Hollywood (1980)
A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.
Hollywood: Season 1 - 13 Episode s
1x1 - Pioneers
January 8, 1980
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, films showing the power of the medium. Early Technicolor footage, along with other color technologies, are also featured.
1x2 - In the Beginning
January 15, 1980
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.
1x3 - Single Beds and Double Standards
January 22, 1980
Fast success in Hollywood brings a cavalier party lifestyle, which led to shocking scandals such as Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle'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 is appointed and introduces Hollywood's self regulated Production Code, which would be enforced well into the 1960s, while filmmakers still found creative ways to present 'adult' situations.
1x4 - Hollywood Goes to War
January 29, 1980
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 in 1925. Wings (1927) earns the first Academy Award for Best Picture. As movies transition to sound, Universal releases Lewis Milestone'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.
1x5 - Hazard of the Game
February 5, 1980
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.
1x6 - Swanson and Valentino
February 12, 1980
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, Albert, and Gloria Swanson recalls her meteoric rise – and fall – with remarkable candor.
1x7 - The Autocrats
February 19, 1980
Two of Hollywood's greatest directors, Cecil B. DeMille and Erich von Stroheim. 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.
1x8 - Comedy: A Serious Business
February 26, 1980
Hollywood learned very early how to make people laugh. Comedy was king, and battling for the throne were stars like Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon and Charlie Chaplin. In a purely visual medium, their comedy was a work of genius.
1x9 - Out West
March 4, 1980
'The Old West' was still in existence in the silent days. Old cowboys and outlaws re-lived their youth, and got paid for doing it, by working in films. The 'western craze' really begins with stars like William "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Tom Mix.
1x10 - The Man with the Megaphone
March 11, 1980
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.
1x11 - Trick of the Light
March 18, 1980
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.
1x12 - Star Treatment
March 25, 1980
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, Lillian Gish, and John Gilbert, successor to Rudolph Valentino as "The Great Lover". But as easily as they made them, studios could break them.
1x13 - End of an Era
April 1, 1980
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 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.
Hollywood: 1 Season
Actors in Hollywood
James Mason
Self - Narrator
Hal Roach
Self
Louise Brooks
Self
Allan Dwan
Self
King Vidor
Self
Jackie Coogan
Self
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Self
Leatrice Joy
Self
Iron Eyes Cody
Self
Harold Lloyd
Self
Bessie Love
Self
Gloria Swanson
Self
Lillian Gish
Self
Colleen Moore
Self
Adela Rogers St. Johns
Self
Viola Dana
Self
Blanche Sweet
Self
Charles "Buddy" Rogers
Self
Byron Haskin
Self
Mary Astor
Self
Tags for Hollywood
Other names for Hollywood
Shows like Hollywood
Black Hollywood: 'They've Gotta Have Us'
3 Episode s . A unique portrait of how art and activism for black people in film are indivisible from race and cinema.
Black Hollywood: 'They've Gotta Have Us'
3 Episode s . A unique portrait of how art and activism for black people in film are indivisible from race and cinema.
Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow
3 Episode s . A series about the life, career and works of the movie comedy genius.
Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow
3 Episode s . A series about the life, career and works of the movie comedy genius.
Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
7 Episode s . Each installment focuses on a different era of American movie history, from the invention of the first moving pictures to the revolutionary, cutting-edge films of the 1960s.
Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
7 Episode s . Each installment focuses on a different era of American movie history, from the invention of the first moving pictures to the revolutionary, cutting-edge films of the 1960s.
The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood
6 Episode s . Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures from the 1920s to the 1960s.
The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood
6 Episode s . Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood
3 Episode s . Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood is a 2011 BBC documentary series written, directed and presented by Paul Merton. The three-part series traces the rise of the American film-making industry in Hollywood through from the early years of film-making to the foundation of the major motion-picture studios and the new class of the film star.
Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood
3 Episode s . Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood is a 2011 BBC documentary series written, directed and presented by Paul Merton. The three-part series traces the rise of the American film-making industry in Hollywood through from the early years of film-making to the foundation of the major motion-picture studios and the new class of the film star.
Paul Merton's Silent Clowns
4 Episode s . Paul Merton profiles some of the great stars of silent comedy, examining their lives and works, and uncovering seldom-seen material
Paul Merton's Silent Clowns
4 Episode s . Paul Merton profiles some of the great stars of silent comedy, examining their lives and works, and uncovering seldom-seen material
The Hollywood Greats
30 Episode s . Hollywood Greats was a BBC Television series, which began in 1977. The film critic Barry Norman wrote and narrated a series of in depth profiles on major Hollywood film personalities, in which he interviewed surviving associates. He later made a series called British Greats in 1980. A series of books, entitled The Hollywood Greats, The Movie Greats and The British Greats, which were authored by Norman were subsequently published. A series of the same name was later presented by Jonathan Ross from 1999 to 2006.
The Hollywood Greats
30 Episode s . Hollywood Greats was a BBC Television series, which began in 1977. The film critic Barry Norman wrote and narrated a series of in depth profiles on major Hollywood film personalities, in which he interviewed surviving associates. He later made a series called British Greats in 1980. A series of books, entitled The Hollywood Greats, The Movie Greats and The British Greats, which were authored by Norman were subsequently published. A series of the same name was later presented by Jonathan Ross from 1999 to 2006.