The Genius of the System

Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era

By: Thomas Schatz, Steven Bach - preface

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

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. This book lays to rest the persistent myth that businesspeople and producers stifle artistic talent and reveals instead the genius of a system of collaboration and conflict. 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.

©1988 Thomas Schatz; Preface copyright 1996 by Steven Bach (P)2021 Tantor

A fascinating and extensive look at Old Hollywood

I really enjoyed this book. There was so much interesting information about different movies over the years from about 1920-1960.

I especially like how they explained how some movies were developed, marketed and how they performed at the box office.

Since reading this, I watched a few classics and have been enjoying them very much.

Couldn’t Stop Listening

I wish this book went on for hours more! It was so interesting and informative.

Great pacing and wonderful enunciation!

I really enjoyed this listen and will likely listen again. Thank you! The comprehensive detail and even inclusion of daily production logs was most instructive!

This is the best business book disguised as the best film history book.

Many books glorify the creative side of filmmaking. This one gives the distribution side of Hollywood its due.

This is an excellent history of the Hollywood studio system.

I liked most of the detail, although sometimes the number of statistics was a bit much for the non-professional. The narrator was very listenable. However, I wish this narrator and all narrators would consult Google if they don’t know how to pronounce a name. Being very old, I am accustomed to how a name should be pronounced. In particular the names Stanley Donen and HUAC were butchered over and over again. Oh well…