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The Hollywood Studios: House Style in the Golden Age of the Movies
The Hollywood Studios House Style in the Golden Age of the Movies Author:Ethan Mordden Hollywood in the years between 1929 and 1948 was a town of movie making empires. The great studios were estates of talent--sprawling, dense, diverse. It was the Golden Age of the Movies, and each studio made its distinctive contribution: Paramount's output bore the stamp of sly sensuality; RKO's that of wit and sophistication; Warners... more »9; the "crabby hustle" of real life.
In the movies of MGM, glamorous star power was at work; in Fox's, it was a "jes' folks" atmosphere; and in Universal's, an insistent conservatism. But how did the studios, "growing up" in the same time and place, develop so differently? What combination of talents and temperaments gave them their signature styles? These are the questions Ethan Mordden answers -- writing with breezy erudition and irrepressible enthusiasm -- in this fascinating and wonderfully readable book.« less