The Best Books About Film

[domino harvey]

It is interesting to see which films the studio considered of interest for that WB series. I love Air Force but I would think they’d do Sgt York over it, for instance, and Juarez and Green Pastures have not maintained a level of relevance their inclusion here suggests

[filmyfan]

Looking for best book on very early Hollywood - the origins etc...pre Studio System

I have the History of HW (An Illustrated History) and the Recent HW -The Oral History

Any Ideas?

[Walter Kurtz]

The Parade's Gone By...
Kevin Brownlow

[Walter Kurtz]

The best book on the formation of the "system" is ------

The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era
Thomas Schatz

It covers the 20's and 30's. Might have antecedents. I enjoyed it immensely a long time ago.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

The Parade's Gone By...
Kevin Brownlow

Second the Brownlow.

I’d add William K. Everson’s American Silent Film. It’s more specific on fads and trends for movies, but tracks closely the evolution of the industry from its primacy up to the introduction of sound. It speaks extensively on the studio era, but does detail how all that evolved and grew.

[Dr Amicus]

Second the Everton and the Schatz, the latter being one of the best film books I’ve ever read.

I’d also recommend Tino Balio’s The American Film Industry, the first couple of chapters were our set reading for the period in my uni class. I assume the first two volumes of the History of the American Cinema are definitive, but I haven’t got round to reading those volumes yet.

[filmyfan]

thanks all

[domino harvey]

I would say Mast’s A Short History of the Movies and Sklar’s Movie-Made America, especially for the time period you’re interested in. Gomery’s Shared Pleasures is excellent for early histories of exhibition, if that’s of interest as well

[Walter Kurtz]

I’d also recommend Tino Balio’s The American Film Industry, the first couple of chapters were our set reading for the period in my uni class.

Damn I forgot about that one. First semester of film school was a blur and I was making movies already. I will say this, though. I'm pretty sure I was the only kid in the film history class that actually read that book. So that's definitely a recommendation considering how sleep-deprived I was.