Over 400 stars, directors, and technicians contributed to this audiobook, but none of their voices are heard here. Timothy Andres Pabon and Marni Penning narrate from interviews with filmmakers past and living, he the male voices, she the female. This mosaic approach highlights film’s collaborative nature, and the army of skills required. But the narrative suffers from the too-frequent change of contributors, many with only a line or two. Many too are heavy on opinion, thin on detail. Pabon’s male speakers dominate, and he is the more engaging narrator. Penning’s female voices are sharply pitched and grate over time. Even so, what a grand spectacle unfolds—all the big stars, a cast of thousands, fortunes rising and falling, this one has it all. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Hollywood: The Oral History
Narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning
Jeanine BasingerUnabridged — 28 hours, 49 minutes
Hollywood: The Oral History
Narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning
Jeanine BasingerUnabridged — 28 hours, 49 minutes
Overview
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 camera-Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloyd-to the biggest behind it-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 Hollywood.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Editorial Reviews
★ 10/10/2022
The secrets of Tinseltown burn bright in this collection of interviews culled from the American Film Institute’s archives and assembled by film scholar Basinger (The Movie Musical!) and author Wasson (Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.). The technical process of filmmaking is expertly explored, and discussions about publicity highlight the work style of individual directors (John Ford “gave in to nobody,” says cinematographer Ray Rennahan) and the charisma of legendary stars such as Marlon Brando. A narrative arc emerges from the hubbub, tracing the freshness of the silent era to the grandeur of the golden age studio system—the “beautiful machinery” of MGM is hymned for its excellent production values and nurturing of new talent—to the modern era of independent producers, high-earning leading actors, and summer blockbusters. The commentary crackles with humorous anecdotes and acerbic insights on topics such as screenplays (“There mustn’t be too much description, because get bored when they read words,” says director and writer Abraham Polonsky) and stunt work (“I used to get $25 every time I jumped a horse off a cliff,” says 1920s actor Hoot Gibson). The result is a fascinating conversation about Hollywood’s magical blending of art and commerce. Agent: David P. Halpern, Robbins Office. (Nov.)
Hollywood's ultimate oral history . . . a hard book to put down. The special virtue of Basinger and Wasson’s work is its seamlessly sequential organization . . . With a net cast this wide, many glimmering fish are drawn up.” — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker
“. . . a fat, showbiz-nerd-satisfying tome with something for every showbiz-nerd taste . . . . a trove of direct, un-self-conscious observations about the times and ways in which these pros worked . . . .” — New York Times
“. . . something fresh, revealing and frequently amusing on nearly every page . . . . Hollywood will surely bring joy to any cinephile…” — Wall Street Journal
"The secrets of Tinseltown burn bright in this collection of interviews culled from the American Film Institute’s archives and assembled by film scholar Basinger and author Wasson . . . . The commentary crackles with humorous anecdotes and acerbic insights . . . . The result is a fascinating conversation about Hollywood’s magical blending of art and commerce." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Surely the most comprehensive portrait of America’s dream factory ever committed to paper.” — The Guardian (UK)
"As close to a comprehensive Who’s Who of American film as we’re likely to see, and as close to a definitive history of American cinema as we’ve seen so far. An absolute must-read for industry pros and fans alike." — Booklist (starred review)
"This book is a movie buff’s dream (especially if you love gossip). Even if you think you know a lot about Hollywood and its leading players, I guarantee you’ll gain new insight from this book. It’s a perfect one to keep in mind when you need gifts for the cinephiles in your life this holiday season." — BuzzFeed News
"Unparalleled in its scope and vision . . . Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson are two of our best chroniclers of Hollywood's past, but this collaboration marks their most ambitious work yet . . . . Offers a unique first-hand account of the industry's founding and ever-evolving approaches." — Entertainment Weekly
"Recommended for the large audience of popular culture enthusiasts for whom knowledge of the Hollywood past will enable them better to appreciate occurring and anticipated industry changes." — Library Journal (starred)
“There is something majestic about this book . . . . A must-have for any fan of Hollywood history . . . Will remain a standard work of reference for many years to come . . . .” — Los Angeles Review of Books
“. . . This book is enjoyably absorbing and genuinely unputdownable . . . . Resounding with the multitudinous voices of Hollywood’s first century, it delivers a narrative sweep as embracing as any Cinemascope historical drama . . . .These are stories you have never heard before . . . reflections of the famous and the not-so-famous directors and stage hands, major and minor performers, script girls and sound engineers, set and clothing designers, agents and critics—all seamlessly spliced together without a narrative glitch in sight.” — The Spectator
“. . . an incredible look inside one of the world's most storied industries . . . honest, surprising, and delightful details about what life is like on and off camera.” — Town & Country
"This volume is a gold mine of production details, backroom deals, and inside gossip. There are surprising revelations—e.g., Joan Crawford was more beloved than her reputation for derangement would have one believe—and memorably graphic stories, as when Billy Wilder noted that during the filming of Greed (1924), Erich von Stroheim “stopped shooting for three days because there wasn’t enough horseshit in the streets” and forced staff to collect more for him “because that’s what he wanted. Plenty of good horseshit. . . . Fun firsthand accounts from 100 years of Hollywood history." — Kirkus Reviews
“These Hollywood scholars have assembled what is arguably the most comprehensive, gossipy and insightful oral history of Tinseltown ever made.” — Globe and Mail
“. . . a delightful and illuminating account of moviemaking . . .” — Christian Science Monitor
“Hollywood aficionados, especially Tinsel Town’s queer fans, will find it hard to resist this book.” — Washington Blade
★ 09/01/2022
Film writers Basinger (The Star Machine) and Wasson (The Big Goodbye) synthesize (for general readers and cinema cognoscenti) their sleuthing of primary sources—nearly 3,000 transcripts of interviews with hundreds of movie people found in the American Film Institute's archives. Ranging from the silent film era (an ongoing recollection project began in 1969 as the Harold Lloyd Master Seminar series) through the present, this compilation includes actors, directors, and producers as well as essential, often overlooked support personnel—agents, editors, writers, makeup and wardrobe artists, musicians, and publicists—forming a more perfect picture of the entertainment enterprise. While underscoring too frequent stereotypical gender expectations (fewer, surprisingly, during the early days), there is little mention of actual sexual harassment. This edited, conversational retrospective contains much on changes in the industry as experienced by those in it, such as the transition to sound, the waning of censorship after the Production Code and McCarthyism, the use of digital technology, and the challenge of immediate reviews through the blogosphere. VERDICT Recommended for the large audience of popular culture enthusiasts for whom knowledge of the Hollywood past will enable them better to appreciate occurring and anticipated industry changes.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.
Over 400 stars, directors, and technicians contributed to this audiobook, but none of their voices are heard here. Timothy Andres Pabon and Marni Penning narrate from interviews with filmmakers past and living, he the male voices, she the female. This mosaic approach highlights film’s collaborative nature, and the army of skills required. But the narrative suffers from the too-frequent change of contributors, many with only a line or two. Many too are heavy on opinion, thin on detail. Pabon’s male speakers dominate, and he is the more engaging narrator. Penning’s female voices are sharply pitched and grate over time. Even so, what a grand spectacle unfolds—all the big stars, a cast of thousands, fortunes rising and falling, this one has it all. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
2022-07-30
More than 300 film professionals tell the story of the world’s most prominent movie industry.
In 1969, the American Film Institute began the Harold Lloyd Master seminars, “intimate conversations between Hollywood professionals and AFI conservatory students,” named for its first participant. For this book, Basinger and Wasson “were granted total and unprecedented access to the AFI’s seminars, oral histories, and complete archives” to make what they call “the only comprehensive firsthand history of Hollywood.” This massive book contains thousands of quotes from producers, actors, directors, composers, and other professionals that span the earliest days of flammable celluloid and the studio system to the current freelance world of digital filmmaking and special effects. The authors only intermittently provide historical context and avoid commenting directly on speakers’ recollections. Consequently, readers must take the stories on faith, a fraught prospect when dealing with luminaries such as Fritz Lang, who was notorious for embellishing facts, or elderly director Tay Garnett, who began a reminiscence with, “I’ll never forget one D.W. Griffith picture, I’m not sure what the title was.” For a comprehensive history, important details are missing, revealing the perils of letting people speak without providing perspective. Prominent figures offer praise of Griffith’s contributions to early cinema—he “discovered the close-up” and gave film “the form and grammar it has today”—yet not a word about the jaw-dropping racism in films such as The Birth of a Nation (1915). For cinephiles, however, this volume is a gold mine of production details, backroom deals, and inside gossip. There are surprising revelations—e.g., Joan Crawford was more beloved than her reputation for derangement would have one believe—and memorably graphic stories, as when Billy Wilder noted that during the filming of Greed (1924), Erich von Stroheim “stopped shooting for three days because there wasn’t enough horseshit in the streets” and forced staff to collect more for him “because that’s what he wanted. Plenty of good horseshit.”
Fun firsthand accounts from 100 years of Hollywood history.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940178762561 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 11/08/2022 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 797,114 |
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