Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher--Television

by Foster Hirsch

A fascinating look at Hollywood’s most turbulent decade and the demise of the studio system—set against the boom of the post–World War II years, the Cold War, and the atomic age—and the movies that reflected the seismic shifts

Hollywood in the 1950s was a period when the film industry both set conventions and broke norms and traditions—from Cinerama, CinemaScope, and VistaVision to the epic film and lavish musical. It was a decade that saw the rise of the anti-hero; the smoldering, the hidden, and the unspoken; teenagers gone wild in the streets; the sacred and the profane; the revolution of the Method; the socially conscious; the implosion of the studios; the end of the production code; and the invasion of the ultimate body the “small screen” television.

Here is Eisenhower’s America—seemingly complacent, conformity-ridden revealed in Vincente Minnelli’s Father of the Bride, Walt Disney’s Cinderella, and Brigadoon, among others.

And here is its darkening, resonant landscape, beset by conflict, discontent, and anxiety ( The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Asphalt Jungle, A Place in the Sun, Touch of Evil, It Came From Outer Space ) . . . an America on the verge of cultural, political and sexual revolt, busting up and breaking out ( East of Eden, From Here to Eternity, On the Waterfront, Sweet Smell of Success, The Wild One, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Jailhouse Rock ).

An important, riveting look at our nation at its peak as a world power and at the political, cultural, sexual upheavals it endured, reflected and explored in the quintessential American art form.

Genres: Film, History, Nonfiction, Media Tie In

672 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2023

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reason this book works is that Foster Hirsch was an avid moviegoer as a youth in the fifties, but is also continuing to screen and teach these films in the present day. So he gets both how these movies were perceived in their own time as well as how a modern viewer may react. There is a tremendous amount of history (slow motion collapse of the studio system, the blacklist), criticism (reappraisals of both obscure and well-known movies) and personal idiosyncrasy (his personal distaste for certain stars - the two Hepburns in particular, a strange love for the Cinerama travelogue, and a forgivable fascination with the first 3-D wave) in this long but never boring tome.

Highly recommended, and his reading of the book on audio is right on (I recommend 1.4x speed). You'll likely have a respectable list of movies to rewatch or discover after reading this.

[Chris Cox, a librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a 70's film guy when it comes to Hollywood films and I'll defy you if you champion 80's or 60's movies over the films from my chosen decade. Forster Hirsch writes about an even darker horse: films from the 1950's. And he does so most ably and interestingly in this long book. It helps that Hirsch grew up during the decade and has taught film for decades.

He wisely breaks the book down by subject and keeps the whole thing lively enough without becoming overly academic and I enjoyed reading the whole thing cover to cover. And how could you not love a work by someone who so passionately defends 3-D films as one who experienced the initial wonder of them at the time they were released?

Hirsch states that he is now writing a book on 60's films and I plan to be in line to get that one.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was definitely worth reading if for no other reason than that it's lead to me watching a number of the films discussed. And it certainly does feel worth seeing more movies from the past, both classics and fairly obscure ones. Given that Foster Hirsch grew up in the 50s, it's no surprise that he has plenty of thoughts on the movies of the era and plenty of movies to talk about that I'd never have heard of otherwise.

The book is divided into five sections, and I'll admit I definitely found the first two to be the most engaging even if I think all of them are worth reading. Things kick off with an exploration of the histories of the major studios of the time. The 50s marked the end of the studio system, with the studios being forced to sell of their theaters and a rise in independently produced films. Some studios survived, even if their heads were ousted, while some were driven into the ground, never to recover except through somebody buying up their backlots and their catalogues.

The second section discusses the ways that Hollywood tried to keep people's interest in films up, both in terms of technique and subject matter. There's Cinerama, a destined to fail format that required three projectors working in tandem. The first round of gimmicky 3D films arises, and I was surprised to discover just how quickly the trend died. Cinemascope and other widescreen processes were a major gamble that paid off and lead the way to widescreen being as ubiquitous as sound and color. The new subject matter includes adaptations of high brow literature alongside lowbrow films with mass market appeal, while there's also discussions of race and sexuality in film.

The third chunk of the book explores the Red Scare and the era of the blacklist. There's a pretty good exploration of the history and forces that caused everything, and it leaves me quite angry at the leadership of Hollywood and those who helped the quite un-American HUAC. The discussion of anti-communist propaganda and movies that stood against the witch hunt are both interesting, though the latter sounds like it makes for better watching.

The fourth section takes a close look at a handful of actors, both old faces whose careers were winding down and new ones that were just starting up. There is something of a heavier focus on men than women, which I'm not the biggest fan of. But I did like the discussion of Method acting. The last part of the book explores a variety of genres. There's noir, which the author has written a whole book on, melodrama, musicals, and historical epics as genres that had a last hurrah or reached some major turning point by the end of the decade. Westerns, war films, and comedies managed to stick around, though it's clear the author feels Westerns were the strongest of the long runners. And finally sci-fi, animation, and documentary begin to come into their own in this decade. Though I admit the discussion of sci-fi in particular leaves me wanting a whole book on the subject, especially when I've already seen a lot of the movies that are mentioned.

Overall, this is a somewhat dense book, but I had a good time reading it. It doesn't go straightforwardly year by year through the time period, but instead moves from subject to subject. In some ways this makes it a little harder to have an easy view of the 50s in film as a whole, but it does help to track specific trends and changes more easily. And there's a massive pile of films name checked here with enough that the author actually likes to keep anybody busy for a while. At the end, Hirsch mentions he's working on a companion volume for the 60s and I for one am looking forward to reading it.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immensely readable comprehensive history of he 1950s in Hollywood film. A decade that seems banal and ultra conservative, but surprises and insights await in this sumptuous book. It covers the vast amount of genres (some that hardly exist today), innovations on the screen via projection to capture the attention of a public staying home to watch TV, the HUAC hearings, the new breed and style of acting that arose, and the aspects of race, gender, and war depicted. Good news is that author Hirsch is readying a next book on Hollywood and the Movies of the Sixties.

[Bob Koelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of criticisms, for an otherwise excellent book. The book is loaded with "spoilers" so if he starts discussing the plot of something you haven't seen, consider skipping ahead. Also, while I appreciate everything contained within, I was surprised at how shortchanged certain directors were, like Billy Wilder. Mentioned several times, but not really analyzed like Sirk. The book is very subjective, which is NOT a criticism. Even though I wasn't interested in much of the content of the first section, involving new technologies to counter television, it was enjoyable reading the author's personal experiences. I added dozens of titles to my Letterboxd watchlist, and will keep this volume handy.

[Brenden Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

At 35 hours of listening, "Hollywood and the Movies of the 50s" by Foster Hirsch is certainly exhaustive, and yet the book is consistently passionate, thoughtful, and curious, offering new details and perspectives on the decade's Hollywood output that you (or at least I) haven't heard before.

Hirsch tackles 1950s Hollywood through five different avenues. The book's five sections are roughly 1. the death of the studios and their moguls, 2. the technical changes that did and didn't change the industry (cinema, cinemascope, 3D), 3. Communism, politics, Red Scare, the Blacklist, 4. the movie stars of the era and their legacy, and 5. the genres of the era.

For me personally, parts 4 and 5 work the best because I was astonished at Hirsch's ability to breathe new life into conversations we think we've heard before. In the obligatory chapters about Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Marlon Brando, the author gives us new ways to consider the actors. In particular, in framing his analysis of Brando with his simultaneous embrace and rejection of the Method and its teachers, there is much to consider. This section also gives us the point that the benefit of dying young for an artist's legacy is that you never live to utter a phrase like the one that Hedy Lamarr offered in old age: "I used to be Hedy Lamarr."

Part 5 is probably my personal favorite portion of the book. In particular, Hirsch's in-depth apologetics for the melodrama and the swords-and-sandals epic is some of the best criticism I've read in a long time. A point that I think will stick with me forever about the epic is that with the renaissance of organized American Protestantism and the relative difficulty of accessing historical material in the 1950s compared to our Wikipedia-fueled present, audiences then might as well have existed in a different time, and our trying to find the same appreciation for these epics might be as difficult as putting ourselves in the mindset to appreciate medieval minstrel ballads.

If there is a weak spot in the book, it is Part 3. While Hirsch's treatment of the Black List is thorough, the author has that Baby Boomer tendency to take the ideology of liberalism as gospel. He feels compelled to "both sides" the Blacklist by arguing that communists in America were excusing the evils of Stalin and therefore were doing wrong in a sense. I reject this premise, as the ideology of communism is not the same thing as Stalinism. Furthermore, what the HUAC-impacted artists thought is not the same thing as what right-wing ideologues and cowardly stool pigeons DID.

In particular, as many of his generation do, Hirsch paints Elia Kazan as a tragic figure with no good options available to him. I personally side with Orson Wells, who said, "Elia Kazan is a traitor. He is a man who sold to McCarthy all of his companions at a time when he could continue to work in New York at high salary. And then having sold all of his people to McCarthy, he made On the Waterfront, which is a celebration of the informer."

However, I do not think Hirsch should be blamed for being one among a generation who engages in this kind of hand-wringing. Excusing anti-communism is a part of the 20th century liberal project and the mass media of America is just now awaking from it. So, though I take exception to it, I am not going to dock him any stars here.

Overall, "Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties" is an excellent text, well worth enduring 30+ hours of audiobook time, and god knows how long it would take you to actually read it. Foster Hirsch situates and explicates the 50s without making excuses for the wooden art and backward ideas that we associate with the era. Ultimately, he lets the films speak for themselves, and when you listen to him or read him on the greats of the era like "Night of the Hunter," "Some Like It Hot," and "A Streetcar Named Desire" (it's director's politics excepted) you'll want to put down the book and pop in a blu-ray at that very moment.

This is nothing less than an essential text and reading it is a joy. In many ways, the 1950s are as distant to us now as any other era in American history. And as with any other artistic moment of the past, there is much for us to learn by plunging its depths.

[Joe DeKock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this a 2.5/5 stars if I could. I am long-time film nerd for over 25 years with careful study in the golden age of Hollywood through the 1960s. I was excited to read the over view of this book as its title caught my eye and it was a newer publishing that covered Hollywood as a whole vs. a biography of a particular actor, director, or otherwise.

The introduction and the first few chapters were riveting and well researched to put together the history of the Hollywood studios and how they operated from a business perspective, who their leaders were and how they helped shape the culture, made careers for movie stars, directors, ancillary folks tied to the studios, and does a fine job of painting who the leaders of this business were as people. I even found it insightful on how television was forcing the Hollywood studios to change how they do business due to a couple key agents representing the likes of Jimmy Stewart and Bing Crosby, and of course television. This leads into the need to draw people into the movie theaters as they compete with television which opened the door to trying new technologies such as Cinescope, and Panaovision. The detail the author spend on researching these technologies with their genesis to their use and delivery was deep and detailed which was at times a little too deep on a technical level for even me who is a IT and Electronic Engineer.

Where I lose respect for Mr. Hirsch is he doesn't shy form telling his opinion on matters of what films were better than others based on politics or actors who are tied to certain political views. It comes through quite clearly that Mr. Hirsch is a typical liberal college professor. (He makes many references to his college courses he teaches and its obvious in his opinions on films he shows his students that he leads them how to view it.

Sadly, Mr. Hirsch is following a trend of trying to re-write history without any facts to support his statements. It is not any more clear in his chapters on race in Hollywood in the 1940s-1960s, and even more so in his chapter on sexuality in Hollywood in these times. He makes statements that he is passing as fact that the likes of Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn were either homosexual or bi-sexual. (He also lists other players). There is currently an agenda to say that Cary Grant was gay and the only "evidence" that they conjure up to try and make this case is based on the friendship that Cary Grant and Randolph Scott had since they were so close of friends that they rented a home together in their bachelor years for the first ten years of their careers as their careers paralleled each other. This with all the evidence to the contrary of Mr. Grant's careful documentation of his own life that he kept locked in a vault that was only recently allowed to be made public, as well as so many women who were involved romantically either publicly or in private affairs who first hand said there was no evidence of Mr. Grant having homosexual tendencies.

The same goes with Mr. Hirsch's claims on Katherine Hepburn being bi-sexual or even lesbian. Zero facts were presented, just hearsay. A great deal of the hearsay of any of the actors and actresses he claims were secretly homosexual or bi-sexual were based on the claims of a exotic pimp who provided prostitutes for these actors or actresses when he gave interviews in the 1980s. (Again, its hearsay with no facts). There are actors that he lists as homosexual that were indeed publicly known in the Hollywoood circles to be homosexual such as John Dall and Farley Granger. But again, they were not shy about hiding their homosexuality in Hollywood and it was as well known the same as it was that Robert Mitchum smoked marijuana. Mr. Hirsch even insinuates that Alfred Hitchcock had bi-sexual tendencies without any circumstantial evidence.

This is another sad and clear attempt of someone pushing an agenda by speaking for those who can no longer speak for themselves. Half of this book was well with the read, and the other half was not and there is a lot of rambling about movies that is meaningless. I wish I would have checked this book out at my local library first before wasting my $20 on it.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I approached film historian/college professor Foster Hirsch’s Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher—Television with anticipation of a fun ride through Hollywood history. I finished the enormous book of 575 pages with relief, glad that I made it through a tome that induced a lot of tedium. The first section of the book, the part about the collapse of the studio system, is fascinating. The rest seems to plod on at times. Yes, there are very interesting and engaging discussions about various well-known films, but the author does seem to go on and on about them. His use of first person narrative makes me think this is a vanity-piece, and yet, when he says how he has used many of the films in his classes, my opinion switches to “So this is a textbook.” Whatever, it is certainly not the breezy, popular history I expected. I have read many, many books and seen—a good many mentioned here—films of the fifties. I guess I wanted a sort of Hollywood diary—not a gossip book, but one that increased my enjoyment of the films I’d seen and perhaps would spur me on to see others. But I got so bogged down in analysis! And the tone, to me, is a bit stilted, as if a clueless professor is trying his best to communicate to his students who are far less intelligent than he. In one chapter alone, Hirsch uses words I, who am very well-read and somewhat intelligent, had never seen nor could figure out their meanings from context. What words you ask? Apparatchiks, ukase, seigneurial panache, rodomontade. Perhaps these are words I should have in my vocabulary and be using regularly, but I have never seen them, and, certainly, not in the many Hollywood books I’ve devoured. To Hirsch’s credit, when he couples his analysis of a film with comments from surviving cast members, his book becomes quite engaging indeed. But those moments are few and far between. On page 573, Hirsch promises a “next book, a companion volume to this study. The title is Hollywood and the Movies of the Sixties: Wild in the Streets.” Sorry, Mr. Hirsch, but you can count me as one who won’t be purchasing that gem.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's exhaustive and exhausting. Hirsch grew up in the '50s, loves the films of this decade, and has taught films in colleges ever since - so the guy knows his stuff. He doesn't always know when to shut up, which is why you get this book that's 575 pages of text (not including end matter).

The best part is the opening section where he goes over the major studios of the decade and what was going on with each of them, how it was an era of transition as Lous Mayer was forced out, as was Darryl Zanuck (though he soon came back) and RKO collapsed. Then the book goes into other areas and it starts to feel a bit too flacid, like Hirsch wants to tell you every little detail.

He has extended discussions of plenty of movies, and it's often well-argued and almost always passionate. He cares about this stuff. His bits where he praises movies are often more insightful than his critiques. His critical comments are frequently drive-by snipes that he doesn't back up, and it just comes off petty.

He argues that the 1950s are underrated as you had a broad array of genres (melodramas on the way out, sci-fi on the way in, but both around, plus westerns and comedies and dramas and you get the idea). The Method style of acting came around. 3-D (which he defends) arose, as did cinemascope.

Oddity: despite the fact that TV is listed in the book's subtitle, it's not really part of the book. Oh, he mentions it, but never really at length. Check the index for "television" and you'll see multiple entries, but none longer than one page. (I know it's hypocritical for me to say the book is too long - and that it should spend more time on some matters - but TV is in the title of the book but not really a factor in the book. C'mon).

Random thing: he notes that in his film classes, his students consistently find Katherine Hepburn he most dated of all the actors from the era of classic Hollywood. He's too mannered and hammy for them.

Plenty of stuff in here. Too much plenty of stuff in here.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hadn’t read any of Hirsch’s previous books, and perhaps this was not the place to start. While the portions of the book on the history of Cinerama, 3-D and CinemaScope were rather fascinating, the structure of the book is deeply, deeply flawed. In the chapter on Race in ‘50s Movies, for example, he barely mentions Sidney Poitier and instead covers his rise as a star in the chapter about Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando and James Dean much later in the book. Other strange choices run throughout this volume. He forces himself to revisit summaries of films he already wrote about in the book, most notably On the Waterfront, which he covers in the chapter about Politics in the Movies and then AGAIN in the Brando chapter.

Factual errors run throughout, including the years some films were released. There are moments when he literally just starts a paragraph telling us he’s going to list a bunch of movie titles and then lists a bunch of movie titles. Why was this necessary? Much is included that is unnecessary. Most puzzling was the chapter about the underground film movement in New York.

It just felt like a grab bag of ‘50s stuff, and while I appreciate the ambition of attempting to include practically every American film made during the decade, a more disciplined approach would have served Hirsch very well. There’s a really, really good 350-page book buried in here. It will stay on my shelves because those pages are in there.

One last note: Everyone has their own opinion, but some of his judgments are just peculiar. Criticizing Billy Wilder’s “The Spirit of St. Louis” for sanitizing Lindbergh’s multitude of faults including that of Nazi sympathizer seems particularly strange when the film was set in 1927 and Lindbergh probably didn’t know anything about Nazis at the time. Also a strange target for Hirsch’s ire is Howard Hawks. Clearly he despises Hawks, for he not only dismisses Rio Bravo but has to mention his disdain for Bringing Up Baby and The Big Sleep when (checking notes) they were not produce in the ‘50s. Who on earth hates Howard Hawks??? Just bizarre.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review in which the reviewer critically comments on the book he/she wanted to read and not the book the author intended to write. My issues with the book have more to do with what wasn't there, rather than what was.

Judging from the title, a least a portion of the book was supposed to address the collapse of the studio system. There is some discussion of that but it took the form of the problems in individual studios and less on the sector. I wished he had allocated at least a chapter on the multiple problems confronting the industry during the early years of the post WWII period. Movie attendance and ticket sales declined with the growing TV ownership and the Supreme Court decision that prompted studios to sell their theaters, thus giving more opportunities to independents.

During this period, the studio system started unraveling with much or most of creative personnel no longer under contract. Hirsch discusses these events in passing, unlike other aspects of the industry, such as video technology. Hirsch is a film historian and not a financial analyst, so it may be unfair for me to lodge these complaints. Still, more more information on the issues highlighted above would have made this a more interesting read for me.

All that being said, this book has much to recommend it. I particularly liked the thematic discussions that occurred early in the chapters regarding, race, red scare, noir, melodrama and depiction (or lack of) homosexuality. Less interesting for me is his detailed presentation of the movies that fell under these chapter headings, mainly because I haven't seen or was familiar with most of them. Still, these descriptions serve have value as a reference source, if I see these movies in the future.

[Michael Samerdyke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting and enjoyable book on the movies of the Fifties.

Admittedly, the first sections of the book, on the major studios and on the new technologies, were the most interesting. The section on the "culture war" or the blacklist was also good as he works his way through that minefield. The final section of the book, about various genres, was okay.

Hirsch writes with passion, and with an eyewitness perspective, talking about seeing movies in the downtown "dream palaces" that were how most people experienced these movies in the Fifties. That gave me a new and different perspective. I have only seen these films on a TV screen or at a neighborhood cinema or a college auditorium.

Two things about this book irked me. One was the drip-drip-drip of errors. Stalin had two sons. Mystery of the Wax Museum came out in 1933 not 1936. Hirsch lists the wrong song at the end of "Funny Face." Science fiction had been on American movie screens before 1950 -- Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. These things should have been caught.

The other thing was that Hirsch tells us that "All About Eve," "Some Like It Hot" and "High Noon" are great. And yes, they are, but I have been told that a lot before this book, and it didn't seem like Hirsch had much new to add on these (and other) key films.

Still, for someone who needs more of an introduction to American film of the Fifties, this is an essential place to start.

[Wesley Hyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, fascinating look back at a decade of moviemaking that was often disdained in the latter 20th century but has been reappraised and more appreciated in the 2000s. Hirsch, a longtime film historian, has the advantage of living through the decade and remembering how the 1950s movie experience was. He also has hosted movie festivals inviting participants of the works to attend, which gave him dozens of quotes to include here along with even more books and articles he used as reference in framing his discussions of individual pictures and overall trends. Hirsch covers almost all the major releases and many of the minor ones in varying detail, often depending upon where it falls in his narrative. He groups films by studios, genre and subject matter, so in some cases mentions of several of them appear in multiple chapters, yet thankfully there's very little repetition in his observations. You'll probably be like me and question some of the films he loves and loathes (I personally can't understand his fascination with The Silver Chalice, for one). And some omissions are glaring and puzzling to me (no coverage of Old Yeller or The Shaggy Dog by Disney?!). But those are quibbles. Hirsch has promised to do a follow-up volume on movies of the Sixties, and I can't wait to read that one too.

[Rafael Jovine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as large and exhausting the title is, so is the book on its exhaustive and detailed look into all cinema, both within the industry, society, and politics, and how each influenced the other during this period that was the 50s. The rise and fall of titans studio heads as the studio system met its demise, the book takes its time examining how it all went along for the likes of Mayer, Selznick, and even Howard Hughes. It touches on the different fads and technologies such as Cinerama, Cinemascope, and so on, and the genres that came, went, and stayed during this period, from musicals to sci-fi and whatnot.

The first half or so were awesome. I loved everything about the studio heads and all the crazy behind-the-scenes antics. The whole thing with the technology was great. I liked the blend of first and third perspectives; it made it more personal. On the second half, it lost me a bit as it dove into topics about which I didn't truly care. Also, I started to feel it could have used more editing as Hirsch starts to repeat himself and it all starts to feel somewhat redundant.

Overall, despite its flaws, if you have ever been fascinated by film history, namely during the 50s, this is the definitive book for you. Looking forward for his 60s book to hit the Audible store.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, providing a comprehensive history and assessment of the U.S. film industry in the 1950s. The author, noted film historian Foster Hirsch, brings his passion for movies to this lengthy but informative and holistic topical history. A wide spectrum is covered, to include a history of the major film studios, detailed information on the many technological developments, overviews of the famous movie stars, both newcomers and veterans, as well as a detailed assessment of the red scare and its affect on Hollywood. The only major topic not getting its own unique section in the book was the industry’s interaction with television. However, this history was integrated into many other components of the book, so the information is there, though distributed. I especially appreciated how Hirsch uses particular movies to highlight certain themes (artistic, business, cultural, technological, etc.) through a synopsis of the movie and the personal history of the people who created, made, acted in, or otherwise worked on it. A great book for understanding the dynamics of a major American cultural edifice of the 1950s.

[Randy Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Excellent Overview Of 1950s Hollywood And Its Movies

Foster Hirsch is, he tells us, a professor of film studies, and much of this book reflects that academic point of view. This is not a quick, breezy look at the films of the 1950s and the Hollywood that produced them, but a well-researched, somewhat exhaustive tome that covers everything from the blacklist to the emergence of a new style of acting to the development of three innovative cinema technologies. That section - on Cinerama, 3-D and CinemaScope - was to me one of the most interesting, as almost all the information was new to me. Other sections covered more familiar areas, but they also offered me new facts and insights. At times Hirsch’s professorial tendencies were a bit wearing (I found his analysis of THEM! as a reflection of the red scare mentality to be a stretch), but overall the book provides an excellent overview of the 1950s as a transitional era in both Hollywood and Hollywood movies. This would be the perfect book for someone just getting into film history and looking for a place to start learning about that period.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first third of the book is very good. It covers the degradation of the study system throughout the 1950s and details the fate of the Empire of Their Own movie moguls. Hirsch also is interesting in his chapters on Cinerama, Cinemascope and the birth and quick death of 3-D. He does a credible job on the HUAC and the blacklist although most of what he writes about in that section is received wisdom and he doesn't have a very interesting take on the topic.

After that it bogs down as he systematically goes through the genres and stars of the era mostly focusing on the major films of the decade, describing plots and analyzing the films. He basically plays the hits and the reader will not be reading about many forgotten or hidden gems.

Hirsch's taste runs more to political and psychological films of people like Stanley Kramer and less towards movie-movie directors like Howard Hawks. For him films are to be larded with sub-text and serve as an allegory for contemporary social issues. He coinsiders a film to be inferior if it isn't commenting on its times - regardless of genre, setting or time period.

I ran across a number of factual errors but not as many as I usually have to wade through with contemporary books. If you like the word, "problematic" you'll love this book.

[Andrew Foxley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a bold undertaking to attempt to provide a fairly comprehensive account of a whole decade in Hollywood history, especially one as tumultuous and fascinating as the 1950s. For one thing, how do you even begin to structure a work that can go off on so many tangents? Foster Hirsch finds an elegant solution with this weighty tome by structuring it thematically - so you have a section covering the fortunes of the individual studios, genres, stars, technological developments and so on… and it works beautifully. It’s a very satisfying account and analysis of the major events that feels as comprehensive as a work like this ever can be, and not at all dry or academic. It’s highly engaging and fun to read, in fact, even when I strongly disagree with the author’s own preferences, and has brought many films and personalities to my attention that I’d love to learn more about. I’ve a feeling this is going to be sending me down numerous cinematic rabbit-holes for some time to come.

[Dennis Ramsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I approached this book with a great deal of enthusiasm and anticipation, for the subject matter is of great interest to me. The first parts, which focused on the legacy studio heads (Zanuck, Mayer, Warner, et al), the new technologies, and the Red Scare and Hollywood Blacklist eras, were both interesting and informative. After that, the chapters just got downright tedious in their far too expansive descriptions of the fading careers of the remaining stars of the 1930s and 40s “studio system” and the rise of the new crop of actors in the 1950s (I really lost interest once the discussion got deep in the weeds regarding the intricacies of the “Method” school/Actors Studio founders). I finally gave up when I found myself scanning or skipping entire sections and looking for something that interested me.

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kind of movie history book I like: a cross between academic and popular in style and tone, with lots of interesting films and trends covered, and some fun facts and ideas that were new to me. The 1950s was my least favorite movie era for a long time, and I have only in the past 4 or 5 years come around to appreciating those films, and Hirsch helped open my mind a bit more. I dock this a half-star for his ridiculous contention that the development of Cinerama and 3D movies were very important to film history. Only a handful of movies were made in genuine Cinerama, none of them especially good or well-remembered; Cinerama was only interesting because it pushed Hollywood into Cinemascope and other widescreen processes. 3D was a gimmick, and remains one that comes and goes in the market. Otherwise, well worth reading.

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Audiobook) Not sure if there has ever been an attempt to distill the critical period of the 1950s into one volume, but this one comes to closest to actually doing that. This incredibly through work covers Hollywood as it moved from the studio system to the era of independent producers, free-lance actors/actresses, TV, and dealing with a constantly evolving social-economic environment that dictated how movies were made. No shortage of topics/movies/issues to cover, from the Red Scare, the fall of the great studios, the various filming and acting conventions…it is all there. There is a LOT to take in, so give yourself a lot of time to read this work, cause it will take a long time to get through it all. Perhaps it can get a bit too into the weeds on film-making, and the editorialization can be a take-it-or-leave-it situation. Still, it is worth a read for the major film buff.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at about halfway through. I was getting a subtle feeling of sexism, but powered through until the author wrote that Jeanne Crain was "a far better actress" than Lena Horne to justify the casting of Crain over Horne in Pinky. Yes, it was a common practice to cast white actors for "passing" black roles, as he notes. But I don't see how anyone can evaluate an actress who struggled to get cast as anything but "ladies and gentlemen, Miss Lina Horne" for the majority of her career. We'll never know who was the "better" actress for that role, because Hollywood never gave Horne a chance. (I won't even get into the dismissal of Easy Rider as "godawful" - it's not a movie for me, but it defined a segment of a generation.)

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Organized in a most readable and enjoyable way, this trip back in time to visit the Hollywood films of the fifties, becomes a journey through the history of that much overlooked Era. Dismissed as too pleasant, too conformist, and mostly treated as the jumping of point for the much more investigated 60s, the films of that Era are dismissed as B movies. Mr. Hirsch is a forceful, brilliant voice for his belief that some of the greatest films of all time came out of this decade. Why he thinks so is worth the read. You will enjoy the journey, and Mr. Hirsch's points of view, even as you savor the movie moguls, stars, directors, anecdotes, and behind the scenes stories. You will thank me.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! What a tome! I can't, or couldn't, explain (if pressed) exactly why I enjoyed this book. I suspect if you are not a film buff, didn't grow up knowing about, and often seeing on TV, many of the movies discussed, many might have no interest, but the depth and comprehensive coverage of the period seem worthy of respect. The early chapters, individually covering the old studios as their controlling era came to an end, were the best part for me. The chapters on the many attempts to use 'gimmicks' and formats were interesting for sure. I'm glad I listened to the narrated book, getting to hear the author's obvious heartfelt and emphatic reading.

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

An all-encompassing look at movies in the fifties, written by the erudite professor of film at Brooklyn College, where he has taught for over 55 years! Here you'll find the decline of the studios, the McCarthy witch hunts, the fading older stars, the new crop of Method actors, and every genre of film, presented in detail and discussed in well-written prose. I even learned a few new words, such as echt, hermeneut, ukase, mimesis and semioticians, among others. The only nit I have to pick is this: "Can I be forgiven if I confess that for me a little of "Audrey Hepburn" goes a long way?" No! Despite that, I look forward to his second volume on the films of the sixties.

[Nick Byers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great retrospective on a decade that saw a lot of changes in Hollywood and in movie making itself.

This is one of the times when I wish Goodreads would have a half star based system because really this is a 4.5 stars book rather than a 5. The reason being is that at times you can tell the author is like 80 years old by who he's more critical of *cough cough* women *cough cough* liberal historians *cough cough* and who he almost breaks his arm jerking off *cough cough* method male actors *cough cough*.

But aside from that an excellent and thorough book that I greatly enjoyed reading.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, this is quite good, but very larded with absolutely everything. Hirsch LOVES the movies of the fifties, which is good; but he loves going on and on about everything in detail, and when that doesn't quite do it, just loves listing movie titles for the sake of it. The long long chapters on 3-D and Cinerama have slowed me down, so I am going to take a break for a bit. I will say that his analysis of the end of the studio system (the opening section) is thorough, interesting, and does not require the reader to have been a moviegoer in the fifties. Will start again where I left off, someday: page 260.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thai is an incredibly thorough, comprehensive and insightful account of 1950s Hollywood. As I hoped, it alerted me to at least a dozen movies I never heard of but want to check out if I can track them down. I applaud Hirsch for organizing such a dense topic so well. But fuck my face is this thing long. I mean I get it. He’s covering a decade of cinema and all that was going on around it. But entire sections of this were soporific while others fascinating. I guess your mileage will vary on that. At the end, he announces a 1960s book, which I want to read but I need to really heed the commitment better next time.

[Charles Gargiulo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really sucked. How's that for a straight-forward review. It was loaded with too much hidden political agenda crap. I'm not against people offering their personal political views especially with books and movies, since they are often intended as parables that make their personal feelings and political insights food for important thought that can stimulate readers to do so in response by either accepting or rejecting the opinions offered. But, I can't stand it when authors try to play a manipulative game of acting like they are ABOVE mixing polemics with art, while in fact doing EXACTLY that at the same time. Find other far much better writing about movies than this clown offered.

[Charles M · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining , informative encyclopedic discussion of films and the American movie industry in the 1950s . The author’s . discussions of technology , business challenges and the industry reaction to political investigations into communist influence in the industry are concise yet thorough. The analysis of individual films can be quirky but usually prompts some reconsideration . He does prompt efforts to view some of the lesser known movies.