A Mouse House of Cards.

HOW MICHAEL EISNER LOST HIS GRIP

How do certain people rise to power, and what makes them fall? With a title suggesting that Disney head-honcho Michael Eisner is about to be toppled from his throne, Kim Masters sniffed behind the scenes in The Keys to the Kingdom: How Michael Eisner Lost His Grip (William Morrow, 469 pp.) She pointed to the untimely death of Disney president Frank Wells in 1994 as a major trigger, arguing that without Wells to serve as a social safety net, Eisner's interpersonal behavior will do him in.

Masters scrutinized Eisner like a case-study, revealing many facets of his personality. Through interviews with industry insiders like Barry Diller and Jeffrey Katzenberg (whose critical comments Masters balances with mini case-studies), previous interviews between Masters and Eisner (he declined to cooperate for this book), and information contained in his autobiography "Work in Progress," the author dove deeply.

Aside from the pop-psychology examination of the Eisner psyche, Masters also told Tinseltown tales about major deals, films, promotions, sackings and Hollywood reactions. There's Warren Beatty, commenting, "Reds was the end of something....[Movies] became about mass release, which changed the content." Masters noted that Eisner was joining the Hollywood elite at that time and played a part in the sea change. And then there's MCA/Universal president Sid Sheinberg shouting, "Eisner has just made a deal that will destroy this business!" in the wake of George Lucas' contractual chutzpah for Raiders of the Lost Ark, an agreement that was unprecedented at the time and ceded a tremendous amount of control to talent.

Masters detailed the corporate turnaround at Disney in the late '80s, Diller's launching of Fox, Katzenberg's successful lawsuit against Disney demanding back pay and many other earthquakes of showbiz. But the strongest aspect of the book was the exploration of power and how it destroys.

How can anyone forget Eisner's notorious memo? Masters quoted from a January 1982 draft: "We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective." Masters concluded that he was not the "wide-eyed kid who loved movies," but an executive at a colossal public company who cared only about the bottom line. The memo, according to Masters, also "reveals Eisner's constant anxiety about complacency leading to failure."

Failure is a theme flowing through the book and apparently Eisner's personal life. Inspecting family stories from his privileged early years in Manhattan, Masters attempted to explain Eisner's present-day personality. She noted that Eisner's father drilled stories into his head about great uncles who were arrogant and overconfident and who ruined the family uniform business. From such lessons, Masters postulated that the young Eisner learned not to take success for granted and developed a lifelong fear of failure. ABC president Fred Pierce remarked, "Even today he operates as if failure is always around the corner. I think that's what drives him."

To many people in the book, one of Eisner's primary faults is his inability to handle confrontation. The late friend, colleague and producer Don Simpson said Eisner had "an optional memory," meaning that he would feign ignorance and change his mind about projects. After such misleading encounters, Eisner would leave others to clean up his mess. This is where Frank Wells came in. He was a man of complexity -- labeled unpretentious and honest, yet also hypocritical. Masters maintained that he was the backbone of the Eisner/Disney power structure, smoothing over roughed-up relations that Eisner would create.

At other times, Eisner comes across as a decent boss and person. Program executive Marcy Carsey said she once asked to develop a rejected TV show, The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller. It turned out to be a success, lasting eight seasons. Carsey said if the show had failed, Eisner would "never, ever come to us later and say, 'I told you it wouldn't work.' He allowed us to fail. He'd say, give me at least one hit a year. I don't care how you get there, if you show five pilots so horrendous you have to leave the room, if the sixth is great." During her tenure, Carsey developed The Cosby Show, Roseanne and 3rd Rock from the Sun.

Director Walter Hill shared his views on what makes Eisner a successful film executive. "One, he actually believes in his own taste and two, he doesn't care what you think about him." Producer Craig Baumgarten also praised Eisner. "He's an absolute genius about what the public is going to be interested in." In 1992, Eisner pocketed $197 million through stock options -- topping $200 million with salary and bonuses. While some were shocked, others pointed out that Disney's stock-market value was about $2 billion before Eisner and Wells signed on -- the value ballooning to $22 billion on their watch.

Masters claimed Eisner "lost his grip" but ... has just one hand slipped off momentarily or is he really hurtling down a mountain?