''Hollywood'' (also known as ''Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film'') is a multi-
BAFTA award winning 1980
documentary series produced by
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
which explored the establishment and development of the
Hollywood studios
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery ( ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
and their impact on 1920s culture. At the 1981 BAFTA television awards, it won Best Factual Series, Best Film Editing and Best Graphics.
The series has seldom been released on
home video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
formats, apparently due to the complexity of obtaining home video rights to all of the film clips used. As of early 2020 it remains unavailable.
In 1995, Brownlow and Gill produced the followup series, ''
Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood'', which explores the rise of the silent film industry in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
.
Synopsis
The series consists of 13 50-minute episodes, with each episode dealing with a specific aspect of Hollywood history. The actor
James Mason, an enthusiast of the period, supplied the
narration
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...
while a lilting and expressive score was contributed by
Carl Davis
Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961.
He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...
.
Technical quality was an important aspect of the production. Silent films had often been screened on television from poor-quality copies running at an inaccurate speed, usually accompanied by honky tonk piano music. ''Hollywood'' used silent film clips sourced from the best available material, shown at their original running speed via a polygonal prism
telecine
Telecine ( or ) is the process of transferring film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process.
Telecine enables a motion picture, captured originally on f ...
, and with an orchestral score, giving viewers a chance to see what they originally looked and sounded like. For instance, the first episode features a clip of ''
Life of an American Fireman
''Life of an American Fireman'' is a short, silent film Edwin S. Porter made for the Edison Manufacturing Company. It was shot late in 1902 and distributed early in 1903. One of the earliest American narrative films, it depicts the rescue of a wom ...
'', produced in 1903 with the aforementioned stereotypical poor quality print and music and then compares that with a clip of ''
The Fire Brigade
''The Fire Brigade'' (also known as ''Fire!'') is 1926 American silent drama film directed by William Nigh. The film stars May McAvoy and Charles Ray. ''The Fire Brigade'' originally contained sequences shot in two-color Technicolor. A print ...
'', produced over two decades later in 1926, in a high quality print run at the proper speed with full orchestral accompaniment.
The producers filmed the recollections of many of the period's surviving participants, and illustrated their interviews with scenes from their various films, as well as production still photographs, and historical photographs of the Los Angeles environs. Some of these interviews are notable for being among the only filmed interviews given by their subjects.
Participants
Among the notable people who contributed interviews were:
* Actors
Mary Astor
Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...
,
Eleanor Boardman
Olive Eleanor Boardman (August 19, 1898 – December 12, 1991) was an American film actress of the silent era.
Early life and career
Olive Eleanor Boardman was born on August 19, 1898, the youngest child to George W. Boardman and Janice Merriam ...
,
Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...
,
Olive Carey
Olive Carey (born Olive Fuller Golden; January 31, 1896 – March 13, 1988) was an American film and television actress, and the mother of actor Harry Carey Jr.
Life and career
Carey was born Olive Fuller Golden in New York City, the daughter o ...
,
Iron Eyes Cody
Iron Eyes Cody (born Espera Oscar de Corti, April 3, 1904 – January 4, 1999) was an American actor of Italian descent who portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films, famously as ''Chief Iron Eyes'' in Bob Hope's '' The Paleface'' (1948) ...
,
Jackie Coogan
John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films.
Charlie Chaplin's film classic ''The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the ...
,
Dolores Costello
Dolores Costello (September 17, 1903Costello's obituary in ''The New York Times'' says that she was born on September 17, 1905. – March 1, 1979) was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. ...
,
Viola Dana
Viola Dana (born Virginia Flugrath; June 26, 1897 – July 3, 1987) was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent films. She appeared in over 100 films, but was unable to make the transition to sound films.
Early lif ...
,
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), '' Gunga Din'' (1939) ...
,
Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage, and television actress.
Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later ...
,
Leatrice Joy
Leatrice Joy (born Leatrice Johanna Zeidler; November 7, 1893 – May 13, 1985) was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era.
Early life
Joy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to dentist Edward Joseph Zeidler, who was o ...
,
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...
,
Bessie Love
Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898April 26, 1986) was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned e ...
,
Ben Lyon
Ben Lyon (February 6, 1901 – March 22, 1979) was an American film actor and a studio executive at 20th Century-Fox who later acted in British radio, films and TV.
Early life and career
Lyon was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Alvine ...
,
Marion Mack
Joey Marion McCreery Lewyn (April 8, 1902–May 1, 1989), known professionally as Marion Mack, was an American film actress and screenwriter. Mack is best known for co-starring with Buster Keaton in the 1926 silent comedy film, '' The General ...
,
Tim McCoy
Timothy John Fitzgerald McCoy (April 10, 1891 – January 29, 1978) was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life. McCoy is most noted for his roles in B-grade Western films. As a popular cowboy film star, he ap ...
,
Colleen Moore
Colleen Moore (born Kathleen Morrison; August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable (and highly-paid) stars of the era and helped po ...
,
Charles 'Buddy' Rogers
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
,
Gloria Swanson
Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...
,
Blanche Sweet
Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry.
Early life
Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first na ...
,
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
,
Eva von Berne
Eva von Berne (born Genofeva Plentzner von Scharneck, 8 July 1910 – 9 November 2010) was an Austrian film actress.
Biography
Eva von Berne was born Genofeva Plentzner von Scharneck in Sarajevo which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ...
, and
Lois Wilson.
* Directors
Dorothy Arzner
Dorothy Emma Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was an American film director whose career in Hollywood spanned from the silent era of the 1920s into the early 1940s. With the exception of longtime silent film director Lois Weber (who d ...
,
Clarence Brown
Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director.
Early life
Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when he ...
,
Karl Brown,
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...
,
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...
,
Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.
Early life
Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was ...
,
Byron Haskin
Byron Conrad Haskin (April 22, 1899 – April 16, 1984) was an American film and television director, special effects creator and cinematographer. He is best known for directing ''The War of the Worlds'' (1953), one of many films where he t ...
,
Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films.
Backgro ...
,
Henry King,
Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein (Russian: Лейб Мильштейн); September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Moldovan-American film director. He is known for directing ''Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) and '' All Quiet on the Weste ...
,
Hal Roach
Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...
,
Albert S. Rogell
Albert S. Rogell (August 21, 1901 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - April 7, 1988 Los Angeles, California) was an American film director.
Rogell directed more than a hundred movies between 1921 and 1958. He was the uncle of producer Sid Rogell.
Filmogr ...
,
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor (; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...
, and
William Wyler
William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for ''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), ''The Best Years of O ...
.
Also interviewed were choreographer
Agnes de Mille
Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 – October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer.
Early years
Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMill ...
, writer
Anita Loos
Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...
, writer
Adela Rogers St. Johns
Adela Nora Rogers St. Johns (May 20, 1894 – August 10, 1988) was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies but is best remembered for her groundbreaking exploits as "The World's Grea ...
, press agent/writer
Cedric Belfrage
Cedric Henning Belfrage (8 November 1904 – 21 June 1990) was an English film critic, journalist, writer and political activist. He is best remembered as a co-founder of the radical US weekly ''National Guardian''. Later Belfrage was referenced ...
, organist
Gaylord Carter
Gaylord Carter (August 3, 1905 – November 20, 2000) was an American organist and the composer of many film scores that were added to silent movies released on video tape or disks. He died from Parkinson disease.
Early life and musical begin ...
, cinematographers
George J. Folsey
George Joseph Folsey, A.S.C., was an American cinematographer who worked on 162 films between 1919 and his retirement in 1976.
Biography
Born in Brooklyn, Folsey was hired by Jesse Louis Lasky to work as an office boy in his newly formed Jess ...
,
Lee Garmes
Lee Garmes, A.S.C. (May 27, 1898 – August 31, 1978) was an American cinematographer. During his career, he worked with directors Howard Hawks, Max Ophüls, Josef von Sternberg, Alfred Hitchcock, King Vidor, Nicholas Ray and Henry Hathaway, whom ...
and
Paul Ivano
Paul Ivano, ASC (May 13, 1900 – April 9, 1984), was a Serbian– French–American cinematographer whose career stretched from 1920 into the late 1960s. Born Paul Ivano Ivanichevitch, to Serbian parents in Nice, France, he served for two years ...
, writer
Jesse L. Lasky, Jr., special effects artist
A. Arnold Gillespie
Albert Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie (October 14, 1899 – May 3, 1978) was an American cinema special effects artist.
Biography
He was born on October 14, 1899, in El Paso, Texas. Gillespie joined MGM as a set designer in 1925, a year after it was ...
,
Lord Mountbatten
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...
, agent
Paul Kohner
Paul Kohner (May 29, 1902 – March 16, 1988) was an Austrian-American talent agent and producer who managed the careers of many stars and others—like Ingrid Bergman, Maurice Chevalier, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, John Huston, Liv Ullmann an ...
, producer/writer
Samuel Marx
Samuel Marx (January 26, 1902, New York City – March 2, 1992, Los Angeles) was an American film producer, screenwriter and book author.
Life
Marx was born to a Jewish family. and started working in 1919 as an office boy at the New York offi ...
, editors
William Hornbeck and Grant Whytock, property man Lefty Hough, stuntmen Bob Rose,
Yakima Canutt
Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing t ...
, Paul Malvern, and
Harvey Parry
Harvey Parry (April 23, 1900 - September 18, 1985) was an American stuntman and actor whose career spanned the silent era and the disaster movie genre of the 1970s.
Born on April 23, 1900 in San Francisco, California, Parry had been an Associatio ...
,
Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...
's brother Alberto Valentino, and English set designer
Laurence Irving.
['Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film': An Eleven-Hour Investigative Odyssey·Cinephilia & Beyond](_blank)
/ref>
Episodes
# "The Pioneers"The evolution of film from penny arcade curiosity to art form, from what was considered the first plot driven film, '' The Great Train Robbery'', through to ''The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Cla ...
'', films showing the power of the medium. Early Technicolor footage, along with other color technologies, are also featured. Interviews include Lillian Gish, Jackie Coogan and King Vidor.
# "In the Beginning"Hollywood is transformed from a peaceful village with dusty streets and lemon groves to the birthplace of the industry in California. Silent film transcends international boundaries to become a worldwide phenomenon. Interviews include Henry King, Agnes de Mille, and Lillian Gish.
# "Single Beds and Double Standards"Fast success in Hollywood brings a cavalier party lifestyle, which led to shocking scandals such as Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...
's trial and subsequent acquittal for manslaughter. To tone down the image of Hollywood and curtail films with footage unsuitable to all audiences, Will H. Hays
William Harrison Hays Sr. (; November 5, 1879 – March 7, 1954) was an American Republican politician.
As chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1918–1921, Hays managed the successful 1920 presidential campaign of Warren G. Ha ...
is appointed and introduces Hollywood's self regulated Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
, which would be enforced well into the 1960s, while filmmakers still found creative ways to present 'adult' situations. Interviews include King Vidor and Gloria Swanson.
# "Hollywood Goes to War"The outbreak of World War I provides Hollywood with a successful source for plots and profits. Peacetime curtails the release of war movies, until the release of King Vidor's ''The Big Parade
''The Big Parade'' is a 1925 American silent war drama film directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Tom O'Brien, and Karl Dane. Written by World War I veteran, Laurence Stallings, the film is about an ...
'' in 1925. ''Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
'' (1927) earns the first Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...
. As movies transition to sound, Universal releases Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein (Russian: Лейб Мильштейн); September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Moldovan-American film director. He is known for directing ''Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) and '' All Quiet on the Weste ...
's '' All Quiet on the Western Front'', showing the German side of the conflict, becoming a powerful statement of war by the generation that fought it. Interviews include Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., King Vidor, Blanche Sweet and Lillian Gish.
# "Hazard of the Game"Silent films are often remembered for slapstick gags and dangerous stunts. Stuntmen took anonymous credit for very little pay and could not reveal their involvement. Stuntmen Yakima Canutt, Harvey Parry, Bob Rose and Paul Malvern tell hair-raising and humorous stories, and reveal the secrets behind many famous stunts.
# "Swanson and Valentino"Two of the great romantic legends of the silent screen are profiled. Rudolph Valentino's on-screen persona is remarkably different from his real personal life, as recounted by his brother, Alberto, and Gloria Swanson recalls her meteoric riseand fallwith remarkable candor.
# "Autocrats"Two of Hollywood's greatest directors, Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...
and Erich von Stroheim
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. H ...
. One worked with the Hollywood system, the other against it. DeMille's pictures, lavish in detail and cost, made his studio a fortune, while Von Stroheim's similar ways, albeit to excess in footage and expense, resulted in films that were often either excessively cut by the studios or never released, leading to his being fired on several occasions. Interviews include Agnes DeMille, Gloria Swanson, Allen Dwan, and Henry King.
# "ComedyA Serious Business"Hollywood learned very early how to make people laugh. Comedy was king, and battling for the throne were stars like Harold Lloyd
Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55.
One of the most influential film co ...
, Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...
, Harry Langdon
Harry Philmore Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety'', December 27, 1944, page 39.
Life and career
Bor ...
and Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
. In a purely visual medium, their comedy was a work of genius. Interviews include Hal Roach, Sr., Jackie Coogan, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.
# "Out West"'The Old West' was still in existence in the silent days. Old cowboys and outlaws relived their youth, and got paid for doing it, by working in films. The 'western craze' really begins with stars like William S. Hart
William Surrey Hart (December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946) was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered as a foremost Western star of the silent era who "imbued all of his characters with honor and inte ...
, Harry Carey Harry Carey may refer to:
*Harry Carey (actor) (1878–1947), American actor
* Harry Carey Jr. (1921–2012), American actor
* Harry Carey (footballer) (1916–1991), Australian rules footballer
See also
* Henry Carey (disambiguation)
* Harry Car ...
and Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He w ...
. Interviews include Yakima Canutt, Colonel Tim McCoy, Harvey Parry and John Wayne.
# "The Man with the Megaphone"Silent film directors were flamboyant pioneers, making up their technique as they went along. Filming 'indoor' sets on open outdoor lots and combating the elements, communicating with actors in spite of overwhelming distraction and deafening noise, directors (male ''and'' female) fashion great films out of chaos and confusion. Interviews include Bessie Love, Janet Gaynor and King Vidor.
# "Trick of the Light"Skilled cameramen had the ability to turn an actress into a screen goddess, and were valuable assets to studios and stars. With the aid of art directors, they achieved some of the most amazing and dangerous sequences captured on film, pioneering photography effects used through the remainder of the 20th century. Interviews include William Wyler and Lillian Gish.
# "Star Treatment"Producers discovered the effect of 'star power' on their box office bottom line. Creating Hollywood stars becomes its own industry, resulting in the Hollywood Star System, from which came Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, and John Gilbert, successor to Rudolph Valentino as "The Great Lover". But as easily as they made them, studios could break them. Interviews include Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Louise Brooks and King Vidor.
# "End of an Era"Silent films had universal appeal, simply by replacing intertitles and dialogue cards for the foreign markets. Sound film was experimented with in many forms since the 1890s, but did not become commercially successful until ''The Jazz Singer
''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music score as well as lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolated ...
'' in 1927. Hollywood movie making was transformed and ultimately shattered, taking the careers of many silent film stars, directors and producers with it, victims of the emerging technology. Interviews include Lillian Gish, Mary Astor, Janet Gaynor, George Cukor and Frank Capra, Sr.
Films featured in ''Hollywood''
* ''The Dickson Experimental Sound Film
''The Dickson Experimental Sound Film'' is a film made by William Dickson in late 1894 or early 1895. It is the first known film with live-recorded sound and appears to be the first motion picture made for the Kinetophone, the proto- sound-film sy ...
'' (1894)
* ''Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze
''Fred Ott's Sneeze'' (also known as ''Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze'') is an 1894 short, black-and-white, silent film shot by William K.L. Dickson and featuring Fred Ott. It is the oldest surviving motion picture with a copyright.
In ...
'' (1894)
* ''Life of an American Fireman
''Life of an American Fireman'' is a short, silent film Edwin S. Porter made for the Edison Manufacturing Company. It was shot late in 1902 and distributed early in 1903. One of the earliest American narrative films, it depicts the rescue of a wom ...
'' (1903)
* '' The Great Train Robbery'' (1903)
* ''Le Spectre rouge''/''The Red Spectre'' (1907)
* ''The Curtain Pole
''The Curtain Pole'' is a 1909 American comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith. A print of the film still exists. The film was made by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company when it and many other early film studios in America's first motio ...
'' (1909)
* '' Faithful'' (1910)
* ''The Girl and Her Trust
''The Girl and Her Trust'' is a 1912 American film directed by D. W. Griffith.
Plot
Grace is a telegraph operator at Hillville and a woman who is very popular with the men in town. She is most fond of Jack, her co-worker who attempts to steal a ...
'' (1912)
* ''A Beast at Bay
''A Beast at Bay'' is a 1912 silent short film directed by D. W. Griffith. It was produced and distributed by the Biograph Company. Preserved in paper print form at the Library of Congress.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collect ...
'' (1912)
* '' Queen Elizabeth'' (1912)
* ''An Unseen Enemy
''An Unseen Enemy'' is a 1912 Biograph Company short silent film directed by D. W. Griffith, and was the first film to be made starring the actresses Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish. A critic of the time stated that "the Gish sisters gave charming ...
'' (1912)
* ''The Musketeers of Pig Alley
''The Musketeers of Pig Alley'' is a 1912 American short drama and a gangster film. It is directed by D. W. Griffith and written by Griffith and Anita Loos. It is also credited for its early use of follow focus, a fundamental tool in cinemat ...
'' (1912)
* '' Quo Vadis?'' (1913)
* '' Suspense'' (1913)
* ''The Reformers or, The Lost Art of Minding One's Business'' (1913)
* ''Making a Living
''Making a Living'' (also known as ''Doing His Best'', ''A Busted Johnny'', ''Troubles'', and ''Take My Picture'') is the first film starring Charlie Chaplin. A one-reel comedy short, it was completed in three days at Keystone Studios in Los An ...
'' (1914)
* '' The Squaw Man'' (1914)
* ''The Massacre
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1914)
* ''Judith of Bethulia
''Judith of Bethulia'' (1914 in film, 1914) is an American film starring Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall, and produced and directed by D. W. Griffith, based on the play "Judith and the Holofernes" (1896) by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, which itself ...
'' (1914)
* ''The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Cla ...
'' (1915)
* ''The Juggernaut
''The Juggernaut'' is a silent film, silent train disaster drama produced by the Vitagraph Company of America and released on April 19, 1915. It was directed by Ralph W. Ince and stars Earle Williams and Anita Stewart.
Plot
John Ballard's (Earl ...
'' (1915)
* ''Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco
''Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco'' is a 1915 American short comedy-documentary film both starring and directed by Roscoe Arbuckle and Mabel Normand.
Production background
Producer Mack Sennett brought Arbuckle and No ...
'' (1915)
* '' The Cheat'' (1915)
* ''Fatty and Mabel Adrift
''Fatty and Mabel Adrift'' is a 1916 Keystone short comedy film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, and Al St. John.
Plot
The story involves Arbuckle as a farm boy marrying his sweetheart, Normand. They have their honeymoon with ...
'' (1916)
* ''A Movie Star'' (1916)
* ''He Did and He Didn't
''He Did and He Didn't'' is a 1916 American Short subject, short comedy film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Mabel Normand.
Production
The dark plot, extremely sophisticated for its time, involves a corpulent husband who finds himself con ...
'' (1916)
* ''The Extra Man and the Milk-Fed Lion'' (1916)
* ''Hell's Hinges
''Hell's Hinges'' is a 1916 American silent Western film starring William S. Hart and Clara Williams. Directed by Charles Swickard, William S. Hart and Clifford Smith, and produced by Thomas H. Ince, the screenplay was written by C. Gardne ...
'' (1916)
* ''Civilization
A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system).
Ci ...
'' (1916)
* ''The Children in the House'' (1916)
* ''The Floorwalker
''The Floorwalker'' is a 1916 American silent comedy film, Charlie Chaplin's first Mutual Film Corporation film. The film stars Chaplin, in his traditional Tramp persona, as a customer who creates chaos in a department store and becomes inadve ...
'' (1916)
* '' Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages'' (1916)
* ''Tom's Strategy'' (1916)
* ''The Pawnshop
''The Pawnshop'' was Charlie Chaplin's sixth film for Mutual Film Corporation. Released on October 2, 1916, it stars Chaplin in the role of assistant to the pawnshop owner, played by Henry Bergman. Edna Purviance plays the owner's daughter, while ...
'' (1916)
* '' The Return of Draw Egan'' (1916)
* ''Luke's Movie Muddle
''Luke's Movie Muddle'' is a 1916 American short comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. Prints of the film survive in various film archives around the world, including George Eastman House and the Filmoteca Española.
Cast
* Harold Lloyd as Luke
* ...
'' (1916)
* '' The Rink'' (1916)
* ''Joan the Woman
''Joan the Woman'' is a 1916 American epic silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc. The film premiered on Christmas Day in 1916. This was DeMille's first historical drama. The screenplay is b ...
'' (1916)
* ''Teddy at the Throttle
''Teddy at the Throttle'' is a 1917 American silent comedy short film starring Bobby Vernon, Gloria Swanson, and Wallace Beery. Wallace Beery and Gloria Swanson were briefly husband and wife offscreen during this period.
Cast
* Bobby Verno ...
'' (1917)
* ''Straight Shooting
''Straight Shooting'' is a 1917 American silent Western film directed by John Ford and featuring Harry Carey. Prints of this film survive in the International Museum of Photography and Film at George Eastman House. Like many American films of ...
'' (1917)
* ''Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
'' (1917)
* ''The Pullman Bride
''The Pullman Bride'' is a 1917 American silent comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger and starring Gloria Swanson.
Cast
* Gloria Swanson as The Girl
* Mack Swain as The Chosen One
* Chester Conklin as A Rejected Suitor
* Laura La Varnie a ...
'' (1917)
* ''Blue Jeans
Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...
'' (1917)
* '' Stella Maris'' (1918)
* ''My Four Years in Germany
''My Four Years in Germany'' is a 1918 American silent war drama film that is notable as being the first film produced by the four Warner Brothers, Harry, Sam, Albert, and Jack, though the title card clearly reads "My Four Years In Germany Inc. ...
'' (1918)
* ''Hearts of the World
''Hearts of the World'' (also known as ''Love's Struggle'') is a 1918 American silent film, silent World War I propaganda film written, produced and directed by D. W. Griffith. In an effort to change the American public's neutral stance regardin ...
'' (1918)
* ''The Lady of the Dugout'' (1918)
* ''The Bond
''The Bond'' is a propaganda film created by Charlie Chaplin at his own expense for the Liberty Loan Committee for theatrical release to help sell U.S. Liberty Bonds during World War I.
Made in 1918 with Edna Purviance, Albert Austin and ...
'' (1918)
* ''The Heart of Humanity
''The Heart of Humanity'' is a 1918 American silent war propaganda film produced by Universal Pictures and directed by Allen Holubar. The film stars Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell, and Erich von Stroheim.
Overview
The film "follows the gen ...
'' (1918)
* '' Daddy-Long-Legs'' (1919)
* ''Blind Husbands
''Blind Husbands'' is a 1919 American drama film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The film is an adaptation of the story ''The Pinnacle'' by Stroheim.
Plot
A group of holiday-makers arrive at Cortina d'Ampezzo, an Alpine village in th ...
'' (1919)
* ''Eyes of Youth
''Eyes of Youth'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Albert Parker and starring Clara Kimball Young. The film was based on the stage play ''Eyes of Youth'', performed on Broadway in 1917-18 and starred Marjorie Rambeau. This fil ...
'' (1919)
* ''Male and Female
''Male and Female'' is a 1919 American silent adventure/drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan. Its main themes are gender relations and social class. The film is based on the 1902 J. M. Barrie ...
'' (1919)
* ''Heart o' the Hills
''Heart o' the Hills'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Joseph De Grasse and Sidney Franklin (director), Sidney Franklin, written by Bernard McConville based on John Fox, Jr.'s novel of the same name.
Plot
Jason Honeycutt (Haro ...
'' (1919)
* '' Suds'' (1920)
* ''Why Change Your Wife?
''Why Change Your Wife?'' is a 1920 American silent comedy film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson.
Plot
Frumpy wife Beth devotes herself to bettering her husband's mind and expanding his appreciation for the finer thin ...
'' (1920)
* ''One Week One Week may refer to:
* One Week (1920 film), ''One Week'' (1920 film), a short film starring and co-directed by Buster Keaton
* One Week (2008 film), ''One Week'' (2008 film), a Canadian feature film directed by Michael McGowan
* One Week (song), ...
'' (1920)
* ''Way Down East
''Way Down East'' is a 1920 American silent romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. It is one of four film adaptations of the melodramatic 19th century play ''Way Down East'' by Lottie Blair Parker. There w ...
'' (1920)
* '' Life of the Party'' (1920)
* ''The Kid The Kid or The Kids may refer to:
Fictional characters
* The kid (''Blood Meridian''), a character in Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel ''Blood Meridian''
* The Kid (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film series
* The Kid (''The Stand'' ...
'' (1921)
* ''Forbidden Fruit
Forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden which God commands mankind not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are exiled from Eden.
As a ...
'' (1921)
* '' The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' (1921)
* ''Dream Street
Dream Street were an American pop music, pop boy band that was formed in 1999 by Louis Baldonieri and Brian Lukow. The band disbanded in 2002 following a legal dispute between parents of the band members and the band's managers.
History
The ...
'' (1921)
* ''The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
'' (1921)
* ''Little Lord Fauntleroy
''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was published as a serial in '' St. Nicholas Magazine'' from November 1885 to October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's (the publisher of ''St. Nicholas'') in 1886. The ill ...
'' (1921)
* ''Never Weaken
''Never Weaken'' is a 1921 American silent comedy film starring Harold Lloyd and directed by Fred Newmeyer.
It was Lloyd's last short film, running to three reels, before he moved permanently into feature-length production. It was also one o ...
'' (1921)
* '' The Sheik'' (1921)
* '' Affairs of Anatol'' (1921)
* ''Foolish Wives
''Foolish Wives'' is a 1922 American erotic silent drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures under their Super-Jewel banner and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The drama features von Stroheim, Rudolph Christians, ...
'' (1922)
* ''Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
'' (1922)
* ''Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...
'' (1922)
* '' Down to the Sea in Ships'' (1922)
* ''Around the World in Eighteen Days
''Around the World in 18 Days'' is a 1923 American silent film serial directed by B. Reeves Eason and Robert F. Hill. A total of twelve episodes of the serial were released. The film is now considered lost.
Cast
* William Desmond as Phineas F ...
(1922)
* ''The Covered Wagon
''The Covered Wagon'' is a 1923 American silent film, silent Western (genre), Western film released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze based on a 1922 novel of the same name by Emerson Hough about a group of pioneers tr ...
(1923)
* ''Safety Last!
''Safety Last!'' is a 1923 American silent romantic-comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. It includes one of the most famous images from the silent-film era: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper ...
'' (1923)
* ''Merry-Go-Round
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
'' (1923)
* ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame
''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story o ...
'' (1923)
* ''Scaramouche
Scaramouche () or Scaramouch (; from Italian Scaramuccia , literally "little skirmisher") is a stock clown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts of Italian literature). The role combined characteristics of the ...
'' (1923)
* ''Zaza
Zaza may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Zazas, a group of people in eastern Anatolia (southeastern Turkey)
* Zaza–Gorani languages, Indo-Iranian languages
** Zaza language, spoken by the Zazas
People Given name
* Zaza Sor. Aree (born 1993), Thai k ...
'' (1923)
* ''The Extra Girl
''The Extra Girl'' is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by F. Richard Jones and starring Mabel Normand. '' (1923)
* '' Flaming Youth'' (1923)
* ''Our Hospitality
''Our Hospitality'' is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone. Starring Keaton, Joe Roberts, and Natalie Talmadge and distributed by Metro Pictures Corporation, it uses slapstick and situational com ...
'' (1923)
* ''The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
'' (1923)
* '' The Thief of Bagdad'' (1924)
* '' The Enchanted College'' (1924)
* '' Manhandled'' (1924)
* '' Monsieur Beaucaire'' (1924)
* '' The Iron Horse'' (1924)
* ''Hot Water
Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated t ...
'' (1924)
* ''A Sainted Devil
''A Sainted Devil'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Joseph Henabery and starring Rudolph Valentino. The film was produced by Adolph Zukor and Jesse Lasky.
Plot
As described in a review in a film magazine, in accordance wit ...
'' (1924)
* ''Greed
Greed (or avarice) is an uncontrolled longing for increase in the acquisition or use of material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions); or social value, such as Social status, status, or Power (social and politica ...
'' (1924)
* ''Seven Chances
''Seven Chances'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by and starring Buster Keaton, based on the play of the same name by Roi Cooper Megrue, produced in 1916 by David Belasco. Additional cast members include T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Ed ...
'' (1925)
* ''The Merry Widow
''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt t ...
'' (1925)
* ''Little Annie Rooney
''Little Annie Rooney'' is a comic strip about a young orphaned girl who traveled about with her dog, Zero.
King Features Syndicate launched the strip on January 10, 1927, not long after it was apparent that the Chicago Tribune Syndicate had ...
'' (1925)
* ''The King on Main Street
''The King on Main Street'', also known as ''The King'', is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Monta Bell and starring Adolphe Menjou and Bessie Love. The film was adapted for the screen by Bell, and was based on the play ...
'' (1925)
* ''The Big Parade
''The Big Parade'' is a 1925 American silent war drama film directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Tom O'Brien, and Karl Dane. Written by World War I veteran, Laurence Stallings, the film is about an ...
'' (1925)
* ''The Eagle
The eagle is a large bird of prey.
Eagle or The Eagle may also refer to:
Places England
* Eagle, Lincolnshire, a village
United States
* Eagle, Alaska, a city
* Eagle Village, Alaska, a census-designated place
* Eagle, Colorado, a statut ...
'' (1925)
* '' Stage Struck'' (1925)
* ''The Plastic Age
''The Plastic Age'' (1924 in literature, 1924) is a novel by Percy Marks that tells the story of Hugh Carver, a student at a fictional men's college called Sanford. With contents that covered or implied hazing, smoking, drinking, partying, and " ...
'' (1925)
* ''Tumbleweeds
A tumbleweed is a kind of plant habit or structure.
Tumbleweed, tumble-weed or tumble weed may also refer to:
Films
* ''Tumbleweeds'' (1925 film), William S. Hart film
* ''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' (1935 film), Gene Autry film
* ''Tumbleweed'' (1 ...
'' (1925)
* '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'' (1925)
* ''Mare Nostrum
''Mare Nostrum'' (; Latin: "Our Sea") was a Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea. In Classical Latin, it would have been pronounced , and in Ecclesiastical Latin, it is pronounced .
In the decades following the 1861 unification of ...
'' (1926)
* ''Dancing Mothers
Lobby card
''Dancing Mothers'' is a 1926 American black and white silent drama film produced by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Herbert Brenon, and stars Alice Joyce, Conway Tearle, and making her debut appearance for a Paramount P ...
'' (1926)
* ''The Black Pirate
''The Black Pirate'' is a 1926 American silent action adventure film shot entirely in two-color Technicolor about an adventurer and a "company" of pirates. Directed by Albert Parker, it stars Douglas Fairbanks, Donald Crisp, Sam De Grasse, an ...
'' (1926)
* ''Ella Cinders
''Ella Cinders'' is an American syndicated comic strip created by writer Bill Conselman and artist Charles Plumb. Distributed for most of its run by United Feature Syndicate, the daily version was launched June 1, 1925, and a Sunday page foll ...
'' (1926)
* ''The Devil Horse'' (1926)
* ''The Son of the Sheik
''The Son of the Sheik'' is a 1926 American silent adventure/drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky. The film is based on the 1925 romance novel ''The Sons of the Sheik'' by Edith Maude Hull ...
'' (1926)
* '' Mantrap'' (1926)
* ''Don Juan
Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni (Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, '' El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...
'' (1926)
* ''The Strong Man
''The Strong Man'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film starring Harry Langdon.
Along with ''Tramp, Tramp, Tramp'', ''The Strong Man'' is Langdon's best known film. Capra would also direct Langdon's next feature, '' Long Pants'' (1927), which ...
'' (1926)
* ''The Temptress
''The Temptress'' is a 1926 American silent romantic drama film directed by Fred Niblo and starring Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Lionel Barrymore, and Roy D'Arcy. It premiered on October 10, 1926. The film melodrama was based on a novel by ...
'' (1926)
* ''The Winning of Barbara Worth
''The Winning of Barbara Worth'' is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Henry King, and starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky and Gary Cooper (who replaced Monte Blue). Based on Harold Bell Wright's novel ''The Winning of Barbara W ...
'' (1926)
* ''The Great K & A Train Robbery
''The Great K & A Train Robbery'' is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Lewis Seiler and starring Tom Mix and Dorothy Dwan. The film is based on the actual foiling of a train robbery by Dick Gordon as related by Paul Leicester Fo ...
'' (1926)
* '' What Price Glory?'' (1926)
* '' Old Ironsides'' (1926)
* ''The Fire Brigade
''The Fire Brigade'' (also known as ''Fire!'') is 1926 American silent drama film directed by William Nigh. The film stars May McAvoy and Charles Ray. ''The Fire Brigade'' originally contained sequences shot in two-color Technicolor. A print ...
'' (1926)
* '' The General'' (1926)
* ''Flesh and the Devil
''Flesh and the Devil'' is an American silent romantic drama film released in 1927 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and stars Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lars Hanson, and Barbara Kent, directed by Clarence Brown, and based on the novel ''The Undying ...
'' (1926)
* '' Play Safe'' (1927)
* '' It'' (1927)
* ''The Love of Sunya
''The Love of Sunya'' (also known as ''The Loves of Sunya'') is an American silent drama film made in 1927. It was directed by Albert Parker, and was based on the play ''The Eyes of Youth'' by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon. Produced by and st ...
'' (1927)
* ''The Beloved Rogue
''The Beloved Rogue'' is a 1927 American silent romantic adventure film, loosely based on the life of the 15th century French poet, François Villon. The film was directed by Alan Crosland for United Artists.
François Villon is played by J ...
'' (1927)
* '' The King of Kings'' (1927)
* '' Children of Divorce'' (1927)
* ''Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
'' (1927)
* '' A Kiss from Mary Pickford'' (1927)
* '' Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'' (1927)
* ''The Jazz Singer
''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music score as well as lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolated ...
'' (1927)
* ''Man, Woman and Sin
''Man, Woman and Sin'' (1927) is a silent film produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was directed by Monta Bell and John Gilbert, and stars Gilbert and stage actress Jeanne Eagels in one of her rare film appearances. The fil ...
'' (1927)
* ''The Gaucho
''The Gaucho'' (the official full title of the film is ''Douglas Fairbanks as The Gaucho'') is a 1927 silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks and Lupe Vélez set in Argentina. The lavish adventure extravaganza, filmed at the height of Fairbanks ...
'' (1927)
* ''Love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
'' (1927)
* '' Sadie Thompson'' (1927)
* ''Four Sons
''Four Sons'' is a 1928 American silent drama film directed and produced by John Ford and written for the screen by Philip Klein from a story by I. A. R. Wylie first published in the '' Saturday Evening Post'' as "Grandmother Bernle Learns Her ...
'' (1928)
* '' The Crowd'' (1928)
* ''The Trail of '98
''The Trail of '98'' is a 1928 American silent Action film, action-adventure/drama film featuring Harry Carey (actor born 1878), Harry Carey and Dolores del Río about the Klondike Gold Rush. The film was originally released by MGM in a short-li ...
'' (1928)
* '' Steamboat Bill, Jr.'' (1928)
* '' Lights of New York'' (1928)
* '' Lilac Time'' (1928)
* ''The Mysterious Lady
''The Mysterious Lady'' (1928) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer silent film romantic drama, starring Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, and Gustav von Seyffertitz, directed by Fred Niblo, and based on the novel ''War in the Dark'' by Ludwig Wolff.
The film g ...
'' (1928)
* '' The Wind'' (1928)
* ''The Singing Fool
''The Singing Fool'' is a 1928 American musical drama part-talkie motion picture directed by Lloyd Bacon which was released by Warner Bros. The film stars Al Jolson and is a follow-up to his previous film, '' The Jazz Singer''. It is credited w ...
'' (1928)
* '' The Wedding March'' (1928)
* ''Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...
'' (1928)
* ''Show People
''Show People'' is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by King Vidor. The film was a starring vehicle for actress Marion Davies and actor William Haines and included notable cameo appearances by many of the film personalities of the da ...
'' (1928)
* ''A Woman of Affairs
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'' (1928)
* ''Queen Kelly
''Queen Kelly'' is an American silent film produced in 1928–29 and released by United Artists. The film was directed by Erich von Stroheim, starred Gloria Swanson, in the title role, Walter Byron as her lover, and Seena Owen. The film was p ...
'' (1929)
* ''The Iron Mask
''The Iron Mask'' is a 1929 American part-talkie adventure film directed by Allan Dwan. It is an adaptation of the last section of the 1847-1850 novel ''The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' by Alexandre Dumas, père, which is itself based on the French l ...
'' (1929)
* ''Big Business
Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...
'' (1929)
* '' The Black Watch'' (1929)
* ''The Hollywood Revue of 1929
''The Hollywood Revue of 1929'', or simply ''The Hollywood Revue'', is a 1929 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest ...
'' (1929)
* ''His Glorious Night
''His Glorious Night'' is a 1929 pre-Code American romance film directed by Lionel Barrymore and starring John Gilbert in his first released talkie. The film is based on the 1928 play ''Olympia'' by Ferenc Molnár.
''His Glorious Night'' has ...
'' (1929)
* ''The Saturday Night Kid
''The Saturday Night Kid'' is a 1929 American pre-Code romantic comedy film about two sisters and the man they both want. It stars Clara Bow, Jean Arthur, James Hall, and in her first credited speaking role, Jean Harlow. The film was based on ...
'' (1929)
* ''The Sky Hawk
''The Sky Hawk'' is a 1929 American pre-Code adventure film, produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation and directed by John G. Blystone. The screenplay was adapted by Llewellyn Hughes from his article "Chap Called Bardell" and novelized ...
'' (1929)
* '' Peacock Alley'' (1930)
* ''Anna Christie
''Anna Christie'' is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work. According to historian Paul Avrich, the ...
'' (1930)
* '' Redemption'' (1930)
* ''Show Girl in Hollywood
''Showgirl in Hollywood'' is a 1930 American pre-Code all-talking musical film with Technicolor sequences, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche ...
'' (1930)
* '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930)
* '' The Viking'' (1931)
* ''Hoop-La
''Hoop-La'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Lloyd, and starring Clara Bow (in her final film role), Preston Foster, Richard Cromwell and Minna Gombell also in the cast. The film is based on the play ''The Barker'' by Ke ...
'' (1933)
* '' Queen Christina'' (1933)
* ''Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...
'' (1950)
* ''The Searchers
''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...
'' (1956)
Home video
In North America, the series was released in 1990 by HBO Video
Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) is an American multinational media and entertainment company operating as a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Founded by Charles Dolan and based out of WarnerMedia's former corporate headquarters at the 30 Hudson Yard ...
on VHS and laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
.26 Hard-To-Find Movies That Remind Us Why VHS, DVD, And LaserDisc Still Matter-Buzzfeed
/ref>
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, id=0080230, title=Hollywood
The entire series on Internet Archive
Kevin Brownlow interview (2006) on 'Stolen Moments'
1980 British television series debuts
1980 British television series endings
1980s British documentary television series
ITV documentaries
1980s British television miniseries
Documentary films about Hollywood, Los Angeles
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows produced by Thames Television
English-language television shows