Bergorks
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Jemima
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
njmollo
It is a crying shame that the best documentary ever made about Hollywood's formative years is not available on DVD. In fact it is not available in any format!!!The documentary is a classic and is beautifully narrated by the late James Mason. It interviews the Stars, Directors and Propmen (John Wayne being one of them) of the silent era. This sorry situation should be rectified with a new DVD collection with extras that include an interview with its creator Kevin Brownlow.How such an incredible and revealing documentary can be ignored is a crime. Most say it is the best documentary ever made!!
matthat
To add further to the praise that this series has received I would just say that this is my favourite documentary/historical series of all time. I first saw it on British TV in 1981 and it was subsequently aired a few years later on Satellite TV (to my knowledge the last broadcasting).Although in this age silent films are perhaps easier to get hold of, in the eighties the genre was somewhat mysterious and rarely sighted. This all changed when Brownlow and Gill produced this sympathetic and fascinating appraisal including rare and insightful interviews sadly just in time with a host of stars who had been largely forgotten - i.e Louise Brooks, Janet Gaynor, Jackie Coogan, Anita Loos had sadly passed on within 4 years of the series release to name a few. Truly made in the nick of time.Regarding DVD availability it was due to be released by Fremantle Studio in the early summer of 2006 and is available to order from store4dvd.co.uk and play.com although 10 months later it's release is still to be confirmed..........I fear the worst.
hoadly
It is many years since this wonderful series was shown on television here in the UK. I saw it when it was first broadcast, and again when it was rebroadcast some years later. It is a truly classic study of the silent era packed with fascinating interviews with the people who made the films, along with illustrative clips, lovingly restored and accompanied by the brilliant music of Carl Davis. Since most of the participants in this documentary series are no longer with us, it remains a unique opportunity to learn about the development of American film in Hollywood from its earliest days up until the coming of sound from those who were actually there. I feel strongly that this series should be made available on DVD so that others may have an opportunity to view this truly magnificent monument to the silent film in Hollywood. Kevin Brownlow's later series "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood" is happily available - and I really do hope that "Hollywood" will also be released on DVD at the earliest opportunity.
Ron Oliver
Here is the definitive video history of the art of the American silent film. This 13-episode documentary was literally produced in the nick of time, as many of those interviewed would be deceased in a few short years - their wonderful memories lost forever.Produced in 1980 for Thames Television, this is certainly one of the crowning achievements of the British team of Kevin Brownlow & David Gill, who together have done so much to preserve not only the history of silent cinema, but also the actual films themselves.The one great lesson of the series is that non-talking films were a distinct art form, complete & satisfying, which had developed a universal language, understood everywhere, through the perfected medium of mime. This was all swept away with the arrival of Talk. So complete was the dismissal of silent films (which were never really silent) that within a short period of time they would be disparaged as intrinsically valueless & technically inferior.As HOLLYWOOD triumphantly shows, nothing could have been further from the truth. Films of enormous expertise & intense emotional impact were almost routinely created by the pioneers who were perfecting their new invention. The achievements of Silent Cinema's 35 years constitute a new cultural renaissance.Episodes focus on such topics as Westerns, comedies, war films, stunts, camera techniques & scandals. Not only do we hear from such luminaries as Lillian Gish, Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & even John Wayne, but we are also enchanted by the recollections of Viola Dana, Leatrice Joy, Bessie Love, Colleen Moore & Blanche Sweet, performers in danger of obscurement due to the fact that their careers were so very long ago and their films are largely unavailable or lost. Hearing Miss Dana discuss the death of the stunt pilot she loved, or Miss Joy recollecting a tender note from husband John Gilbert, or Miss Moore hilariously describing her voice lessons when talkies arrived, is to inculcate real human personalities into what would otherwise be only historical footnotes.A parade of directors, cameramen, stunt men & theater musicians also reminisce, as do writer Adela Rogers St. Johns & choreographer Agnes de Mille, who between them seem to have been everywhere & known everyone. Even Lord Louis Mountbatten recalls his memories of halcyon days at Pickfair.While some fans may not want to have all the mysteries revealed as to how Douglas Fairbanks & Harold Lloyd achieved some of their most famous stunts, it is still fascinating information and detracts not a whit from the stars' prestige. It is rather sad, however, to see such stars as John Gilbert, Roscoe Arbuckle, James Murray & Ramon Novarro in their prime, with the knowledge of what Fate had in store for them...Fans of HOLLYWOOD will be pleased to know that in the decades that have passed since its production many of the silent films it highlights have been fully restored and show now to much greater advantage that the rather faded appearance they make in the documentary.Much appreciation must go to two men whose contributions go very far in contributing to the success of the series. Carl Davis provides a wonderfully evocative score for HOLLYWOOD, his use of traditional tunes & his own lilting melodies a splendid match for what is taking place on screen. James Mason's narration is absolutely perfect - his rich voice, so warm & intimate, ironically proving that there is a place for talking pictures after all.
