Plunge into the magic of moviemaking with a gorgeous chronicle of nearly a century of unforgettable films. From the very start, Hollywood showcased an alluring combination of personality, technology, and creative vision. Every one of the stills and behind-the-scenes shots reproduced here capture cinema's glamour and excitement, while the lively text follows the Hollywood moguls and masterminds, brightest stars, and greatest movies. Along the way, meet visionary pioneers, such as D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille; the golden boys of the "Golden Age," including George Cukor, Frank Capra, and Alfred Hitchcock; and powerful producers. In breathtaking photos, gaze at the beauteous stars, strong and silent heroes, and matinee idols, from Lillian Gish, Katharine Hepburn, and Susan Sarandon to Rudolph Valentino, Clark Gable, and Jack Nicholson.. Relive the fabulous films in every genre, from the western to the musical. Informative and delightful, this is an essential reference for all who love the movies.

Gives history of movies, stars, and Hollywood.

On August 5, 1958, Jack Warner spent six hours playing baccarat, taking $4,000 from the tables at Cannes before stepping out into the night. He drove home along a winding road in a sporty little Alfa-Romeo, and was negotiating a tricky turn when a truck leapt in front of him. The Alfa was destroyed, but Warner was saved—thrown out the door to land forty feet from the burning car. Around the world, the newspapers told of the death of the king of Hollywood. But Warner wasn’t finished yet. One of the true legends of the movie business, Warner had wielded absolute power over his studio since the silent era. He produced Casablanca and The Jazz Singer; he feuded with Errol Flynn, and gave the green light to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? starring Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. As the studio system crumbled, Warner’s control remained unquestioned, and in this engaging autobiography, he shows the man behind the crown. Jack L. Warner is portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the Ryan Murphy TV series Feud.

Who can forget the over-the-top, white-on-white, high-gloss interiors through which Fred Astaire danced in Top Hat? The modernist high-rise architecture, inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, in the adaptation of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead? The lavish, opulent drawing rooms of Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence? Through the use of film design—called both art direction and production design in the film industry—movies can transport us to new worlds of luxury, highlight the ornament of the everyday, offer a vision of the future, or evoke the realities of a distant era. In Designs on Film, journalist and interior designer Cathy Whitlock illuminates the often undercelebrated role of the production designer in the creation of the most memorable moments in film history. Through a lush collection of rare archival photographs, Whitlock narrates the evolving story of art direction over the course of a century—from the massive Roman architecture of Ben-Hur to the infamous Dakota apartment in Rosemary's Baby to the digital CGI wonders of Avatar's Pandora. Drawing on insights from the most prominent Hollywood production designers and the historical knowledge of the venerable Art Directors Guild, Whitlock delves into the detailed process of how sets are imagined, drawn, built, and decorated. Designs on Film is the must-have look book for film lovers, movie buffs, and anyone looking to draw interior design inspiration from the constructions and confections of Hollywood. Whitlock lifts the curtain on movie magic and celebrates the many ways in which art direction and set design allow us to lose ourselves in the diverse worlds showcased on the big screen.

This extraordinary book--published to commemorate the centennial celebration of the birth of American film and a 10-part PBS-TV series scheduled for the new year--surveys the phenomenon that is Hollywood, past and present. With more than 200 illustrations, 100 in full color, and including some never before published, this book celebrates the best of American films.

A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' TOP BOOK OF THE YEAR • BOOKLISTS' EDITOR'S CHOICE • ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR “At once a film book, a history book, and a civil rights book.… Without a doubt, not only the very best film book [but] also one of the best books of the year in any genre. An absolutely essential read.” —Shondaland This unprecedented history of Black cinema examines 100 years of Black movies—from Gone with the Wind to Blaxploitation films to Black Panther—using the struggles and triumphs of the artists, and the films themselves, as a prism to explore Black culture, civil rights, and racism in America. From the acclaimed author of The Butler and Showdown. Beginning in 1915 with D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation—which glorified the Ku Klux Klan and became Hollywood's first blockbuster—Wil Haygood gives us an incisive, fascinating, little-known history, spanning more than a century, of Black artists in the film business, on-screen and behind the scenes. He makes clear the effects of changing social realities and events on the business of making movies and on what was represented on the screen: from Jim Crow and segregation to white flight and interracial relationships, from the assassination of Malcolm X, to the O. J. Simpson trial, to the Black Lives Matter movement. He considers the films themselves—including Imitation of Life, Gone with the Wind, Porgy and Bess, the Blaxploitation films of the seventies, Do The Right Thing, 12 Years a Slave, and Black Panther. And he brings to new light the careers and significance of a wide range of historic and contemporary figures: Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier, Berry Gordy, Alex Haley, Spike Lee, Billy Dee Willliams, Richard Pryor, Halle Berry, Ava DuVernay, and Jordan Peele, among many others. An important, timely book, Colorization gives us both an unprecedented history of Black cinema and a groundbreaking perspective on racism in modern America.

For nearly a hundred years, the state of Utah has played host to scores of Hollywood films, from potboilers on lean budgets to some of the most memorable films ever made, including The Searchers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Footloose, and Thelma &telling how these films were made, what happened on and off set, and more. As one Utah rancher memorably said, Hollywood moviemakers "don't take anything but pictures and don't leave anything but money." James V. D'Arc, Ph.D., is Curator of the BYU Motion Picture Archive, the BYU Film Music Archive and the Arts and Communications Archive of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University. He directs the BYU Motion Picture Archive Film Series, produces a CD series of original motion picture soundtrack, and appears on DVD documentaries dealing with classic films. For over 30 years, Dr. D'Arc has lectured internationally on motion picture history and has taught film courses at BYU. He lives in Orem, Utah.