Irving Brecher

The Wicked Wit of the West: the Last Great Golden-age Screenwriter Shares the Hilarity and Heartaches of Working with Groucho, Garland, Gleason, B Irving Brecher

"Brecher is the most influential writer you've never heard of in Hollywood. He wrote At the Circus and Go West for the Marx brothers and classics such as Du Barry Was a Lady and Meet Me in St. Louis for MGM. He wrote stand-up for Milton Berle and created the radio and television program The Life of Riley. Now in his nineties, the man is still a comedic genius with wit and timing that can't be beat. Incredibly, his career covers the entire spectrum of 20th-century entertainment, beginning with vaudeville and encompassing movies, radio, plays, television, and even the web (in impassioned support for the writers' strike of 2007). Brecher's story is presented as a series of interviews, which allows his voice to come through in its witty splendor. Rosenfeld does a fine job as chronicler, selector, and muse for these interviews, and his genuine friendship with Brecher is the reason that this book exists. Altogether delightful, this is an incredible reminiscence by a remarkable man." -- Library Journal starred review