The Golden Age of Hollywood utilized many backgrounds, from industrial zones of film studios to the mansions where the glamorous live, partied, and were buried. Yet few traces of that Tinseltown have been documented. Bahn takes us on a tour that is part history, part archaeology, and enlivened by reminiscence.

"As one of the most famous faces of silent cinema, Buster Keaton was and continues to be revered for his stoic expressions, clever visual gags, and acrobatic physicality in classics such as Sherlock Jr., The General, and The Cameraman. In this spirited biography, every aspect of Buster Keaton's astonishing life is explored, from his humble beginnings in vaudeville with his parents to his meteoric rise to Hollywood stardom during the silent era. Based...

Howard Hughes was obsessed with sex, power and publicity, and he used his power to trap, abuse, and/or benefit women who dreamt of screen stardom. From promoting bombshells to his contentious battles with the censors, Hughes-- perhaps more than any other filmmaker of his era-- commoditized male desire as he objectified and sexualized women. Longworth examines women, sex, and male power in Hollywood during its golden age-- and shows that the recent...

"Set against the glittering backdrop of Los Angeles during the gin-soaked Jazz Age and the rise of Hollywood, this debut book celebrates Anna May Wong, the first Asian American movie star, to bring an unsung heroine to light and reclaim her place in cinema history"--

"A comprehensive study of the changing attitudes of America in the 1950s as reflected by the films of that decade"--

"An unforgettable novel from an award-winning author about an ambitious young agent's daring fight to protect blacklisted writers in McCarthy-era Hollywood and her passionate relationship with an African American journalist. Outraged by her grandfather's illicit affair with Empire Pictures' latest femme fatale, Roxanne Granville forsakes her position as Hollywood royalty and rejects the man who raised her, determined to strike out on her own. Backed...

"Like sharks to blood in the water, the mob arrived in Hollywood greedy and ready to tear away huge chunks of cash. Opportunistic mobsters saw labor unions as the means for muscling into the movie industry and extorting millions of dollars from studio bosses. Control the unions to which projectionists, art directors, cinematographers, electricians, scene designers, stagehands, extras belong, and you control the whole industry. Painting colorful portraits...

Soon after the birth of Mickey Mouse, one animator raised the Disney Studio far beyond Walt's expectations. That animator also led a union war that almost destroyed it. Art Babbitt animated for the Disney studio throughout the 1930s and through 1941, years in which he and Walt were jointly driven to elevate animation as an art form, up through Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia. But as America prepared for World War II, labor unions spread across...