of the Hollywood film industry during a turbulent period. The story centers around Monroe Stahr, a dedicated and talented film producer, who grapples with the balance between artistic integrity and the commercial pressures of the studio system. Stahr's character is contrasted with Pat Brady, a self-serving executive who acquires his position through luck rather than skill.
The narrative unfolds through the eyes of Cecilia Brady, whose relationship with Stahr becomes complicated as she navigates her feelings and familial ties to the industry. Themes of love, ambition, and betrayal intertwine, particularly as Stahr's attempts to maintain his professional principles clash with the corrupt practices surrounding him. As the plot progresses, events take a dark turn involving personal crises, financial struggles, and an impending threat to Stahr's life which culminates in a tragic plane crash.
Fitzgerald's exploration of Hollywood is marked by a critique of its superficiality and the harsh realities faced by those within the industry. The novel remains significant for its rich characterizations and poignant reflections on success and failure in the pursuit of dreams. Despite its incomplete status, "The Last Tycoon" offers valuable insights into both Fitzgerald's literary style and the era's cultural landscape.
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The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
First published: 1941
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of plot: 1930’s
Locale: Hollywood, California
Principal characters
Monroe Stahr , a film producerKathleen Moore , his mistressPat Brady , Stahr’s partnerCecilia Brady , his daughter
The Story:
Cecilia Brady is flying to California for a summer vacation from college. On the plane she meets Wylie White, an alcoholic screenwriter, and Schwartz, a ruined film producer. Monroe Stahr, the partner of Cecilia’s father, is also aboard, though traveling as Mr. Smith. When the plane is grounded in Nashville, Tennessee, Schwartz sends a note to Stahr warning him about Pat Brady, Cecilia’s father. When the plane takes off again, Schwartz stays behind and commits suicide.
Stahr had been the boy wonder of the motion-picture industry. He had been in charge of a studio in his twenties and almost dead from overwork at thirty-five. Indeed, he is half in love with death for the sake of his dead wife, Minna Davis, a great star with whom he was deeply in love. Since her death, he has worked harder than ever, often remaining in his office around the clock. In contrast to Stahr, Brady is mean and selfish. Lacking taste and understanding little of the technical end of the industry, Brady acquired his share of the studio through luck and has retained it through shrewdness.
One night, while Cecilia is visiting the studio, an earthquake occurs, rupturing a water main and flooding the back lot. Stahr, working with his troubleshooter, Robinson, to clear away the mess, sees a film-set sightseer perched on top of a huge idol, a piece of a set that has come loose and is now floating in the flood. The girl reminds him of his dead wife, and he tries to discover her identity. That night, Cecilia falls in love with Stahr, but she feels that her attachment is hopeless.
A self-made man and paternalistic employer, Stahr personally manages almost every detail at the studio. Though he is not an educated man, he has raised the artistic level of motion pictures and does not hesitate to make good films that might lose money. As a result, he has incurred the distrust of the studio’s stockholders, who see filmmaking only as a business. Their distrust of the producer is, however, mixed with genuine respect for his many abilities.
In addition to dealing with opposition from the stockholders, Stahr is concerned because the studio’s writers are the target of Communist union organizers; he works closely with his writers and wants them to trust him. Wylie White, in particular, enjoys the producer’s favor, although he resents Stahr. White is hoping to marry Cecilia for the sake of her father’s influence. Typical of Stahr’s interest in his employees is his investigation of the attempted suicide of a cameraman, Pete Zavras. Stahr learns that Zavras has been unable to find work because of a rumor that he is going blind. Stahr is able to put an end to the rumor by providing Zavras with a statement from an eye doctor.
Stahr is successful in locating the young woman he saw on the back lot after the earthquake; her name is Kathleen Moore. At first she is reluctant to meet him, but eventually they have a brief, passionate affair. Stahr learns that she was once the mistress of a deposed monarch and that she is about to marry the man who rescued her from that situation when it became difficult. Stahr realizes that marriage to Kathleen could give him the will to go on living. While he hesitates, her fiancé arrives ahead of schedule, and she goes through with the marriage from a sense of obligation. Cecilia, knowing nothing of these matters, is still desperately hoping to attract Stahr’s attention, all the more so after she discovers her father in a compromising situation with his secretary. At Stahr’s request, Cecilia arranges a meeting between Stahr and a Communist union organizer. Stahr gets drunk before they meet, however, and tries to beat the man up.
At this point, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s manuscript ends, but the rest of the story may be pieced together from the author’s notes. Because the studio is in financial difficulties, Brady tries to push through a wage cut. Stahr, opposing this plan, travels to the East Coast to convince the stockholders to postpone the wage slash. Brady cuts the salaries and betrays the writers while Stahr is ill in Washington, D.C. Although he breaks with Brady after that, Stahr agrees to go along with Brady’s plan for a company union, chiefly because Stahr feels personally responsible for the welfare of his employees. Wylie White has also turned on Stahr.
Kathleen and Stahr resume their relationship, and when Brady tries use his knowledge of the affair to blackmail Stahr, the producer threatens him with information about the death of Brady’s wife. Fitzgerald considered having Brady persuade Robinson to undertake Stahr’s murder, but he apparently rejected this idea in favor of having Brady inform Kathleen’s husband, a film technician involved with the union organizers, of Kathleen’s affair with Stahr. This leads to a lawsuit against Stahr for alienation of affection, but Stahr is somehow saved by Zavras, the cameraman.
Stahr becomes alienated from Kathleen and is no longer able to dominate his associates at the studio. Nevertheless, he continues to oppose Brady. Finally, Stahr feels that he has to eliminate Brady before Brady has him killed. After hiring gangsters to murder Brady, Stahr flies east to provide himself with an alibi; he changes his mind on the plane, however, and decides to make a phone call to stop the killers at the next airport. The plane crashes before he can carry out his intention. Fitzgerald was uncertain about including an episode in which the plane’s wreckage is plundered by three children who discover it, the idea being that the children’s individual personalities would be reflected by the items they steal.
Stahr’s funeral is a powerful, detailed, ironic arraignment of Hollywood sham. It includes an incident in which a has-been cowboy actor is invited to be a pallbearer by mistake and consequently enjoys a return of good fortune. Cecilia later has an affair, probably with Wylie White, and then suffers a complete breakdown. At the end of the novel, the reader learns that she has been telling the story while a patient in a tuberculosis sanatorium.
Bibliography
Bloom, Harold, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Chelsea House, 2006. Updated edition of an essay collection originally published in 1985 presents analysis of The Last Tycoon as well as Fitzgerald’s other novels.
Bryer, Jackson R., Alan Margolies, and Ruth Prigozy, eds. F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Perspectives. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2000. Collection presents scholarly criticism as well as personal essays by some of Fitzgerald’s friends, including Budd Schulberg and publisher Charles Scribner III. An essay by Robert A. Martin discusses the subject of Fitzgerald’s use of history in The Last Tycoon.
Bryer, Jackson R., Ruth Prigozy, and Milton Stern, eds. F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Twenty-first Century. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2003. Collection of essays contains an informative overview of Fitzgerald’s career and an essay that discusses The Last Tycoon in relation to the final developments in his writing style.
Curnutt, Kirk. The Cambridge Introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Provides a concise overview of Fitzgerald’s life and work, including discussions of the author’s composition process and the major themes, characters, plots, and motifs found in his novels. Also addresses the critical reception of Fitzgerald’s works at the time they were published as well as the views of present-day Fitzgerald scholars.
Ebel, Kenneth. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Rev. ed. Boston: Twayne, 1977. Good introductory resource includes biographical information; readings of Fitzgerald’s novels, stories, and articles; and critical responses to his works. Includes discussion of The Last Tycoon.
Ford, Edward. Rereading F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Authors Who Shaped His Style. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2007. Focuses on the influences that other writers had on Fitzgerald’s work, particularly European authors such as Alain-Fournier. Includes a chapter devoted to The Last Tycoon.
Hook, Andrew. F. Scott Fitzgerald. London: Edward Arnold, 1992. Presents an accessible reading of Fitzgerald’s work. A chapter on The Last Tycoon draws from Fitzgerald’s letters, in which he discusses his intentions and plans for the novel.
Prigozy, Ruth, ed. The Cambridge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Collection of essays examines a wide variety of topics, including Fitzgerald’s critical reputation, the portrayal of women in his fiction, Fitzgerald and Hollywood, and other aspects of his life and work.