The Genius of the System
Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era
An indispensable account of Hollywood's blend of business and art
Thomas Schatz recalls Hollywood’s Golden Age from the 1920s until the dawn of television in the late 1940s. Through detailed analysis of major Hollywood moviemakers including Universal, Warner Bros., and MGM, he reminds us of a time when studios had distinct personalities and the relationship between contracts and creativity was not mutually exclusive.
Anyone who has thought about the storytelling wisdom, the near-hallucinatory visual force of some movies produced by the system, already agrees with Mr. Schatz . . . but one finishes the book being convinced all over again.
New York Times, 1989
In The Genius of the System, Thomas Schatz recalls Hollywood’s Golden Age from the 1920s until the dawn of television in the late 1940s, when quality films were produced swiftly and cost efficiently thanks to the intricate design of the system. Schatz takes us through the rise and fall of individual careers and the making—and unmaking—of movies such as Frankenstein, Casablanca, and Hitchcock’s Notorious. Through detailed analysis of major Hollywood moviemakers including Universal, Warner Bros., and MGM, he reminds us of a time when studios had distinct personalities and the relationship between contracts and creativity was not mutually exclusive.
Anyone who has thought about the storytelling wisdom, the near-hallucinatory visual force of some movies produced by the system, already agrees with Mr. Schatz . . . but one finishes the book being convinced all over again.
New York Times, 1989
A vivid and sensitive retelling of Hollywood’s past creative battles, and an implicit guide to the future.
Film Comment
[An] original, monumental survey of Hollywood’s film studios during their most glorious period.
Publishers’ Weekly
Brings the pace and confusion and inspiration of filmmaking to life . . . Schatz has made a lasting contribution to film history.
Directors Guild of America Newsletter
There was much to criticize in the Hollywood system, and much to marvel at. But one can't do either without the means to make sense of it. This book provides that.
Elizabeth Kendall, The New York Times Book Review
Schatz has produced a landmark study of the studio era which significantly alters our perceptions of how Hollywood worked.
Journal of American Studies
Arguably the most significant study of the Hollywood system during the studio era.
Scope: An Online Journal of Film and Television Studies
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Actors' screen images have too often stolen the focus of attention from their behind the scenes working conditions. In Negotiating Hollywood, Danae Clark begins to fill this gap in film history by providing a rich historical account of actors' labor struggles in 1930s Hollywood. Taking the formation of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933 as its investigative centerpiece, Negotiating Hollywood examines the ways in which actors' contracts, studio labor policies and public relations efforts, films, fan magazines, and other documents were all involved in actors' struggles to assert their labor power and define their own images. Clark supplies information not only on stars, but on screen extras, whose role in the Hollywood film industry has remained hitherto undocumented.