Hollywood: The Oral History

Product Information

This is a wonderful treasure trove of anecdotes about Hollywood, from its beginnings until today. Except, I actually found this book to be more reflective and accurately represent Hollywood from the 1920s until the 1970s (some anecdotes are in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s-22). Basinger and Wasson have painstakingly taken interviews from Hollywood luminaries, business and production insiders, directors, producers, actresses, actors and screenwriters who have created indelible, unforgettable art, captured forever on celluloid. Many of the people involved at the start of Hollywood were only names to me, but this history helped to explain their significance and their contribution to the film industry. JANE LIPSITZ (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, 2006-19) Remember… Project Greenlight [then at HBO] begot Project Runway. We’d flown to New York and met with a bunch of designers during development, so we took the same approach here. We just met with a bunch of chefs to find out what kind of show would be meaningful.

Oral history can be messy. Sometimes, the story gets lost in the telling. But what stories these are! KRILEY It used to be about almost psychologically breaking someone down. How much can they endure in terms of also living in the environment? When Jo [Sharon] and I took the helm [of Magical Elves] in 2019, it was important for us to give them separate bedrooms. PADMA LAKSHMI (HOST, 2006- PRESENT) I had taken a meeting with Lauren, but Bravo didn’t want to do the show that I pitched. ( Laughs.) Harper should be ashamed for compiling a fantastic book that fails to include two essential elements: dates and an index. SIMMONS I didn’t know what they wanted from me. There was the American Idol template at the time of the nice judge and the mean judge. That was about it. I just tried to be honest and a little provocative.As close to a comprehensive Who’s Who of American film as we’re likely to see, and as close to a definitive history of American cinema as we’ve seen so far. An absolute must-read for industry pros and fans alike." — Booklist (starred review) SERWATKA Harold being the first-season winner solidified that it was a show that was serious about cooking. Caveats aside, this is a really wonderful collection. Basinger and Wasson have gathered figures critical to the film industry's development far beyond mere stars (think directors, some producers and a raft of technicians/artists) who made it all work. Hollywood also clearly delineates the strengths and weaknesses of the studio system, and what replaced it after the dream factories collapsed. And some of their ruminations are quite moving. Louis B. Mayer usually is heavily criticized for MGM's "exploitation" of actors. Basinger's sources are largely complimentary. According to them, Mayer was a good businessman, but also genuinely cared about his employees. Most who spoke of his relationship with Judy Garland scoffed at the idea that he drove her to a troubled life. There seemed to be a consensus that he tried to help Garland, if for no other reason than her financial value to the studio. But sources stress over and over that Mayer regarded the studio as a family with himself as pater familias. He could be heavy-handed, but his intentions were good. Those who are more familiar with Garland's history may disagree, but I found these recollections convincing. Of course, it would help if we knew the dates the interviews were conducted. There needed to be more editorial effort made with the book. LIPSITZ We just used “Top Chef” over and over again, like, “Something great is going to come right at the end!” That never happened. Now it’s hard to imagine any other title for it. “HOW IS THIS GOING OFF THE RAILS ON DAY ONE?”

MINOPRIO Poor Marcel. They basically were bullying him. They tried to shave his hair off. That was the nadir of it all — a symptom of the cultural moment. LEE Listen, it wasn’t a secret that I wasn’t well received by the audience. I knew that it wasn’t working. In HOLLYWOOD, Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson have painstakingly put together a collection of interviews with these men and women, starting with the first adventurers who traveled across the country to set up shop in the wilds of California. It’s a fascinating look at the creative processes that went into bringing this medium to the public. SERWATKA A little later, Andy Cohen and I were in our weekly meeting with Lauren when she brought up the idea of a food competition. Top Chef was Lauren’s idea.These Hollywood scholars have assembled what is arguably the most comprehensive, gossipy and insightful oral history of Tinseltown ever made.” — Globe and Mail CUTFORTH I wasn’t worried about that. A lot of the development happened in preproduction and through casting, but the casting…