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The Man who Invented Hollywood: The Autobiography of D.W. Griffith
I have called William Wadsworth Hodkinson, "the Man Who Invented Hollywood" knowing that a more correct title would be - the Man Who Invented the Business of Hollywood. Remembered today as the founder of Paramount Pictures, W. W. Hodkinson's accomplishments would place him among those individuals who have had the deepest influence on the development of the movie industry. Practically single-handedly, W. W. Hodkinson changed the way movies were produced, distributed, and exhibited. His reforms during the early days of the film industry provided the prototype for all major Hollywood studios.
170 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
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April 28, 2025
(housekeeping: despite the goodreads blurb, this book has nothing to do with William Wadsworth Hodkinson. It is, as stated, The Autobiography of D.W. Griffith.)
Sometime in 1939 or so, Griffith signed a contract to write a (ghostwritten) autobiography with a journalist named James Hart. To that end hours of interviews took place and a book was begun which covered boyhood, struggles as an aspiring actor, the time at the Biograph studios where he not only learned his craft but invented a lot of it and finally after dozens of movies made in 3 or so days each, the unexpected triumph of Birth of a Nation.
Griffith speaks of his love for his civil war hero father and of his lifelong stuggles with the wolf of poverty. And his difficulties financing his celluoid vision. Although a founding member of United Artists, by the beginning of the talkies he had become the forgotten man of Hollywood. Indeed, this project was shelved for some 30 years and Hart finally published it in 1972 (Griffith had died in 1948). Over half of the book is devoted to stills and commentary on the movies (albeit using notes from Griffith.)
Birth Of A Naton. Intolerence. Broken Blossoms.
All works of genius and still eminently viewable today
This book is a nice background and coda to all that.
Sometime in 1939 or so, Griffith signed a contract to write a (ghostwritten) autobiography with a journalist named James Hart. To that end hours of interviews took place and a book was begun which covered boyhood, struggles as an aspiring actor, the time at the Biograph studios where he not only learned his craft but invented a lot of it and finally after dozens of movies made in 3 or so days each, the unexpected triumph of Birth of a Nation.
Griffith speaks of his love for his civil war hero father and of his lifelong stuggles with the wolf of poverty. And his difficulties financing his celluoid vision. Although a founding member of United Artists, by the beginning of the talkies he had become the forgotten man of Hollywood. Indeed, this project was shelved for some 30 years and Hart finally published it in 1972 (Griffith had died in 1948). Over half of the book is devoted to stills and commentary on the movies (albeit using notes from Griffith.)
Birth Of A Naton. Intolerence. Broken Blossoms.
All works of genius and still eminently viewable today
This book is a nice background and coda to all that.
Displaying 1 of 1 review