Can anyone recommend a good book about early Hollywood?

Colleen Moore wrote a good book on early Hollywood or has a great Bio-read on her life. She was an early founder of "Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner Smith and MOORE" Guess who the Moore was? The woman was smart!!

I still like An Empire of Their Own, by Neil Gabler. It's from the 80s, I think, and I'm not sure if it's considered outdated, but it gives a nice overview of the whole era of the Studio System, and of course a lot about how Hollywood was created.

"The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me" by Lillian Gish

How early, OP?

It's about the end, not the beginning, of the studio era, but my favorite is "CIty of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940's" by Otto Friedrich.

In addition to the Neil Gabler and Lillian Gish books, I’d also include The Parade’s Gone By, written by Kevin Brownlow.

Ann Pinchot, who helped Lillian Gish write her memoir, later wrote a salacious novel, "Vanessa", whose wayward heroine was supposedly closely based on Gish. It's bad, but an easy read, if you're curious...

The Ramon Navarro biography have some interesting insights - even if it focused on just one person.

Last year someone on DL recommended this bio of the silent star and director Alla Nazimova: it's fascinating, she had an amazing life and career.

OP = May not be the right period but I started to read Merv Griffin Life in the Closet. There were a lot of references to early hollywood when Merv was starting out. Names I didn't recognize, unless it was Liz Taylor etc......Carole Lombard had a lot written about her and seemed interesting....Mary Pickford = The woman who made Hollywood.. ..Another dishy sounding book on Amazon is Forbidden Hollywood: The Pre-Code Era (1930-1934): When Sin Ruled the Movies....

R9. Darwin Porter writes slash fiction masquerading as biography. Stay away if you actually want reliable history

Eve Golden wrote a very good biography on John Gilbert that was published about 10 years ago. Well worth reading and well research about early Hollywood.

For novels, I recommend The Dream Merchants, published in 1949. It's by Harold Robbins before he got really explicit with the sex scenes. It's a roman a clef about Universal pictures and does a good job of depicting how the American film industry started and grew into what it became.

R9 = Yes Darwin Porters books seem like a collected volume of every rumor and National Enquirer article ever printed about the book subject...They are meant to be nothing more than dishy gossip fun...Was just trying to be helpful....

R5, Kevin Brownlow practically owns early Hollywood. In addition to The Parade’s Gone By, there’s also this gorgeously illustrated history. It was published to go along with the great series of the same name, but stands in its own as a wonderful read.

Oh also loved Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood.

A Cast of Killers by Sidney J. Kirkpatrick, about the unsolved murder of director William Desmond Taylor.

The Day of the Locust..but its fiction

Nazimova

Swanson on Swanson is a great glimpse of a starlets life in early Hollywood.

R15, thanks for mentioning CAST OF KILLERS, about King Vidor’s actual private investigation of the 1920’s murder of director William Desmond Taylor. It’s an amazing book that puts the reader right into the sleazy early Hollywood of silent pictures… a place which was more of a carny atmosphere full of really creepy people than the corporate Hollywood we know today. There was talk about a movie version — it would have been fantastic — but that never happened.

Another outstanding book about a silent-era Hollywood murder, which is still a mystery IIRC, is HOT TODDY by Andy Edmonds, about the killing of comedy actress Thelma Todd in her home above Malibu. Riveting, with lots of unsettling tales of the silent days.

Kenneth Anger’s classic HOLLYWOOD BABYLON, kind of a bizarre photo essay about Hollywood’s early years, is a good starting point for those just discovering the dark, unspoken history of Tinseltown.

“Kenneth Anger has fashioned a delicious box of poisoned bonbons. Picking through the slag heap of the Hollywood dream factory, he has put together a truly prodigious anthology of star-studded scandal.”—The New York Times

Hollywood Babylon is mostly made up. Not as bad as Darwin Porter, but close.

R19 Yes, A Cast of Killers is excellent. Another version of this story, Tinseltown, by William J.Mann, is also supposed to be good. I have a copy bought years ago, but haven’t gotten around to reading yet. The book is supposed to have some illuminating things to say about Adolph Zukor.

I love the World of Entertainment. It's about MGM musicals and the Freed unit.

"One DLer Looks Back"

All of Jeanine Basinger's books about Hollywood are wonderful. THE STAR MACHINE, A WOMAN'S VIEW and I DO, I DON'T, SILENT STARS are all particularly great. Smart engaging insights into what made Hollywood tick.

You might enjoy Mary Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood, by Eileen Whitfield. It’s an absorbing, beautifully written account of Pickford and the era of silent films.

Jean Stein, who wrote the ground breaking and phenomenal Edie Sedgwick oral history biography, wrote a book called West of Eden and incorporate her family story of growing up in LA, her father founded one of the big actors management companies, and other powerful families shaping Hollywood and LA and is a really unique and insider view of how Hollywood e evolved.

The Brownlow TV series "Hollywood" is an exceptional introduction to American silent film. It (or at least part of it) is on YouTube (see link).

The title credits and musical theme alone would make the series HOLLYWOOD worth watching, r28. One of the best!

There's an old David Wolper-produced TV documentary about David O Selznick that was also brilliant. Not sure if it's still available to watch anywhere.

Wisecracker by William Mann about William Haines , the MGM silent star who chose to not remain closeted in Hollywood’s system and became a successful Interior Decorator with besties like Joan Crawford as friends is a great read.

BTW, in case anyone's interested, they just found two minutes of Theda Bara's lost film "Salome" (1918) and it has been put up on YouTube.

R30, the book inspired me to check out some of Haines' films; he's adorable.

R22, I got about a quarter of the way into "Tinseltown." I'm sure it's a good book, but it's long, and it all seemed like overkill, no pun intended. There certainly is a ton of information about early Hollywood, so it's good for OP, but if you're primarily interested in the murder mystery, it might not be exciting enough.

I learned a whole lot of things about Mary Miles Minter (what a nut), William Desmond Taylor (with kind of a Don Draper backstory!), and, yes, Adolph Zukor--that's definitely in there! That part of it was actually quite interesting, all about the run-up to the establishment of the Hays Office. Also about rampant heroin addiction and other drug abuse and alcoholism.

Hollywood Rajah, a biography of Louis B Mayer published in 1960, shortly after Mayer's death, was written by longtime NY Times movie critic Bosley Crowther, is a very interesting read; you can probably request it from your library system.

If Hollywood Rajah was written and published after Mayer's death I wonder if a lot of MGM actors and colleagues were willing to be interviewed? Or was it still too soon?

This is an unbelievable compendium of the very early days and an invaluable source of names of those who started the industry. Short on text, though quite pithy, and interesting insights about some trends and innovations. I’ve read and reread this book for 50 years.

This is an unbelievable compendium of the very early days and an invaluable source of names of those who started the industry. Short on text, though quite pithy, and interesting insights about some trends and innovations. I’ve read and reread this book for 50 years. You can read about the whole arc of early Hollywood.

You can even download a copy.

R29, here’s that wonderful opening theme of HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS that you referenced, composed by Elmer Bernstein.

That's a gorgeous music, too, r39, but it's not the theme I referenced which can be heard about a minute and a half into the link at r28. I wonder if they're the same composer? I really should know that!

And I loved that series Hollywood and the Stars (r39) which I watched as a kid and first got me truly interested in old Hollywood history, long before the nostalgia craze set in.

R34. Bosley Crowther, author of Hollywood Rajah, had a rather sneering, supercilious attitude to Hollywood. His reviews often gave the impression that he was lowering himself by deigning to view and write about American film. He had a particular contempt for Joan Crawford. There was obvious class prejudice in his view of Crawford.

A far better account of Louis B.Mayer’s life and times can be found in Scott Eyman’s book, Lion of Hollywood. It is far more complex, detailed, and analytical than the Crowther book.

R33... I loved reading "Tinseltown" by William J Mann because of all of the information presented about Hollywood, how it was controlled in many ways by the east coast bigwigs/real estate moguls. There was so much presented, but Mann's a very good writer and always brought me right back to Desmond Taylor's murder.

r16 I just checked out Day of the Locust

I'm really enjoying Day of the Locust.

I also recently read The Hucksters, one of the bestselling books of 1946. Enjoyed that one as well.

The Last Tycoon by Fitzgerald about Irving Thalberg is good.

Diana Serra Cary, who was known as Baby Peggy in the silent era, wrote a few good books on her life, Jackie Coogan, and her father's time as a silent era cowboy.

La La Land!

Not a book, but the Podcast “You must remember this” is excellent on early Hollywood up through the end of the studio system.

You Must Remember This is engaging, but no original research is done. However, the host Karina Longworth has a bibliography of reach episode on her website, so you can find where she got her info.

I loved Day of the Locust.

Thanks r16!

[quote]You Must Remember This is engaging, but no original research is done. However, the host Karina Longworth has a bibliography of reach episode on her website...

I love the topics, but there truly is zero research done and a ton of misinformation, lore and bad gossip is presented as fact. Plus, having to listen to Karina Longworth's shrill upspeak made my ears bleed so I swore off this podcast. How she isn't aware of her poor vocal production is a true mystery!

R51, at least she is consistent in her mispronunciations. She kept saying "Mon-soo-er" even though the clips she played of Monsieur Verdoux featured the correct pronunciation.

Plus she maintains her mispronunciation of Paulette Goddard, Joel McCrea, and so many other names over many episodes and seasons. That is a feat.

And she maintains her inability to pronounce the word "writer."

Unless I missed something, 53 posts and no one has mentioned Louise Brooks's acclaimed memoir *Lulu in Hollywood*? It was a big deal when it came out.

I know it has been mentioned before, but Parades Gone By, is really the best.

Also, Adventures with DW Griffith by Karl Brown is very good. I read it when I was young and it really got me excited about the era.

Adventures with DW Griffith is a memoir by the assistant to Griffith's cameraman, Billy Bitzer. It really is about the filming process and the discoveries Bitzer made.

I'm currently reading Room 1219 about the Fatty Arbuckle case.

I strongly second The Parade's Gone By, Kevin Brownlow's lovely, classic book about silent era Hollywood, which has already been mentioned several times.

I also highly recommend Lulu in Hollywood by the silent film star Louise Brooks. It's a collection of autobiographical essays about her time in the movie biz. She writes about her own experiences and also crafts fascinating portraits of some of the famous people she knew, including Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, and W.C. Fields. She's insightful about those people both as performers and as human beings, and surprisingly, she can really write! It's a beautifully written book.

[quote] Plus she maintains her mispronunciation of Paulette Goddard, Joel McCrea

I'm curious: how does she mispronounce these names?

Just got my DVD of the newly restored Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. films, "Double Trouble" (1915) and "Mr. Fix-It" (1918). In the first film he played a fey (gay?) guy who gets hit on the head and turns into a man's man. It actually wasn't very good as a movie, though. The second one was about his love for a young woman who has a bunch of orphaned brothers and sisters. It was great fun, DF was his normal athletic self in this one.

Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon might be largely unsubstantiated gossip, but taken with a grain of salt it's a great, unidealized introduction to old Hollywood. And the gorgeous photos are of course (mostly) real.

[italic]Movie Star: A look at the women who made Hollywood[/italic] (1983) by Ethan Mordden is very informative and entertaining. The early chapters on. Pickford, Swanson, Bow etc. give you a good overview of the silent era.

I'm currently reading Bella Donna (Robert Hichens) -- totally unrelated to this thread, except that it was adapted several times in the early years of film -- but next on my list is Buddy Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run?

[quote]Plus she maintains her mispronunciation of Paulette Goddard, Joel McCrea

[quote]I'm curious: how does she mispronounce these names?

With knowing only the correct pronunciations, I assume she pronounces Paulette Goddard's last name the way Jean-Luc Godard pronounced his (Go-DARD) instead of "GOD-erd" which is the correct pronunciation. I shudder to think she pronounces Joel McCrea's last name like Mother Machree rather than the correct way which was "McCray" rhymes with play. Oy. It is unlistenable for many reasons.

There’s a great book about the Pre-Code era called Sin In Soft Focus. Detailed explanation of Hollywood during its defiance of the self-imposed censorship years and its bold expression of sexuality and frank realism that from 1934 wouldn’t be seen for another 34 years.

MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot Hardcover – February 25, 2011

Detailed, with everything you'd wondered about MGM. I borrowed this from the library a few years ago. It is now available for a good price. You can pick up a copy for 35 bucks. It was previously $100 dollars more.

"THe Parade's Gone By" by Kenneth Brownlow. Great book about the early days of filmmaking.

Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century by Dana Stevens

It just came out this year and I'm only partly through, but so far, so good. It's not really a biography, more an attempt to put his life and the early years of US movies in a broader cultural comtext.

Pursuits of Happiness by Stanley Cavell

[quote] Ann Pinchot, who helped Lillian Gish write her memoir, later wrote a salacious novel, "Vanessa", whose wayward heroine was supposedly closely based on Gish.

I thought I was the only one who had read this trashy book!

If you like genre films, Gregory William Mank is the guy to go to. His work is meticulously researched, and his writing style is outstanding. He wrote The Hellfire Club,which follows the antics of John Barrymore, Errol Flynn and several other eccentrics. He has written definitive biographies of the classic horror stars Lugosi and Karloff, Laird Cregar(A gay genius), Colin Clive, and several anthology books with individual chapters on different films and performer's, jammed with facts and photos. To me, he's the best writer around who writes about classic Golden Age Hollywood.

Maria Riva’s book on Dietrich of course.

Almost finished with "The Lost World of DeMille" by John Kobal. All about the career of Cecil B. DeMille.

Budd Schulberg’s memoir

A very good fiction/ghost story that stretches from the silent era to present day is Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker. Spooky and occasionally gory, and very sexual.