In the 1930s, the legendary City of Cinema moved from the silent era to the talking picture. It was a decade of pomp and excess in the motion picture capital, of glorious stardom and megalomaniac directors; a time when politicians and the mob all wanted a piece of the thrilling action. It was the age of the Marx brothers, Greta Garbo, Frankenstein, and Gone with the Wind, Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and moustache, Marlene Dietrich's androgynous...