The Idolmaker

The story of a man who manufactures stars. Vincent writes songs but cannot perform. He knows his own voice is not enough. Instead he decides to make someone else a star. He picks a waiter: good-looking, an average voice, but the image will hold. He gives him a new name, teaches him to move, changes how he speaks and builds a stage act the girls will scream at. Then he finds a second boy and does it again. The subject is that manufacturing process: writing fake biographies, planting stories in magazines, placing girls in the halls. Vincent does it without embarrassment because he knows how the business works. The real matter is this: the man wants to be the one on stage and cannot be. His jealousy of the boys he makes sits at the centre. The character was inspired by a manager who really worked this way at the end of the 1950s. Ray Sharkey plays Vincent and won a Golden Globe for it. Peter Gallagher and Joe Pantoliano are in the cast. Taylor Hackford's first feature. A hard example for anyone who likes music films and productions about the back end of the industry. For a viewer expecting nostalgic period cinema, the narrative is merciless about the business.