"Hollywood" TV series - 1980.
Narrated by screen legend James Mason, this documentary is the ultimate guide to the silent film era in Hollywood. What makes the whole production worth while, is that all the interviewees were in Hollywood during this time as they share their first-hand experiences. It doesn't get much better than that.
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14 titles
- StarsJames MasonColleen MooreByron HaskinThe history of the American film industry in Hollywood during the Silent era.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonGilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' AndersonKarl BrownContrary to popular belief, the silent film in general had reached a high state of sophistication by the late 1920s.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonKarl BrownAgnes de MilleHollywood and its stars support the War effort with propaganda and patriotic films and war bond tours.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonViola DanaAgnes de MilleTwo great careers are profiled: ambitious and beautiful Gloria Swanson and the tragic Latin lover, Rudolph Valentino.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonKarl BrownViola DanaThe development of cinematography from its primitive beginnings through emergence as a serious art form in the late 1920s. Film clips and interviews with veterans of the period like Karl Brown and George Folsey are highlighted.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonViola DanaAgnes de MilleSome of the less affluent studios escape bad weather and legal entanglements in New Jersey and make Hollywood the world film capitol.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonCedric BelfrageKarl BrownMounting scandals including drug addiction and murder force the studios to appoint Will Hays as a morals czar to oversee production.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonYakima CanuttViola DanaA tribute to the death-defying and sometimes deadly art of the silent movie stuntman is featured in this episode.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonKarl BrownAgnes de MilleAutocratic directors like the martinet Cecil B. DeMille and the idiosyncratic Eric Von Stroheim are highlighted in this episode.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonFrank CapraJackie CooganThe art of silent comedy is highlighted with a focus on the work of the four great clowns of the era: Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Harry Langdon.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonKarl BrownYakima CanuttThe development of the uniquely American film genre, the Western, is shown from its inception with archival footage and interviews with surviving artists.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonCedric BelfrageEleanor BoardmanThe glorious, tragic, and truncated careers of American silent stars like John Gilbert, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, and Greta Garbo are highlighted.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonEleanor BoardmanViola DanaEarly Hollywood directors were self-taught and generally became directors by accident.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowDavid GillStarsJames MasonIrving AsherMary AstorThe rise of practical synchronized sound film technology spells the end of the silent era of Hollywood with its casualties and the struggle to redefine cinema with sound in mind.