The Unknown Hollywood

In the first two decades of the 20th century escapist fantasy was not the sole diet offered to American audiences by the emerging film industry. Steven Ross relates the mixture of social realism and biting political commentary that inspired both filmmakers and reformers to the silver screen in the Progressive era.

A liberal medium? D.W. Griffiths on set directing his epic drama, Intolerance. British Film InstituteHollywood remains endlessly fascinating to academics and audiences throughout the world. Histories of film, film-makers, and movie stars cram the shelves of bookstores, while video stores constantly expand their stock to meet the seemingly insatiable need for entertainment.

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