Page

The Man Who Definitely Didn't Steal Hollywood

The Man Who Definitely Didn't Steal Hollywood

Save

Summary

In 1990, waiter-turned-movie-mogul Giancarlo Parretti purchased film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists for $1.3billion. The acquisition raised hopes that this charismatic Italian, backed by mysterious wealth, would revitalise the business. However, cheques soon bounced, budgets were withdrawn and staff laid off. Before long Parretti faced an FBI investigation for alleged financial irregularities and fled from the US back to Italy. Contributors include MGM insiders, directors, actors, writers, federal prosecutors - and Parretti himself

Ad

Review

Frances Taylor

Scandals are ten a penny in Hollywood, yet even for Tinseltown the audacity and chutzpah of businessman movie mogul Giancarlo Parretti is quite staggering.

In 1990, Parretti bought film studio MGM for $1.3 billion. At the top of this forceful documentary, he proudly shows cameras around his eccentric, palatial home in Orvieto, Italy. He points out the Picassos and Dalis that hang alongside relics and mementos from his time at MGM — including
a gigantic toy lion, emblematic of the studio’s famous logo, that sits in the hallway. He says unsuspecting visitors are fooled into believing it’s real. Fitting, given that this is a man overflowing with deceptions and illusions.

Film-maker John Dower tries to separate Parretti’s fact from fiction via interviews with those who know him as well as the man himself. Where did Parretti’s millions come from? And how did he manage to buy one of Hollywood’s most iconic film studios before almost running it into the ground? Arrests, absconding and FBI investigations abound and when scant answers do emerge, they’re bizarre and blockbuster-worthy.

How to watch

Loading

Streaming

Credits

Crew

rolenameProducerSilvia SaccoProducerMonika GhoshDirectorJohn DowerExecutive producerTom AnstissExecutive producerSamantha Anstiss

Show more

Details

Languages

Formats

Colour

Ad

Ad

Ad