This Was Hollywood: Forgotten Stars and Stories
Turner Classic Movies
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Narrated by:
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Carla Valderrama
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By:
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Carla Valderrama
About this listen
In this one-of-a-kind Hollywood history, the creator of Instagram's celebrated @ThisWasHollywood reveals the forgotten past of the film world in a dazzling visual package modeled on the classic fan magazines of yesteryear.
From former screen legends who have faded into obscurity to new revelations about the biggest movie stars, Valderrama unearths the most fascinating little-known tales from the birth of Hollywood through its Golden Age.
The shocking fate of the world's first movie star. Clark Gable's secret love child. The film that nearly ended Paul Newman's career. A former child star who, at 93, reveals her #metoo story for the first time. Valderrama unfolds these stories, and many more, in a volume that is by turns riveting, maddening, hilarious, and shocking.
Drawing on new interviews, archival research, and an exhaustive library of photographs, This Was Hollywood is a compelling and visually stunning catalogue of the lost history of the movies.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Carla Valderrama (P)2020 Running Press AdultListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Carla Valderrama genuinely loves Hollywood history, as you can tell from every page of this book. Her enthusiasm is matched only by her determination to back up her stories with good, old-fashioned research. I learned a lot from This Was Hollywood and you will, too." (Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian)
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
At a time when the studio is making a stunning comeback, film historian Thomas Schatz provides an indispensable account of Hollywood's traditional blend of business and art. Working from industry documents, Schatz traces the development of house styles, the rise and fall of careers, and the making - and unmaking - of movies, from Frankenstein to Spellbound to Grand Hotel. The Genius of the System gives the definitive view of the workings of the Old Hollywood and the foundations of the New.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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- Narrated by: Foster Hirsch
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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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 snatcher: the “small screen” television.
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Great book full of fascinatinghistory
- By Judy Gunnery on 10-17-24
By: Foster Hirsch
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Scandals of Classic Hollywood
- Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema
- By: Anne Helen Peterson
- Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Believe it or not, America's fascination with celebrity culture was thriving well before the days of TMZ, Perez Hilton, Charlie Sheen's breakdown, and allegations against Woody Allen. And the stars of yesteryear? They weren't always the saints that we make them out to be. Part biography, part cultural history, the stories contained in this book cover the stuff that films are made of: love, sex, drugs, illegitimate children, illicit affairs, and botched cover-ups.
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Riveting journey
- By Jennifer on 10-07-14
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20th Century-Fox
- Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio
- By: Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: Suehyla El-Attar
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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March 20, 2019 marked the end of an era - Disney took ownership of the movie empire that was Fox. For almost a century before that historic date, Twentieth Century-Fox was one of the preeminent producers of films, stars, and filmmakers. Its unique identity in the industry and place in movie history is unparalleled - and one of the greatest stories to come out of Hollywood.
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Our media world is unlike anything we’ve ever known
- By Amy Evans on 12-04-21
By: Scott Eyman
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The Hollywood Studios
- House Style in the Golden Age of the Movies
- By: Ethan Mordden
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Hollywood in the years between 1929 and 1948 was a town of moviemaking empires. The great studios were estates of talent: sprawling, dense, diverse. It was the Golden Age of the Movies, and each studio made its distinctive contribution. But how did the studios, "growing up" in the same time and place, develop so differently? What combinations of talents and temperaments gave them their signature styles?
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The reader falls quite short of the book
- By Eleanor on 07-20-09
By: Ethan Mordden
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City of Nets
- A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940's
- By: Otto Friedrich, Glen David Gold - foreword
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 25 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1939, 50 million Americans went to the movies every week, Louis B. Mayer was the highest-paid man in the country, and Hollywood produced 530 feature films a year. One decade and five thousand movies later, the studios were faltering....
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Disjointed and flawed
- By A. N. Onymous on 01-18-22
By: Otto Friedrich, and others
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Hollywood Black
- The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers
- By: Donald Bogle, John Singleton - foreword, Turner Classic Movies
- Narrated by: Donald Bogle
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The films, the stars, the filmmakers - all get their due in Hollywood Black, a sweeping overview of Blacks in film from the silent era through Black Panther, with striking photos and an engrossing history by award-winning author Donald Bogle.
By: Donald Bogle, and others
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I Loved Her in the Movies
- Memories of Hollywood's Legendary Actresses
- By: Robert Wagner
- Narrated by: Robert Wagner
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In a career that has spanned more than 60 years, Robert Wagner has witnessed the twilight of the Golden Age of Hollywood and the rise of television, becoming a beloved star in both media. During that time he became acquainted, both professionally and socially, with the remarkable women who were the greatest screen personalities of their day. I Loved Her in the Movies is his intimate and revealing account of the charisma of these women on film, why they became stars, and more.
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Outstanding!
- By Ernie D. Casciato on 12-02-16
By: Robert Wagner
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Making Movies
- By: Sidney Lumet
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the greatest directors of all time, Sidney Lumet has made movies that have been nominated for more than 50 Academy Awards. Making Movies is an honest and unflinching look at the business and craft of movie making. Lumet's book reveals the ingredients for the potion that brings movie magic to life and assures one thing: you will never look at movies the same way again.
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Clearly a genius but material dates
- By M. Rogers on 08-31-19
By: Sidney Lumet
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Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
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In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
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Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
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From the Moment They Met It Was Murder
- Double Indemnity and the Rise of Film Noir
- By: Alain Silver, James Ursini
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The behind-the-scenes story of the quintessential film noir and cult classic, Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity—its true crime origins and crucial impact on film history—is told for the first time in this riveting narrative published for the film's 80th anniversary. Authors Alain Silver and James Ursini tell the complete history of Double Indemnity in their latest and most provocative work on film noir: From the Moment They Met It Was Murder.
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Great history, INCREDIBLY annoying affection
- By WriteStuff on 10-23-24
By: Alain Silver, and others
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Hank and Jim
- The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart
- By: Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Henry Fonda and James Stewart were two of the biggest stars in Hollywood for 40 years. They became friends and then roommates as stage actors in New York, and when they began making films in Hollywood, they roomed together again. Between them they made such memorable films as The Grapes of Wrath, Mister Roberts, Twelve Angry Men, and On Golden Pond; and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Destry Rides Again, The Philadelphia Story, It's a Wonderful Life, Vertigo, and Rear Window.
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Fascinating look into these two actors' lives
- By MPAMIN on 06-25-18
By: Scott Eyman
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The Woman Before Wallis
- A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal
- By: Bryn Turnbull
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1925, Thelma Morgan arrives at the Paris Ritz still stinging from the heartache and humiliation of her failed marriage. Her twin sister, Gloria, newly and blissfully wedded to Reginald Vanderbilt and with a baby in tow, has invited her to spend the summer - and though romance is the last thing on Thelma’s mind, she can’t deny that Reggie’s friend Duke Furness is as charming and dapper as he is keen to win her affection.
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Beautifully Written
- By Amazon Customer on 11-29-20
By: Bryn Turnbull
What listeners say about This Was Hollywood: Forgotten Stars and Stories
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jonathan I. Rosenblatt
- 05-28-21
Great story, unworthy narration
Fascinating, compelling stories. Valderrama appears to be able to do research. The writing style could be more polished, less self consciously dramatic, but it is serviceable. But please Ms V, spring for a narrator who doesn’t sound like a Brownie Scout reading for the Thanksgiving cantata. And check on the correct pronunciation of possessive proper nouns ending in a sibilant.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Maria L.
- 04-27-21
This was a very interesting book!
This book was exciting and well written. Honestly, I didn't think I would like it. I was wrong!
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- Carla
- 05-02-21
Bad reader. Some tasty tidbits, sad ends.
Reader sounds like she’s reading high school graduation speech . Turning every “n’t” into a double D.
I Was hoping there would be more familiar supporting actors covered. there are some but there is a lot about near-misses and their grim descents afterward. .
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- StevenC
- 06-13-21
Enjoyed this book
Interesting stories from an earlier Hollywood and a good narrator.
If you like a bit of history give a listen.
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- ANG Girl
- 03-28-22
Great story, narrator can’t pronounce names
Enjoy the story, and all in all I give it five stars for the story, and the narrator is bright and chipper, but her inability to read names correctly leaves something to be laughed at. Can’t believe editors didn’t catch the multiple odd name pronunciations.
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- Patricia
- 07-06-23
Fascinating read about
I enjoyed this in it's entirety. well written and the details of each short story held my attention completely. Im not particularly sensitive to mispronouncing...but the reader substitutes "D" for "T". padent (patent) liddle (little) and it takes a little time to overlook it and not focus on it.
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- Mary Barletta
- 12-29-20
Great!!!
Great book for anyone interested in old Hollywood.The author did a great job reading it
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7 people found this helpful
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- Timothy A Beighley
- 04-26-21
Loved the content but...
Loved the inside stories. Very interesting and informative. That said I wish a little more attention had been paid to the pronunciation/enunciation of words, particularly those with a T in them. Books are “written” not “wridden.” A “patent” can be issued but I’m not sure a “padent” can. I appreciate the hard job it must be to read a book out loud for the rest of us to enjoy. That said, if issues like this bother you be forewarned before you purchase this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Packrat
- 08-07-21
Wonderful
I look forward to more This was Hollywood. I’m not a movie buff but found the content on known and unknown Hollywood people ver interesting. A previous reviewer said narration interfered. I did not find it to be a problem.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ray928
- 06-20-21
Very Interesting
I really liked this book. Perhaps one reason I like it is because I am 78 years old and I can remember seeing a lot of the stars and things she talks about in movies I saw when I was young. Us old folks tend to like things that are nostalgic. The content is very good/interesting and she did a good job of narrating it. Good job Carla.
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