Chasing the Panther: Adventures and Misadventures of a Cinematic Life

by Carolyn Pfeiffer

A cinematic and vibrant coming-of-age memoir, Chasing the Panther captures the thrilling and, at times, heartbreaking early years of Carolyn Pfeiffer, a pioneering film producer and one of Hollywood's first female executives—a “mini-mogul” in the words of the Wall Street Journal . For a moment in the 1980s, Carolyn Pfeiffer was the only woman in Hollywood who could greenlight a movie. Working with directors like Sam Shepard and Wes Craven, and with actors like River Phoenix and Bette Davis, she had a hand in producing or distributing many landmark films, among them Ridley Scott's The Duellists , Alan Rudolph's Choose Me , and the Academy Award-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman . However, long before establishing herself as a player in the world of film, Carolyn was a horseback-riding tomboy who dreamed of exploring the world beyond her small hometown. Her journey turned out to be a tale fit for the movies. As a young girl jumping from rock to rock in a rural North Carolina town, Carolyn felt a calling she couldn’t articulate but that she nonetheless it was a tug on her heart, a yearning for something more. When she could, she set out for New York City, a refuge for young women exercising their independence and resisting the pressures of marriage and motherhood. There, swept up in the glamorous world of beat poets and millionaires, Carolyn brushed shoulders with a young Burt Reynolds and became fast friends with an English journalist named Penny. As the turbulent 1960s dawned, Carolyn booked a one-way passage to Europe. Her plan was to visit Penny and to travel around Europe for the summer but, instead, the world opened up to her in ways she never could have imagined. She found herself on set with Italy’s great filmmakers, in the couture houses of Paris’ fashion icons, and swept up in the youthful energy flooding London. She learned about film and found work on iconic movies like Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ , Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard , and David Lean's Doctor Zhivago , and she came to befriend and work alongside luminaries like the Beatles, Tennessee Williams, Francoise Truffaut, and Barbra Streisand. Amid these adventures and misadventures, Carolyn fell in and out of love, and was beset by tragedies and triumphs that resoundingly affirmed what she'd known since girlhood—that she was always destined for something more. Set against the dazzling backdrop of Fellini's Rome, the Paris of the French New Wave, and Swinging London, Chasing the Panther reads like a true-to-life novel revealing Carolyn’s unforgettable journey to find her place in the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Film, Biography Memoir

336 pages, Hardcover

Published June 6, 2023

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Pfeiffer during the latest period covered in this book as she transitioned from active film production into education. Had I known her back story, covered in this entertaining and enlightening romp through movie history (and hers), I would have taken her to lunch more often while we were both working at the American Film Institute. After her post-college sojourn in New York City, she followed a couple of friends to London and then Rome, where she worked her way from personal assistant and factotum to publicist to producer. The years covered, mid-sixties to the 80s, cover the heyday of the French New Wave, the explosion of the Italian film industry, swinging London and the brat-pack takeover of old Hollywood. The names she drops can fill a phone book, but these aren't just casual encounters with the rich and famous. She worked with Claudia Cardinale at the beginning of her career, helping on set for The Leopard, 8 ½, The Pink Panther and many other great pictures. With Omar Sharif she observed Dr. Zhivago and Funny Girl among others. With Alain Delon at the height of his gorgeous career and affairs with the equally gorgeous Romy Schneider. And then with her own PR firm in London, she managed the openings of many major films, as well as the Beatles Soho store and tours for bands like Kiss. The one name she refuses to disclose is a mysterious "Englishman", married and in the film biz, with whom she conducts a lengthy affair and has a child before breaking it off. Tragedy comes later with the loss of family members and professional setbacks. A full life well-lived is how I saw it, embodying the freedom and experimentation ushered in by sixties culture. I'm working on a memoir. This one both inspired and intimidated me,but I'm so glad I read it.

[A Cesspool · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a passage in former-Hollywood studio Chief, Dawn Steel's 1993, memoir, describing her first serious relationship (since moving out West)...

"My relationship with Marty Scorsese lasted about a year and it was the first time I had had a relationship that long with someone who wasn't married." ††

I was reminded of Steel's lackin memoir while reading Chasing the Panther, if only at arm's length.
It's almost surreal if an author feign sympathy for breaking-up a family, as if empathy should be the reader's native reaction -- feeling dejected-miserable when the married man they're in a relationship with, repeatedly (or ultimately) refuses to leave their family, or break off his side-piece; I can appreciate your gloom, but not much else.

Kinda feels near-impossible to scrutinize Carolyn Pfeiffer's bon vivant, Euro-showbiz memoir without pantomiming reactionary slut-shamer. So I'll just address what's missing most in this entertainment industry memoir:

❌　　commemorative Behind-the-scenes,
❌　　making-of anecdotals,
❌　　production diary (entries), and/or

...revelatory/insightful related to feature film's pre-production, production, or post-production process.

In Pfeiffer's defense, she never markets herself as someone familiar with those systems-workflows. The author's primary occupation, during her years in and around the European filmmaking industry (mid-1960s - early-70s) was Personal Assistant (to Omar Sheriff), later starting her own Publicity/Marketing outfit.

Nevertheless, there are some a couple, previously documented, interesting motion picture trivia entries (a byproduct of her celebrity assistant-position)...

The Leopard (1963) -- Burt Lancaster run ins with director Luchino Visconti; who wanted an elegant Laurence Olivier, not American Cowboy.

And

The Train (1964); Burt Lancaster, unhappy with Arthur Penn’s contemplative approach to the material, insisted that he be replaced. Persuaded by Burt, the producers of The Train hired John Frankenheimer, director of Birdman of Alcatraz and The Manchurian Candidate, without telling Penn he’d been replaced -- a direct violation of DGA guidelines & creative rights.

Otherwise the majority of Pfeiffer's memoir is tragic British rom-com. Excerpts like:

“That night, our lovemaking lacked direction.”

“Between us there was such tenderness.”

And

“When I ran into my Englishman’s wife at the supermarket, everything changed."

...tends to overwhelm. I appreciate her passion (I only wish it were more applicable to her chosen field; rather, more relevant to memorializing the pursuit of her preferred vocation).
Not all of her recollections are totally unvarnished; Like the absolute horseshit circumstances she accidentally-on-purpose tried relaying a dirty pair of draws to Omar Sharif's wife (under the guise Mrs. Shariff was the legit owner).

F u c k i n g LOL

“...it hadn’t occurred to me that a misunderstanding could put my job at risk."

Srsly? That is some Day One-newb assistant nonsense.




†† fyi: Martin Scorsese was in fact, still, legally, married to wife #3: Isabella Rossellini, when he first met Paramount Pictures' Junior Executive, Dawn Steel, in 1982. Even if they were technically separated -- Scorsese was supposedly so terrified of re-marrying for a fourth time [and going against Catholic Church], he pleaded w Rossellini they never legally divorce.
Nevertheless, Steel was still motivated to intervene when Rossellini was up for a lucrative role at her home studio... covertly forfeiting Rossellini's involvement on the Paramount picture... Thereby supplying tasty b-t-s anecdotal, yet wholly removed from Steel's aforementioned autobio, remanded to Rachel Abramowitz's essential Hollywood exposé (and for real Dawn Steel-biography): Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?: Women's Experience of Power in Hollywood.

- - - - - -

[ aforementioned Faten Hamama aka 
Mrs. Shariff shenanigans... ]

When Omar Sharif’s wife, Faten Hamama, returned for a visit, I greeted her warmly. Then, remembering the underwear she’d forgotten on her last visit, I brought them to her. Instead of taking them from me, she looked up at me. In her eyes, whatever warmth existed between us was gone.
“These are not mine,” she said.
“I’m sorry, I thought—”
“Carolyn,” she said acerbically, “if you had done this a few years ago, I would have had you fired. But you know what? I have learned tolerance.”
What she meant was that she’d learned to tolerate people who, intentionally or not, brought attention to her husband’s infidelity. I’d never dreamed of crossing Faten, and it hadn’t occurred to me that a misunderstanding could put my job at risk. The exchange left me feeling guilty and defensive, though I suppose I can understand how painful it must be to have one’s personal betrayal thrust so plainly into view.

Excerpt from: Chapter 20

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Harper Horizon for an advance copy of this advance copy about a young woman growing into herself and the adventures she had in the film trade.

Carolyn Pfeiffer always knew there was a lot more waiting for her in life than staying in the small town that she was raised in. Thought being a woman, dreams outside of the norm, maybe college, husband, children, were considered just dreams. Carolyn Pfeiffer dreamed of a life in fashion in cities like New York, maybe something in the arts. No one, not even Pfeiffer herself, knew where she would wind up. Working with famous names in the film industry, seeing the world, making some mistakes, but even better, making art. Chasing the Panther: Adventures and Misadventures of a Cinematic Life by Carolyn Pfeiffer is a memoir of a young girl going after dreams she never really knew she had, living life, making art, and learning a lot of different things along the way.

As a young woman growing up in a small town in North Carolina, Carolyn Pfeiffer heard a lot of nos in her life. No you are too old to play with those black children, you are too old not to wear dresses, don't do this, don't do that. Finally Pfeiffer was able to get her parents to agree to one dreams. Let Pfeiffer go to New York and at least try to work in fashion. And Pfeiffer did so, opening up a whole new world. Soon she was best friends with an English woman who happened to be dating Burt Reynolds, and in love with a young man, who went to Italy for art. Soon Pfeiffer traveled to Europe, learning about love, getting robbed and taking chances. In Italy her English soon got her jobs, teaching and translating first for officers in the military, and later in the film industry, where Pfeiffer began to make her mark. Soon she was working and forging relationships with many of the most powerful people in film, and assisting in movies like Doctor Zhivago. And Pfeiffer was just getting started.

A book that almost has a touch of Zelig in its telling. Pfeiffer worked with and seemed to know everyone with a gift for having bad things happened, followed by incredible luck. Well not just luck opportunity combined with her skills and her own ability. Still it is amazing what happened to Pfeiffer in just a short period of time. And who she knew. The book is very well written, with a sense of almost confessional and professional, telling about her life, loves, and mistakes, and a guide to how certain movies were made, and a history of film in Europe. Both are equally fascinating, with a nice mix of gossip, and stories, and about her life, and feelings. There is a lot about the production of certain movies, how they were filmed, weather problems in Spain for Doctor Zhivago, casting problems, and more. Pfeiffer is a very good storyteller and a film historian which makes for very interesting reading.

Recommended for film buffs for many stories behind the scenes as well as how certain films were made and the problems involved in their creation. Also for people who enjoy interesting memoirs about fascinating people Carolyn Pfeiffer is definitely an interesting person.

[Jeffrianne Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read!
A vitally important feminist memoir of a young woman navigating her own desires and ambitions in the 1950s and 60s. Carolyn Pfeiffer shares her joie de vivre, intelligence, sense of adventure and complex emotions as she boldly pursues a full and interesting life despite the enormous social pressures on American white women of her generation to find a man to marry and have children as soon as possible. Pfeiffer lived her young life on her own terms, sharing with us details about her beautiful friendships, inspired and at times precarious lovers, and professional ambitions as she defined her own self, all while giving us a front row seat to what it felt like to work and socialize with the close-knit, glamorous stratosphere of the European film industry and her incredible experiences promoting film and pop-music culture in Rome, Paris and London. Pfeiffer’s book is a must-read for all of us to understand firsthand how it felt to be an American woman pursuing her dreams during the era of postwar conservatism and new liberal ideals, whether one identifes as cis-female or not.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-written and deeply personal memoir. It was engaging and I didn’t want to put it down. The author struck out on her own during a time when very few women did so. She just kept going, seizing opportunities when presented and creating others when it was time to move on to the next professional challenge. She crossed paths with, worked with, and became friends with many famous people. She also fell in love and lost love. She had the same self-doubts, anxieties, hardships, and trauma that many women experience when striking out on their own. Her curiosity and drive served her well. This memoir is her story, but it is also a story about a specific period in time in the entertainment industry and the people that were part of it. I appreciated a small thread in the book – descriptions of the aftermath of WWII. Many of the cultural issues during the time frame covered in the book are still relevant issues today.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carolyn Pfeiffer's memoir, "Chasing the Panther: Adventures and Misadventures of a Cinematic," recounts her life from childhood in North Carolina to her successful career in the film industry. She describes the limitations she faced as a free-spirited individual in the early 1950s and her desire for adventure, which led her to move to New York City and form a lifelong friendship with English journalist Penny. In the 1960s, Carolyn's newfound independence prompted her to purchase a one-way ticket to Europe, where she met Massolino and his mother, Suso Cecchi d'Amico, a pioneering screenwriter. Through Suso's connections, Carolyn was introduced to the glamorous world of cinema and embarked on a career as an English teacher for Claudia Cardinale, a personal assistant on movie sets, a promotion and publicity business owner, a film producer, and eventually a film company owner. Despite facing traumatic events throughout her life, Carolyn's strength and determination allowed her to overcome adversity and lead a fulfilling artistic life. Her memoir offers both a fairytale-like glimpse into the world of fame and fortune in the film industry and a raw, honest portrayal of her struggles and triumphs.

#GalleyMatch @harperhorizon @thebookclubcookbook

Thank you to HarperHorizon and The Book Club Cookbook for both ARC and hard copies of this book, which included photos, to my book club, The Ranch Readers, as part of the GalleyMatch program!

[Sandra de Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A memoir from a woman who chased her dreams across the world, spent her life with famous people including movie stars, royalty, and filmmakers. Became a filmmaker herself. Well written, engaging, and fascinating. A real find.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Words her story beautifully. She has a wonderful vocabulary that paints a perfect picture without overdoing it or making it too flowery. I do wish near the end she would have gone into depth more, since I found myself confused at times. But overall I really enjoyed the book.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost never read memoirs, let alone enjoy them, but this one is an exception to that rule. It is a fascinating story and reads like a coming-of-age novel. It is a beautifully written book about a woman who lived an incredible life.

[ryann! · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book makes me want to time travel or at least go to europe. everything is so vibrantly described and the way she views career and motherhood and expectations of women in that time is so refreshing. i hate the married british man btw, and i am in awe of carollyn pfeiffer

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I was growing into adulthood along side Carolyn. Lovely and exactly what I needed at this point in my life.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carolyn lives in marfa! Her memoir is filled with feminist wonder and film making History. There’s also a lot of name dropping … it was the 1960-70 sexual revolution. So interesting!!

[Jessica C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me that we can live a million lives in a lifetime. You can grow, change, move, try new things, etc. at any point in your life!!