Hollywood: The Oral History

By: Jeanine Basinger, Sam Wasson

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning

Length: 28 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listener “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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

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.

Oral history of Hollywood

Excellent set of edited transcripts of interviews with people who worked in Hollywood. Audio book version is high quality but with some mispronunciations.

Insider view of the Hollywood film industry; A mini-MBA lesson in corporate thinking

I loved the intimate atmosphere created by all these personal quotes. I love the insights into all parts of the film making process and the business. The overview of the different “phases” of film industry is great value to understand other industries going through changes.

Good oral history-poor reading

The information is interesting if not exactly insightful. Too much of it is eyewitnesses of the era saying how great everyone was and weren’t we lucky. We needed some curmudgeons as well! The anecdotes themselves barely muster interest because no one seems to have any personality. Thus, the readers (male and female) have to try to make the dialogue interesting when they really have nothing to play. And even if they did, they are all wrong for the reading. The male had a bland sweet voice and the female has a touch of the irritating vocal rhythms and timbre of contemporary young women. If you’re going to act it, act it. If you’re going to just read, just read. But you need to study how people spoke back then. Americans in that circle of Hollywood spoke in distinctive styles so familiar from old movies.

Transitions

It was a great book just harder to follow since there weren’t really well-marked transitions between one topic to another. Other than that I absolutely loved it!!

Found this to be incredibly informative and a fascinating listen!

A great way to learn about the world of Hollywood.
( not clear why some are so negative about the narrators…. I found them very easy to listen to)

The deep dive into Hollywood’s pool of talent

It is a dream come true that such a volume would be written or, rather, meticulously pieced together. The editors did a masterful job creating a century-long conversation. It is unfortunate that with some major stars, negatives outweighed the positives. Did I learn that Judy Garland could take one look at a script and have it memorized? That she could hear director’s notes and incorporate them all impeccably into the next scene? What made her one of the brightest stars? This book won’t tell you. Rather, the focus is on her being late and a few around her questioning whether and to what degree she may have been mentally ill. Mayer is entirely let off the hook.

That’s one example and perhaps the most egregious. Astaire and Rogers are well praised. The same with more contemporary actors. Ultimately, it’s an oral biography of Hollywood focusing more on the titans of the industry and how it evolved dramatically over time. But you will hear from and about many celebrities. I must say, the narration by just one woman and one man was superb. They each adjusted their voices to resemble those from whom the words originally flowed. You get just a flavor of Lucille Ball or Clark Gable—not impersonations but enough of an impression to keep the story sounding like it was indeed a compilation of hundreds of eye witnesses. The two are masterful storytellers: bringing emotional truth to every voice, aware of pacing, tone, and inflection. I hope they have or will narrate many other books. My last point is one often noted in reviews of celebrity biographies and memoirs: the dreaded mispronunciation of names. There was a cavalcade in this case, overwhelmingly by the male narrator. Here are most if not all of them:

David Niven pronounced it like Nigh-ven, rhyming with thrivin’

‘Marleen’ Dietrich not Mar-lay-nah

Warren ‘Beety’

Otto Preminger and John Schlesinger said with hard Gs

Zootrope in two syllables

Mario Pew-zoh rather than pooh-zoh

Cannes in two syllables, rhyming with Alannis

Many of those are common errors and the talents of these narrators made forgiving them very easy. In case it isn’t clear, I highly recommend this book!

Excellent reportage, but no point of view.

Excellent reportage, but no point of view. The use of voices brings the words of important players, long dead, to life.