Talking pictures

Producers, screenwriters, gaffers, camera operators, key grips, soundmen, and scriptgirls - with a list of behind-the-scenes movie makers that reads like a Busby Berkeley roll call, Talking Pictures presents a lively, firsthand view of Hollywood from the bottom up. The nearly forty interviews collected here chronicle the Golden Age of Hollywood, when major movie studios produced some of America's favorite films. By hearing firsthand about the machinations of Hollywood moguls like Louis B. Mayer and Darryl Zanuck, we learn how studios were run and how decisions about movies were made. From lesser known players we see how informal Hollywood was, how easy it was to get a job, how crucial a role nepotism played, and how careers were open to craftsmen and con men alike.