Hollywood: The Oral History

By: Jeanine Basinger, Sam Wasson

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning

The real story of Hollywood as told by such luminaries as Steven Spielberg, Frank Capra, Katharine Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Harold Lloyd, and nearly four hundred others, assembled from the American Film Institute’s treasure trove of interviews, reveals a fresh history of the American movie industry from its beginnings to today.

From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a unique picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Gleaned from nearly three thousand interviews, involving four hundred voices from the industry, Hollywood: The Oral History, lets a reader “listen in” on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the camera—Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloyd—to the biggest behind it—Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, as well as the lesser known individuals that shaped what was heard and seen on screen: musicians, costumers, art directors, cinematographers, writers, sound men, editors, make-up artists, and even script timers, messengers, and publicists. The result is like a conversation among the gods and goddesses of film: lively, funny, insightful, historically accurate and, for the first time, authentically honest in its portrait of Hollywood. It’s the insider’s story.

Legendary film scholar Jeanine Basinger and New York Times bestselling author Sam Wasson, both acclaimed storytellers in their own right, have undertaken the monumental task of digesting these tens of thousands of hours of talk and weaving it into a definitive portrait of workaday Hollywood.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Hollywood, an insdes guide

so informative
didnt want it to end
the readers were excellent
a must listen

Wow!

I’ve read a ton of books about the movies. But I learned more about filmmaking and its history from this book than any other.

Was hoping for more history…

This is a great collection of anecdotal testimony from a collection of Hollywood luminaries though I was truly hoping for more of a historical perspective from this. It’s a little short on information about the creation of Hollywood as a whole which is a story that is like to be told since I can’t find a really thorough narrative from a book on here. The narration by the male and female roles are pretty darn good though sometimes they pick their spots to try and match up their impersonations. Definitely recommend for any classic movie enthusiast.

Interesting but limited

Everyone's right-the male narrator must have been raised on some distant Island not to know who David Niven is. And there's much that was not mentioned so that a more complete picture of the folks could be painted. BUT how much longer could this book get? I think it's great.

Do you want to know about movies and everything

Love this book. Could have used a few more readers for different characters and their characters power. Otherwise it’s beautifully done read written and expressed.
If you watch movies and want to understand how they made the screen or your movie collection this book is for you!