The Hollywood Story: Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About The American Movie Business But Didn't Know Where to Look

From Library Journal
Finler provides an excellent overview of the American film industry in this general history that, using innovative charts, graphically illustrates simultaneous events in this fast moving business. Entire chapters are devoted to the financial and business stories of each major studio; the creative personnel at each studio are identified, its pattern of filmmaking is described, and its awards listed. The charts, along with lists of personnel cross-indexed by profession and studio, tables of studio profits and losses since 1920, and charts of top grossing films, further integrate Finler's survey. Recommended as a reference title for larger collections. Marshall Deutelbaum, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A book that more than lives up to its claims.... For all those unable to store sixty years of Variety under the bed, Mr. Finler has performed an invaluable service. (of the first edition)" -- The Economist

Book Description
This fully revised and updated edition of an award-winning classic traces the history of Hollywood from the silent era to the present day. The Hollywood Story comprehensively covers every aspect of movie-making in America, taking in nickelodeans, drive-ins and multiplexes; the transition from silent to sound, black and white to color; the relationships of producers, directors, stars and technicians; and the function and output of the studios - their major hits and most expensive flops.Praise for the first edition:'The Hollywood Story is a must for the movie buff... Never has so much information been compiled into one, easy to read, accessible volume.' Bob Dorian, American Movie Classics'A book that more than lives up to its claims... For all those unable to store sixty years of Variety under the bed, Mr Finler has performed an invaluable service.The Economist

About the Author
Joel W. Finler is the author of numerous books about cinema including The Movie Directors Story and All Time Movie Favourites and several on directors such as Alfred Hitchcock. He is also a picture archivist.


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Hollywood is synonymous with American cinema. Powerful moguls, beautiful stars, art and commerce, extremes of success and failure -- all are encapsulated in the name of the small district northwest of Los Angeles that became the centre of the movie-making world. In The Hollywood Story, Joel W. Finler explores the history of the American movie industry from the silent era up to the present day. In individual chapters that cover each of the major studios, the author considers the key actors, directors and frequently overlooked technicians who contributed to film-making history. The book includes a wealth of information on the development of colour, widescreen processes and the transition from silent cinema to sound. Additionally, Joel W. Finler has compiled an unrivalled amount of financial information which is presented in simple graphs and tables, making it clearer than ever just what, and who, are the big winners and losers in Hollywood. The Hollywood Story won the British Film Institute award as the outstanding film book of 1989. This fully revised and updated edition brings the facts and figures into the new millennium and includes an entirely new chapter on the studio that emerged in the 1990s as one of the most powerful of all -- Disney. 'A book that more than lives up to its claims ... For all those unable to store sixty years of Variety under the bed, Mr Finler has performed an invaluable service.'


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