GRAND DESIGN - HOLLYWOOD AS A MODERN ENTERPRISE, 1930-1939

The advent of colour, big musicals, the studio system and the beginnings of institutionalized censorship made the `30s the defining decade for Hollywood. The year 1939, celebrated as "Hollywood's greatest year", saw the release of such memorable films as "Gone With the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz' and "Stagecoach". It was a time when the studios exercised nearly absolute control over their product as well as over such starts as Bette Davis, Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart. This book examines everyaspect of the filmmaking and film exhibition system as it matured during the Depression.