Hollywood: The Oral History

Product Information

The material in the book - gathered over the decades by the American Film Institute - has never been published before, has never been heard before. Two caveats: you have to be very familiar with Hollywood's history to recognize many of the "speakers", and there is no index provided. Divided into 17 chapters on such topics as "Beginnings," "Studio Heads," and "New Hollywood," this book addresses a myriad of topics and personalities.

Published in 2022, this is a massive book of personal quotes and stories by people connected with the film industry from back when it started until today. But sources stress over and over that Mayer regarded the studio as a family with himself as pater familias. Photograph: Palace Nova Eastend View image in fullscreen The man who put brawn into modern musical masculinity … Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain.Their art comes to life through their stories and those of the many talented men and women who make the movies come to life.

And while you don't get a lot of first-hand stories from actors, you do get a lot of detail about them, their talents and their foibles.Those who are more familiar with Garland's history may disagree, but I found these recollections convincing. Director George Seaton remembers Montgomery Clift, that anguished soul who longed to be a method actor rather than a matinee idol. Because they owned the production from soup to nuts, and owned the theaters, they were able to produce as many as fifty movies a year. First off, the intro claims that events told by their participants are necessarily more true and generally superior, but anyone even remotely familiar with oral histories knows that this just isn't the way it works.

I looked forward to reading the book because it seemed that with all the different ethnic cultures, even the real Black people from the masterpiece of racist cinema Birth of a Nation (not just the Black faced), were included. There seemed to be a consensus that he tried to help Garland, if for no other reason than her financial value to the studio.Authors Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson wrote an epic history book that covers every aspect of Hollywood. But the idea that the only way to make good movies was under the studio system where 4 or 5 studios monopolized every aspect of movie making was somehow better and produced better product than any other time in moviemaking history is idiotic. The intention behind Basinger and Wasson’s cutting-and-pasting is to produce the impression that all these interviewees are in the same room at the same time, bouncing off one another. From the beginnings, up until the current era, everything is covered from the films, directors, producers, actors, and even make up and camera people. The book is especially strong on the silent era, studio system (pro and con), movie moguls (ditto) and, strangely, the independent film movement of the late 60s.

My favorite sections were about the old studio system and all the actors and actresses connected to the studios.I didn't know how little I cared what Mervyn LeRoy or Bronislau Kaper thought about anything until reading this book. Then it's people complaining about filmmaking in the 70s, then the 80s, then the 90s, and by the end it's modern filmmakers and actors talking about the "good old days" of the 90s. Some of the more surprising passages were those about Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland- two women who were undoubtedly a victim of the Hollywood system- but were not remembered fondly by some people who had to deal with them in moment.