Hollywood: The Oral History

by Jeanine Basinger

Hardcover, 2022

Status

Available

Call number

PN1993.U65 B37

Publication

Harper (2022), 768 pages

Description

Performing Arts. Nonfiction. HTML: The real story of Hollywood as told by such luminaries as Steven Spielberg, Frank Capra, Katharine Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Harold Lloyd, and nearly four hundred others, assembled from the American Film Institute's treasure trove of interviews, reveals a fresh history of the American movie industry from its beginnings to today. From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a unique picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Gleaned from nearly three thousand interviews, involving four hundred voices from the industry, Hollywood: The Oral History, lets a reader "listen in" on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the cameraâ??Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloydâ??to the biggest behind itâ??Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, as well as the lesser known individuals that shaped what was heard and seen on screen: musicians, costumers, art directors, cinematographers, writers, sound men, editors, make-up artists, and even script timers, messengers, and publicists. The result is like a conversation among the gods and goddesses of film: lively, funny, insightful, historically accurate and, for the first time, authentically honest in its portrait of Hollywood. It's the insider's story. Legendary film scholar Jeanine Basinger and New York Times bestselling author Sam Wasson, both acclaimed storytellers in their own right, have undertaken the monumental task of digesting these tens of thousands of hours of talk and weaving it into a definitive portrait of workaday Hollyw… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member CarltonC
The “authors”, really editors who add occasional continuity passages, beautifully patch together quotes from Hollywood actors, directors, screenwriters, producers to create a gripping narrative history of the Hollywood film industry from its beginning. What the authors achieve which makes this
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book remarkable is that the story is able to maintain real drive and that the story is told by those who were there.

Many of the people involved at the start of Hollywood were only names to me, but this history helped to explain their significance and their contribution to the film industry.
I was a child in the 1970’s and so I saw Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy on morning television during the school holidays, I saw “golden age” musicals and westerns from the 1940’s to 1960’s as television matinees on wet Sunday afternoons, and I saw 1970’s and later films at the cinema.
The coverage feels weaker after the 1970’s, perhaps because I lived through that period, but it does try to bring the story up to 2022.
This book provides a fascinating glimpse of that world, and although it is long, it is readable, engaging, funny and entertaining. If you are interested in Hollywood, or popular culture, then this is an excellent read.
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LibraryThing member PhilSyphe
Apart from the author’s intro and outro, this is a wonderful compilation of quotes from big names and the ‘unknown’ behind-the-scenes people. Added together, it makes for a fascinating narrative.

The bulk of material is from the early days through to the 1950s. I found this to be the most
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entertaining. I watch films from all eras, so I knew many of the old stars who are featured, like comedy genius Harold Lloyd and the wonderful Mary Pickford.

Having mentioned that, Mary is only referred to, not quoted. She’s among several big names who aren’t quoted, plus many others don’t get any mention. Clara Bow, for example, is referred to only once.

This isn’t a case of the author deciding certain stars are unworthy to be remembered. Rather, it’s down to the material she had at her disposal. She mentions at the end how she wishes she had more stars to include, and regrets having to cut many hours’ worth of material. What we have, though, is excellent.

Beforehand, I didn’t think I’d be too interested in the cameramen and other behind-the-scenes people, yet they all add to the fascination of early Hollywood.

My fascination downgrades to interest when we leave the Golden Years and venture into the 1960s. From the 1970s onwards, much of the sparkle has gone, but that’s not to say it’s boring. It does become patchy, though.

In the main, however, this is a superb read.
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LibraryThing member markm2315
The authors have reviewed many interviews from people in the industry, extracted paragraphs of interest, then organized these by topic (e.g. Comedy, Silent Directors, Sound!). Reading a chapter is pretty easy in this format, but reading the book through was more difficult. There is a lot of great
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stuff here and I enjoyed it a lot, but I have three complaints.
1. This must have been a big undertaking. How hard would it be to add mini-biographies? I recognized many of these people, the stars, the directors, and people like Edith Head, but some I did not know, and I had to guess at their identity from what they were talking about.
2. If mini-biographies were done, there should be figures of these people, especially in a book about the movie industry, unless there are plans to redo this in an illustrated edition.
3. Somewhere in the book there should be a list of the source interviews and the date they were made.
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LibraryThing member gpangel
Hollywood: An Oral History by Jeanine Basinger/Sam Wasson is a 2022 Harper publication.

Oral history is a hit or miss with me, but if a book is going to cover old Hollywood at all, I can’t seem to resist. While the page count for this book appears daunting, it’s actually very easy to read.
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There’s no dense text or history. It is exactly what it says- an oral history. (Though some might beg to differ)

The quotes are quite interesting and give the reader a lay of the land during various periods in Hollywood over the years. It also gives one a look at the Hollywood system from the beginning through to the digital age. It does not cover the streaming era, though. Still, it might enlighten those who want to blow off actors’ current complaints, by educating one on how things normally work for them, and it is not at all like what you might expect.

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.

I did not read this book from start to finish like a novel, but browsed through it here and there until I finished it. I will not lie and say I digested every single portion the same way. The authors cover nearly every single aspect of the movie making business- producers, directors, writers, music, actors, and all points in between. Some of these areas were not as interesting as others, and I seldom recognized the names of the people working some of the behind the scenes jobs- so I confess to having skimmed some sections.

Overall, though, this is a well-organized look at the Hollywood system from every angle, told through the eyes, ears and mouths of those who experienced it firsthand.

It’s an interesting book, and it is obvious the authors put a great deal of effort into it. I think it is important to know two things going in- there is no big, long index, no biographies or photographs. It’s strictly interview snippets that apply to the time period- from silents, to talkies, to the studio system, to the 1970s, the big blockbusters, and finally the digital age.

This is what you should expect and nothing- more- or less. It’s comprehensive and so I can’t imagine why it wouldn't be enough for those interested, but of course the lack of bios and index might be frustrating to some readers. Personally, I didn't feel either of those were necessary.

The book is fun, informative, and should appeal to pop culture enthusiasts, historians, and movie lovers of all ages and stripes.

4 stars
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

768 p.; 9.25 inches

ISBN

0063056941 / 9780063056947
Page: 0.2961 seconds