Susan Lacy the director/producer of the multi Emmy Winning TV series ‘American Masters’ scored well when she convinced the publicity shy Hollywood business magnet and billionaire philanthropist David Geffen to agree to be the subject of her documentary. Lacy known for not shying away from controversy does an excellent job tracing this fascinating man’s rise from working class Jewish Brooklyn dyslexic boy to his powerful position today and fills the two hours with some stunning interviews from a whole wealth of celebrities. She also has managed to get the man himself to grant her unlimited access and he obviously sat down for many open and frank interviews..jpeg)
Geffen’s story may be about being in the right place at the right time but what makes it so compelling is the sheer chutzpah of the man to insure he was there. From mailroom boy at the William Morris Agency in New York where he jumped and started being a manager/agent of as yet unknown rock stars and then very soon after into starting his own record label. He loved creating precedents which enamoured him to the artists that he represented and even though the mighty Record Companies initially resented it, he made them, and himself money. Lots of it.
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I was completely fascinated to learn for the first time about all the careers that Geffen was involved in making, but the most surprising piece of news about his life in the music business was the fact that he dated Cher. Many gay men have been in love with this Diva, but Geffen, who had come out to avoid being drafted into the Army, was her actual boyfriend for several months. It was his first (and we assume his only) heterosexual relationship and only ended when she moved on to Greg Allman.
It was however more than somewhat surprising that another period in Geffen’s life that Lacy chose not to cover was his long drawn out very public row with super agent Mike Orvitz. But a more important omission was her total failure to discuss Geffen’s personal life at all. Here is this affable, charming, good looking openly gay man who owns one of the biggest mansions in Malibu BUT does he share it with any one at any time? We never find out. It’s a disappointment that we learn so much about what this man achieved and how he got there, but we never discover who the man is himself.
Regardless of what is glaringly absent from this documentary Lacy deserves full credit for creating the fullest picture that we will ever probable get of this engaging highly successful man whose handprints are all over some incredible culture and who is first in line to put his money where his mouth is. The world is definitely a better place, thanks to Geffen’s contributions.
Available on YouTube
Labels: 2012, biography, documentary, gay, movies, show business, tv movie
