The Hollywood Studios: House Style in the Golden Age of the Movies

If you're a fan of good movies (that's silents to the golden age for we in the know), this book offers a valuable overview of the old Hollywood studios and those who made them work (or not). Always insightful, this book helps you realize why a certain film could only have been made by a certain studio, and clearly distinguishes the style of one studio from the next. Author Ethan Mordden writes so knowledgeably and entertainingly that you slow your reading pace down, just to make the pleasure last longer. Although written in a highly conversational tone (what books aren't these days?), Mordden considers his reader to be an active film viewer (i.e. "I hear murmurs in the house -- isn't 'Lady in the Dark' a musical? Not after Paramount got hold of it."). His apt criticism of Lewis Stone as MGM's all-American father ("How many of you, boys and girls, had a judge for a father?"), is a refreshing change from the far too many authors who merely rehash common facts in order to publish a film book with their name on it. Mordden respects his reader's film knowledge much more than that. You may not agree with his opinion of certain films/directors/producers etc., but this book does what a good book on film ought to do, which is make you dash to your dvd/vhs collection and pull out a film to remind yourself of a particularly good scene or actress (or soundtrack). He describes cinematic moments in a suitably visual manner (you can almost see the smoke wisp away from Bette Davis's revolver in "The Letter") and his often witty analysis creates laugh aloud moments ("Screwball comedy, at heart, is about having money and fun. Warners is against both."). This is a very enjoyable read. Any filmbuff would be pleased to have this in their reference library, whether to round out their knowledge of the studio systems or to make them appear just a bit more witty to their film-loving friends. Recommended.

This charmingly study of the Hollywood studios explains that it was the personality and taste of the moguls that determined the house styles of both the kind of films made and the artists who made them. Mordden is particularly good in analysing at length certain films that exemplify each style. Paramount was the industry's first big studio and monopolised the theatre chains which guaranteed exhibition of their product, giving founder Adolph Zukor the confidence to experiment. Paramount valued the individuality of directors Ernst Lubitsch and Mitchell Leisen who made elegant "boudoir snafu", and writer/directors Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. The actors they served best were clowns, like The Marx Brothers, WC Fields and Mae West. MGM was Louis B Mayer and he reigned with zealotry, blackmail and tyranny. His operation was a factory and anyone who disturbed the running of the assembly line was discarded - director Erich von Stroheim who's Greed ran for 7 hours, tempestuous diva Mae Murray, womaniser John Gilbert), even the self-willed Lillian Gish who demanded artistic control of her films. Mayer favoured factotum - company men who had a talent for treating actors, like Clarence Brown who guided Garbo's transition into talkies in Anna Christie. Whilst Mayer's style of polished glamour was epitomised by Grand Hotel, which featured stars, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, gowns by Adrian, and the high-key lighting of William Daniels, his head of production, Irving Thalberg earned cudos for greenlighting unprofitable prestige titles over Mayer's objections, like King Vidor's The Crowd and Todd Browning's Freaks. However Thalberg's death left Mayer unchecked, and his Andy Hardy "family" values homogenised the studio's mentality - like Dorothy's banal realisation that there's no place like home. Arthur Freed's unit produced innovative musicals, but as the studio wound down Mayer was replaced by bookkeeper Dore Schary, who favoured the reliably mediocrity (Kathryn Grayson) to the unpredictable avatar (Judy Garland). The smaller studios may have existed on low budgets but that doesn't mean their output was always crummy, even if history has forgotten them because the titles have been lost. Hal Wallis' First National featured Colleen Moore who originated the flapper bangs that Louise Brooks gets credit for. Republic was a minor major (or a major minor), starring the singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, skater Vera Hruba Ralston (the wife of mogul Herbert J Yates), and John Wayne, who won the studio the best picture Oscar for The Quiet Man. Columbia rose to greatness via Frank Capra, Rita Hayworth and screwball comedy, but it's real success was due to mogul Harry Cohn, legendary for being mean. His idea of artistic freedom was "just do it. If it makes money, do another one. If it loses money, you're fired". Some independent artists tried to adapt to life at the studios. Buster Keaton's experience with MGM ruined him. Chaplin, Mary Pickford, D