Reading Log. Movie-Made America

Movie-Made America (Robert Sklar) (originally published in 1975, revised edition 1994)



It started as a very interesting (though brief) overview of Hollywood, but after the chapters on the 1950s it turned into a frustrating and oversimplified characterization of American film.
The first part of the book, covering the rise of movie culture and its transformation from the Nickelodeons of the city slums to the glamorous lives of excess in Hollywood was really fascinating. But past these glamorous years on into the rise of television, collapse of the traditional studio system, the emergence of independent film, and so on, the analysis became too abridged and fell apart. By the end, with his analysis of independent film in the 80s and 90s (and his inflated love for Oliver Stone [irk!]), I grew tired of his accommodatingly easy depiction of film.

Powell's Books [link]
review from Jump Cut [link]