Original subtitles

♪

Narrator: This is the story of america,

Seen in color for the first time.

Hollywood,

Legendary capital of the movies,

Where the screen's magic

Gives rise to america's most glamorous industry.

[applause]

Stars like charlie chaplin...

Clark gable...

And marilyn monroe

Captivate millions around the world.

Marilyn monroe: ♪ happy birthday ♪

♪ mr. President ♪

Narrator: Studio bosses control the business.

Many question its morality.

Man: The vulgar, the cheap, and the tawdry is out.

Narrator: And it's often a cultural battleground.

Man: The question is

Have you ever been a member of the communist party?

Narrator: But through war and peace...

Jimmy stewart: Well, hello.

Narrator: Hollywood adapts and evolves...

Hattie mcdaniel: And may I say thank you and god bless you.

[applause]

Narrator: To triumph...

As america's dream factory.

This is the story of hollywood

As you've never seen it before.

♪

John kennedy: I want us to recapture that...

♪

♪

Narrator: America's movie industry is born

In west orange, new jersey--

The headquarters of inventor thomas edison.

In 1893, he sets up america's first movie studio,

Called black maria--

The name given to black police wagons of the time.

Inside, he makes short films,

But not for the screen.

The viewer pops a coin into edison's peephole cabinet,

The kinetoscope.

Some survive,

Like 1894's 5-seconds-long "the sneeze."

Soon, edison's technology advances,

And his movies are projected to larger audiences.

Storefronts convert to small theatres.

With tickets costing 5 cents,

They become known as nickelodeons.

Soon, films like "the great train robbery"

Run as long as 12 minutes

And tell stories.

By 1907,

An estimated two million americans a week

Head to the movies.

To exploit the surging demand,

Rival film studios spring up along the east coast.

In response,

Edison and eight other producers

Create the motion picture patent company.

It monopolizes the technology

For shooting and exhibiting films

And uses enforcers

To run upstart competitors out of business.

In 1910, director david wark griffith

Heads west

To film on location in california.

He stumbles upon a little village of 5,000 people,

Surrounded by rolling hills and citrus groves.

The main street connects it to downtown los angeles,

Ten miles away.

Known as prospect avenue,

It will soon take the name of this obscure little town

And become hollywood boulevard.

Griffith's film "in old california"

Is the first to be shot in hollywood.

Soon, more filmmakers hear about california's varied landscape

And year-round sunshine.

And it's 3,000 miles from edison's patent enforcers.

Lured by opportunity,

Independent producers head west.

In 1912, east coast theatre owner and producer carl laemmle

Forms what will become one of hollywood's giants--

Universal.

He builds this studio on a 230-acre farm,

Creating the world's largest facility

For making motion pictures.

Universal employs an army of people,

And laemmle's rapid success

Entices others to join him in hollywood.

[laughing]

When producers adolph zukor, jesse lasky,

Cecil b. Demille, and samuel goldwyn move west,

They merge their companies to form paramount.

Another pioneer, theatre owner william fox,

Convinces the supreme court to put an end to edison's monopoly.

The decision frees up the industry.

By now, it's in california to stay.

Hollywood's new studios create a powerful business model...

In which a single company not only controls production,

But also owns chains of movie theatres,

Ensuring a guaranteed audience.

By 1915,

At least 26 million people are going to the movies each week.

To boost their share

Of the $1.3 million in weekly revenues,

The studios seek every advantage.

They sign actors to exclusive contracts

And promote them with a novel technique--

Screen credits.

The most popular attract loyal audiences of their own.

In a 1914 film,

"kid auto races at venice,"

Charlie chaplin introduces an iconic character--

The tramp.

And a star is born.

♪

The english actor even directs his own films.

By 1916,

The mutual film corporation pays him $700,000 a year.

That's nearly ten times more than the president.

Movies are still silent,

And comedies are among the most popular films.

They don't need dialogue to work.

♪

One of the era's biggest film stars is mary pickford.

A quick tea party with her niece is all her busy schedule allows.

In 1916, she signs the first million-dollar contract,

With adolph zukor and paramount.

One of pickford's frequent directors

Is david wark griffith.

In 1915, he pioneers new cinematic techniques.

♪

Set during the civil war,

"birth of a nation" is america's first epic.

It's three hours long,

Employs 18,000 people,

And costs $100,000.

The movie grosses an estimated $10 million.

That's a quarter of a billion today.

The film has been controversial since the day it came out.

It's sympathetic to the ku klux klan

And hostile to african americans.

[crowd yelling]

Riots break out,

And there are calls to ban the movie.

Griffith is unapologetic

And defends the film when it's re-released in 1930.

David wark griffith: The klan, at that time,

Was needed.

It served a purpose.

Narrator: Despite the uproar over the 1915 release,

Its creative brilliance establishes griffith

As hollywood's first great director.

[explosion]

[footsteps]

He's given unprecedented access

To the trenches in France in world war I

To make government propaganda films.

[gunfire]

But it's hollywood's onscreen stars

That are most visible in the war effort.

At a parade in washington,

Mary pickford and charlie chaplin

Are joined by fellow actor douglas fairbanks

To raise war bonds.

They tour the country,

And americans gladly fork over money

When asked by hollywood royalty.

By war's end, they've raised close to $17 million.

The stars have become the nation's sweethearts.

[cheering]

But it's the studios that hold most of the power.

Universal, paramount, and fox

Have now been joined by warner brothers and columbia.

They maintain tight control on actors, salaries,

And artistic decisions.

But seeking freedom, some rebel.

Pickford, chaplin, and fairbanks join forces with d.W. Griffith,

And in 1919, they set up their own company--

United artists.

It's a landmark moment for movies as art

And not just business.

But even their combined star power

Is no match for the big studios.

They struggle to raise money,

Production is slow,

And united artists distributes an average

Of just five films a year in its first five years.

For fairbanks and pickford,

The partnership turns personal.

They fall in love.

Pickford is still married to actor owen moore.

She fears a divorce will ruin her career,

But she's wrong.

Americans accept her new marriage

As the ultimate happy ending.

Fairbanks and pickford become king and queen of hollywood,

Its first celebrity couple,

Seen here returning from their honeymoon.

They invite cameras into their lavish new home,

Built on a 15-acre estate on summit drive,

In the already exclusive enclave of beverly hills.

Their neighbor is none other than charlie chaplin.

Dubbed "pickfair" by the press,

Their home is the scene of legendary parties

For hollywood's glitterati.

The magnetism of hollywood is now firmly on the rise,

But its newfound power will soon be tested.

♪

By 1920, hollywood is producing most of the world's movies.

[pop]

It's the fourth largest industry in america,

Employing more than 42,000 people.

Everyone wants to be in the pictures.

And in hopes of doing just that,

People flock to hollywood.

L.A.'s population, already on the rise,

Doubles in the 1920s,

Making it america's fifth largest city.

New houses spring up everywhere.

1923.

A team of men haul giant poles up a hillside.

These will support 50-foot letters

For a sign advertising a new housing development.

It costs $21,000--

$300,000 in today's money.

The sign is rigged with 4,000 light bulbs

That flash in order to reveal "hollywoodland."

Intended as a temporary promotion,

It becomes an enduring symbol in 1949,

When the last four letters are removed.

L.A.'s urban skyline is changing too,

With movie-set-inspired hotels and apartments

Along the big boulevards.

Swanky new restaurants and nightclubs open up.

No place embraces

The loose-living carefree attitude of the early 1920s

Like hollywood...

♪

Which cultivates a risqué image on and off the screen.

Labor day, 1921.

Comedian and a-list star fatty arbuckle

Is arrested in san francisco.

He is charged with the rape and murder

Of actress virginia rappe,

After a party in one of san francisco's elite hotels,

The st. Francis.

It's hollywood's first sex scandal,

And it won't be its last.

Tabloid papers stoke public outrage,

And there are calls for the death penalty.

Though arbuckle is eventually acquitted,

Hollywood wants to spruce up its image.

So studio bosses bring in a republican politician,

Will hays,

To clean up the industry.

He becomes the first chairman

Of the motion picture producers and distributors of america.

One of his first acts is to blacklist arbuckle.

His days as a star are over.

In his new role,

Hays establishes moral guidelines for movies,

Known as the production code.

But it's more of a p.R. Exercise.

He has little power to enforce it.

So in hollywood, the party continues.

And films keep pushing the bounds

Of old-fashioned morality.

Bringing love scenes to life

Becomes an essential skill for directors,

And one star's sex appeal is making audiences swoon.

Rudolph valentino,

Dubbed the latin lover,

And one of america's first heartthrobs.

Newsreel crews film women

And record their heart rates

During these steamy scenes from his "son of the sheik."

♪

♪

Fans are heartbroken

When in August 1926,

Valentino dies

Following surgery for a perforated ulcer.

He's only 31.

In new york, the beloved actor lies in state for three days,

As thousands of moviegoers turn out to mourn their hero.

♪

Among the pallbearers

Are paramount studio boss adolph zukor

And actor douglas fairbanks.

Valentino is buried in hollywood forever cemetery.

His funeral is the biggest the movie capital has known.

But even the death of a legend can't dent hollywood's growth.

♪

By 1927,

57 million americans are going to the movies every week.

That's almost half the population.

♪

To serve the surging demand,

New movie theatres pop up everywhere.

In l.A., at 6925 hollywood boulevard,

Showman sid grauman spends $2 million

To build his iconic chinese theatre.

In 1927, it opens by hosting the premiere

Of cecil b. Demille's religious epic,

"the king of kings."

The opening marks the birth of a hollywood tradition.

Douglas fairbanks and mary pickford

Become the first stars

To imprint their hands in cement outside the theatre.

That same year,

They are both founding members

Of another enduring hollywood institution,

The academy of motion picture arts & sciences.

In 1929, the academy stages its first awards ceremony.

It quickly becomes the world's most glamorous movie event,

Known worldwide by the nickname for its famous gold statues,

The oscars.

As a new decade looms,

Movies have never been more powerful.

But the industry is about to change forever.

♪

Times square, new york.

1927.

Crowds gather outside the warner theatre

For a watershed moment in movie history--

The first talking picture.

At the premiere of "the jazz singer,"

Audiences are hysterical

When al jolson utters the first words heard in a film.

Al jolson: Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

You ain't heard nothing yet.

Wait a minute, I tell ya. You ain't heard nothin'.

♪

Narrator: Sound changes the way that hollywood makes movies.

♪

Productions move indoors onto specially built stages

Where every sound can be controlled.

Crew: Quiet!

Actor: Is that all?

Man: That's all right...

Narrator: Now obsolete,

Giant outdoor sets like this one at united pictures,

Built for mary pickford ten years earlier,

Are ripped down.

The surprise star of the talkies

Is mgm's trademark, leo the lion,

Who's been with them since the silent era.

Leo is played by many lions over the years.

But one of the most famous is jackie.

In September 1927,

Jackie goes on a publicity tour for mgm

In his own personalized plane.

Five hours after takeoff from san diego to new york,

The plane crashes in the arizona desert.

While the pilot goes for help,

Jackie survives,

Living for four days on the pilot's sandwiches.

The first question mgm execs ask is...

"how's the lion?"

The studio doesn't mind all the publicity

One little bit.

The mascot is renamed "leo the lucky"

And pampered like a baby.

[growl]

In 1928, jackie becomes the first lion to roar.

[roar]

An emblem of the triumph of sound.

♪

Another star

Taking on the transition to talking pictures

Is former broadway chorus girl lucille fay lesueur.

She works hard to lose her texas accent,

But the studio wants more.

Mgm doesn't like the sound of her name,

So they launch a $1,000 magazine contest

To rebrand her.

The winning name is joan crawford.

The studio conceals her modest upbringing

And creates a new persona.

In 1929, she marries douglas fairbanks' son,

Douglas jr.,

And enters hollywood's royalty.

♪

♪

Mgm boss louis b. Mayer

Understands that stars like crawford

Are box office gold,

So he controls them obsessively.

During the 1930s,

He signs up over 60 big names,

Including judy garland,

Helping mgm become hollywood's powerhouse.

[laughing]

To ensure a constant supply of actors,

Mgm, like other studios,

Runs a training school for wannabe stars

And is smart enough to publicize it

In this promotional film.

Aspiring actors and actresses are put through their paces.

Instructor: Hands on the hips.

Get your positions.

One, two, three, waist high, again.

Lift the knees, last time. That's right, again.

Narrator: Actresses are expected

To live up to hollywood's image of a perfect lady.

They are even trained how to walk.

Instructor: Now, if you notice,

Virginia's walking on the balls of her feet,

That her body is perfectly relaxed and easy,

And as she comes down the stairs,

She isn't watching them.

Narrator: And how to kiss.

Actor: Can you forgive me?

Actress: No, I'll never forgive you.

I'll hate you as long as I live.

Woman: Oh, wait a minute, both of you.

Now, you know the kiss--

In the first place, the kiss is awful.

Narrator: It's another side of the studio machine

That molds and controls hollywood stars.

Woman: Alright, let's go, right from the kiss.

Narrator: For those willing to dance to the studio's tune,

A life of money, glamour, and poolside parties awaits.

For hollywood, there is no depression.

The stars live it up.

They are the public face of hollywood,

And the studios make sure that newsreels capture them

In the right places.

Joan crawford studies the racing guide

At hollywood park,

While father-in-law douglas fairbanks

Takes a closer look at his favorite horse.

Studio head jack warner

Is joined by his wife and dolores del rio,

While newcomer mickey rooney places a bet.

In 1937, the average american's annual salary

Is around $1,800--

A figure far outstripped by stars like clark gable,

Who earns just over $280,000.

But it's the boss, louis b. Mayer,

Seen here attending the premiere of "cavalcade,"

Who takes home the largest paycheck in america--

$1.1 million.

The money and glamour

Keep on attracting stars and controversy.

Announcer: Mae west has come to town.

Narrator: Mae west premieres her film "I'm no angel"

At grauman's theatre in 1933.

Mae west: Hello, folks.

I wish you were up here at mr. Grauman's beautiful theatre

To see the grand opening, the premiere of my new picture,

"I'm no angel."

Of course I didn't call it "I'm no angel" for nothing.

Narrator: She's notorious.

Her play "sex" was a hit on broadway,

But she was prosecuted for obscenity

And jailed for ten days.

Announcer: Stars are arriving so rapidly,

We can scarcely keep track of them.

Narrator: Mae west knows how to please a crowd.

West: Don't forget, come up and see me some time.

[laughter]

♪

[choir singing]

Narrator: Conservative religious groups

Decry her portrayal of sex on screen.

They want to stop what they see as a trend

Towards glorifying sex and violence in films.

♪

Hollywood tries to head off the threat.

The production code will hays introduced

After the arbuckle scandal

Has so far had little bite.

But now he brings in joseph breen,

A prominent catholic journalist and publicist,

To enforce the moral guidelines.

Joseph breen: The vulgar, the cheap,

And the tawdry is out.

Narrator: The first film breen applies the code to

Is "tarzan and his mate"

In 1934.

Jane: Wait, tarzan!

Aaahh!

Narrator: This scene between johnny weissmuller

And a maureen o'sullivan body double

Is cut because of its nudity.

Jane: Darling, you're very--

Narrator: It's the beginning of an era of censorship

That will span three decades.

The industry responds

By presenting a different kind of box office star

Who's a little more innocent.

In 1934, at the tender age of 5,

Shirley temple sings and dances her way into americans' hearts

In "stand up and cheer."

She's rewarded with her own special car,

Which she drives around the fox studio lot.

President franklin d. Roosevelt recognizes her ability

To lift spirits dampened by the depression.

He reportedly says,

"as long as our country has shirley temple,

We will be all right."

She becomes the first movie star

To serenade a president on his special day.

Shirley temple: ♪ happy birthday ♪

♪ dear president... ♪

Narrator: With her curly locks and infectious smile,

She offers hope by way of hollywood.

[applause]

♪

In 1939, 365 films are released.

And each week, 80 million tickets are sold.

Much of that

Stems from one of the most successful hollywood films

Of all time...

"gone with the wind."

♪

Producer david selznick

Spends two years searching for the right stars.

[snap]

Paulette goddard: Well, I never feigned in my life.

Narrator: Paulette goddard was one of 32 actresses

Who auditioned for the part of scarlett o'hara.

Goddard: Oh, ashley.

It seems such a long time since we've had a good talk together.

I was wondering where you were keeping yourself.

Narrator: But it's a brit, vivian leigh,

Who lands the part of the southern belle.

Clark gable is cast as her leading man, rhett butler...

With leslie howard as ashley wilkes.

This rare long-lost footage

Was shot in color on a home movie camera

By steel industry magnate howard hall.

His business connections earn him a visit to the set.

While its leading man, clark gable, relaxes...

His co-star, vivian leigh,

Is adorned with a little more make-up.

♪

Announcer: Gala days in dixie.

Streamlined wings of the wind bring hollywood to atlanta

For a history-making world premiere

Of the motion picture epic "gone with the wind."

Narrator: Crowds go wild for the film's leading ladies,

Vivien leigh and olivia de havilland,

Accompanied by producer david selznick.

But the biggest cheers are for the king of hollywood.

Announcer: Yes, it's the clark gables,

Just in from the coast.

Charming carole lombard and friend husband

Get a mighty welcome.

Narrator: Georgia's governor declares a state holiday,

And over a million people pour in

To join in the three days of celebrations.

300,000 line the streets to watch the parade of the stars.

Confederate veterans

Are guests of honor at the premiere

At loews grand theatre on peachtree street.

Clark gable: Ladies and gentlemen,

Tonight I am here

Just as a spectator.

I want to see "gone with the wind"

The same as you do.

Narrator: Like its predecessor,

"birth of a nation,"

The film arouses racial controversy.

At the premiere, the black cast,

Including hattie mcdaniel, who plays the slave mammy,

Are conspicuous by their absence.

The theatre is restricted.

Whites only.

Racial segregation prevails all across america.

At the oscars, selznick has to beg

For nominee hattie mcdaniel to be let inside.

But she can't be seen anywhere.

Off camera, she's sitting at a small table

Far away from her fellow nominees.

Man: And now let's get right to it.

The awards for 1939.

[applause]

Narrator: "gone with the wind"

Picks up an unprecedented eight oscars.

[applause]

Mcdaniel wins best supporting actress...

[applause]

The first african american to do so.

Hattie mcdaniel: This is one of the happiest moments of my life.

My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel.

And may I say thank you,

And god bless you.

[applause]

Narrator: But racism continues to haunt hollywood

For decades to come...

As do lingering suspicions

About just how american it really is.

1942.

America is at war.

Hollywood stars like jimmy stewart

Are urging fellow americans to join up.

Jimmy stewart: Well, hello.

Gee, looks like I'm back in the movies again, doesn't it?

Narrator: He was one of the first stars to enlist.

Initially turned down by the army

For being too skinny,

Stewart fattened up

On spaghetti, steak, and milkshakes.

In March 1941,

Still a few ounces light,

He persuades the army doctor to let him become a bomber pilot

For the army air force.

And he calls others to join him.

Stewart: This is where you'll serve america best.

Young men of america, your future's in the sky.

Your wings are waiting.

Narrator: Although too old to be drafted,

Clark gable joins as a private,

Following the death of his wife carole lombard

In a plane crash.

Officer: May god bless you. Gable: Thank you.

Narrator: The war effort also draws in

Top director john ford...

Seen here in his rare home movies

On his yacht, the araner.

Having always dreamed of being a navy man,

In April 1941,

Ford gathers a group of experienced filmmakers

And sets up his own naval reserve unit.

They wear rented uniforms

And become affectionately known as "john ford's navy."

At first, the brass doesn't take him seriously,

But as the war heats up,

He and his men are put to work.

They make documentaries

And training films for the government,

Following allied forces across europe and the pacific.

[gunfire]

In 1942,

The navy sends ford to film the u.S. Base

On the tiny island of midway.

[explosion]

When the japanese attack,

Ford gets injured by shrapnel,

But continues to film...

As a group of marines defiantly hoist the american flag.

He wins the academy award for best documentary film.

Back home, hollywood civilians are also pitching in.

Mary pickford opens up her iconic home, pickfair,

To servicemen and women.

[splash]

[splash]

Across town, another legendary place is born.

The hollywood canteen.

Set up by bette davis and john garfield in 1942,

It's open to all servicemen and women

From allied countries.

Their uniform is their admission ticket.

Everything inside is free.

Famous faces like linda darnell are among 3,000 volunteers

Who serve food and entertain the guests.

You can even dance with the stars.

Marlene dietrich

Is the first german actress to flourish in hollywood

Marlene dietrich: ♪ go see what the boys ♪

♪ in the back room will have ♪

♪ and tell 'em... ♪

Narrator: In 1939, she chooses to become an american citizen,

Rejecting calls by the nazis to return to germany.

[singing]

[applause]

♪

By the time the canteen closes its doors in 1945,

It has entertained 3 million servicemen and women,

Served 9 million cups of coffee,

And doled out 3 million packs of cigarettes.

But hollywood's patriotism is about to be questioned.

The cold war creates a climate of fear in the country.

J. Edgar hoover: The communist party of the united states

Is a fifth column, if there ever was one.

Narrator: In 1947,

Huac--the house un-american activities committee--

Begins investigations into communist influence in america.

The spotlight is turned on hollywood,

Seen as a hotbed of red subversion.

In washington, huac holds nine days of hearings,

With testimony from more than 40 people

Connected to hollywood.

The head of the screen actors guild,

Ronald reagan,

Assures the committee that hollywood is clean.

Ronald reagan: We have done a pretty good job

In our business

Of keeping those people's activities curtailed.

Narrator: Still, the committee tries to force witnesses

To name names.

One group of writers and directors

Refuses to cooperate,

In defense, they say, of their constitutional rights.

On October 29, 1947,

Writer john howard lawson appears.

Man: The question is,

Have you ever been a member of the communist party?

John howard lawson: I'm framing my answer

In the only way in which any american citizen can frame...

Man: Then you deny...

Lawson: ...Question which invades his,

Absolutely invades his rights.

Man: Then you deny...

You refuse to answer that question.

Is that correct?

Lawson: I have told you that I will offer my beliefs,

My affiliations and everything else

To the american public,

And they will know where I stand,

As they do from what I have written.

Man: Stand away from the stand.

Lawson: I have written for americanism for many years...

Man: Stand away from the stand!

Lawson: ...Fight for the bill of rights,

Which you are trying to destroy.

Narrator: The defiant witnesses

Become known as the hollywood ten

And pay a heavy price--

Blacklisted by producers

And even jailed for a year.

But some movie stars speak up.

Among them, humphrey bogart and lauren bacall,

Who go to washington

To protest the treatment of the hollywood ten.

♪

Another casualty is one of hollywood's greats--

Charlie chaplin.

Born in britain, he never became a u.S. Citizen.

A member of huac calls for him to be deported.

Chaplin sends them a telegram stating,

"I am not a communist.

I am a peace monger."

Huac backs off,

But the fbi continues to investigate him.

In 1952, at the age of 63,

Chaplin goes to England for the first time in 21 years

For the premiere of "limelight."

While the land of his birth welcomes him,

His adoptive country looks for ways to block his re-entry.

Insulted by the move,

It will be another 20 years

Before the man who created

One of movies' most iconic characters

Will return to america.

It's the end of an era.

And back in hollywood,

The studios' control of the entertainment business

Will soon face a new and even more daunting threat.

1953.

One of hollywood's founding fathers,

Paramount studio boss adolph zukor,

Celebrates his 80th birthday...

And adds his handprint outside grauman's chinese theatre.

Zukor has reigned for 50 years

At the top of the hollywood studio system.

But the absolute power that made it so lucrative

Has just been taken away.

In 1948,

The supreme court rules that the companies that make movies

Can no longer own the theatres, too.

Paramount and the others

Have to sell their theatre chains.

With their monopoly broken,

They lose the guaranteed audience

They've relied on.

For the first time in decades,

The studios have competition.

Announcer; this is nbc,

The national broadcasting company.

Narrator: Television, the new kid on the block,

Sees a golden opportunity.

As baby-boom families move to the suburbs,

Traveling to the movie theatre

Becomes harder and more expensive.

By the mid-'50s, half of americans have tv sets,

And movie audiences have shrunk in half

Since the war.

So the hollywood studios figure,

If you can't beat 'em, join em.

As television moves from news to entertainment,

Hollywood becomes its biggest producer.

Lucille ball: There you are.

Narrator: Actors like lucille ball

Dip a toe in the small screen.

"I love lucy"

Becomes the most popular television show in history,

With 40 million viewers a week.

Ball: You are, and I'm glad.

We've been at it since early this morning.

Narrator: Hollywood now looks

For new audiences for its movies.

To appeal to a growing population

Of teenagers with spending money,

It launches a new generation of actors,

Like marlon brando

And james dean.

Seen here on set filming "rebel without a cause" in 1955,

Dean is the ultimate rebel, both on and off screen.

♪

Always eager to maintain a squeaky-clean image,

Warner brothers enlists dean

To do a public service announcement.

Man: Now, wait a minute, jimmy.

One more question.

Do you have any special advice for the young people who drive?

Dean: Take it easy driving.

The life you might save might be mine.

Man: Ha ha ha! Ha!

Narrator: Weeks later,

He dies in a car crash at the age of 24.

Hollywood also markets its glamour

Beyond american shores.

Pin-up star and sex symbol marilyn monroe

Becomes its most famous export.

♪

On a trip to london in 1956,

The new queen of hollywood meets the new queen of England

At the premiere of "the battle of the river plate."

Marilyn monroe: ♪ happy birthday to... ♪

Narrator: She has a very different greeting

For america's royalty

At this 1962 fundraising gala for john f. Kennedy.

Monroe: ♪ happy birthday ♪

♪ mr. President ♪

♪ happy birthday ♪

♪ to you ♪

[applause]

Narrator: Hollywood is still creating

The most luminous stars in the world.

♪

But the competition for audiences never lets up,

So studios offer new, unique experiences.

September 1952.

Premiere night for "this is cinerama."

Stars like joan crawford,

Rock hudson,

And john wayne

Show up to see the film,

Which debuts a new widescreen technology.

A curved screen and three synchronized projectors

Puts audiences at the center of the action,

Like in this rollercoaster scene.

[screaming]

In 1953,

Marilyn monroe appears in "how to marry a millionaire,"

The first film shot in cinemascope

And shown on even wider panoramic screens.

Capitalizing on the success of this technology,

Hollywood studios reach for production values

That tv cannot match.

Building on previous landmark epics

Like "birth of a nation" and "gone with the wind,"

The studios' blockbusters are bigger and more expensive

Than ever before.

Cecille b. Demille's biblical epic

"the ten commandments"

Is shot on location in egypt.

1,600 craftsmen build the set,

And demille uses 12,000 extras.

It costs an unheard-of $13 million.

But it's worth the investment.

It nets almost ten times its production costs,

Just over $122 million,

Making it paramount's highest grossing movie

Ever released.

Its new york premiere is a star-studded affair--

The kind of glamorous spectacle

That's the signature of hollywood.

The dream factory's ability to constantly reinvent itself,

From silent to talkies,

From war to peace,

Ensures its survival.

The magic that is hollywood

Will dominate american culture

For as long as it draws a crowd.