This is a collection of short memoirs from some forty people
who were in the film industry when it first started in Hollywood. It ranges
from famous actors- Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and Gloria Swanson-to
producers and directors (lots of them), to writers, and people who furnished
the sets. It even includes the infamous Will Hayes, who was brought to Hollywood
to institute censorship.
These first person pieces are gleaned from various sources-
magazine articles, autobiographies, oral history, letters, and lectures. They
are all about the very first time each of these people set foot in Hollywood,
back when Hollywood was not even really Hollywood. The dates range from 1909 to
the 1929, during the time in which Los Angeles and Hollywood exploded and grew
exponentially, going from deserted semi-desert to built-up phenomenon.
All but one person entered Hollywood via rail. All remember
the vast, boring plains they had to travel through. All remember being rather
bemused by the lack of buildings in Hollywood. It’s as much a history of the
town and the industry as it is memoirs, and I found it fascinating because of
that (I grew up in Los Angeles). It includes lots of photographs, too.
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Good review but my too read list is already too long.
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