ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

luannjim I have nothing to add to all the appreciative comments here except to second them all: This is, hands down, the greatest documentary on Hollywood AND the second-greatest documentary series ever created for television -- second only to Ken Burns's THE CIVIL WAR, and that only because of the comparative triviality of the subject. What Kevin Brownlow and David Gill have done is nothing less than a noble service to posterity. (How I would love to see the uncut versions of ALL the interviews used in this series; I understand they're on deposit at the British Film Institute.) A note to all those who plead for the series to be released on DVD: I join you in those sentiments, and so does Kevin Brownlow. Unfortunately, as he said in an interview a few years ago, any DVD release is being stymied by the monumental task of getting clearance for the hundreds of film clips used in the series; evidently some of the rights-holders are being quite obstinate about it. A shame.

matthat To add further to the praise that this series has received I would just say that this is my favourite documentary/historical series of all time. I first saw it on British TV in 1981 and it was subsequently aired a few years later on Satellite TV (to my knowledge the last broadcasting).Although in this age silent films are perhaps easier to get hold of, in the eighties the genre was somewhat mysterious and rarely sighted. This all changed when Brownlow and Gill produced this sympathetic and fascinating appraisal including rare and insightful interviews sadly just in time with a host of stars who had been largely forgotten - i.e Louise Brooks, Janet Gaynor, Jackie Coogan, Anita Loos had sadly passed on within 4 years of the series release to name a few. Truly made in the nick of time.Regarding DVD availability it was due to be released by Fremantle Studio in the early summer of 2006 and is available to order from store4dvd.co.uk and play.com although 10 months later it's release is still to be confirmed..........I fear the worst.

pmullinsj Until I found this page, I had thought the very first episode was all there was--I watched very little television in 1980 and had never even heard of the series. I just checked this VHS out of the NYPL and watched it just now--but I will search out all the other episodes.This one is the one I would want to make a few comments on. As a real aficionado of Los Angeles and its history--which is not entirely composed of its bond with Hollywood, but most aspects of it are somewhat suffused with it even now, even when Los Angeles has long had a reputation as a volatile place--there were things I saw and, perhaps even more, heard, that I had never seen and heard before; and I have done a LOT of research and made a lot of journeys to and within Hollywood and Los Angeles.In this first hour of the series (I assume it must be, because it is called "In the Beginning") I was able to see the incredible photographs and footage of geographical Hollywood when it was still rural. I had seen only a few in a D.W. Griffith volume (which I recommend: It has excellent commentary by the great film historian Aileen Bowser), and one--a battle scene from 'Birth of a Nation' filmed right down in the Hollywood Flats--I xeroxed in 1998 and framed and placed it on my living room wall. These pictures of earliest Hollywood are breathtaking to me; they show the fragility of a bucolic and special land just before it is rendered unrecognizable--and there may never have been a more violently rapid transformation of an environment. Of course, there are houses from the silent era that can still be seen in the Hollywood Hills and in Beverly Hills (but Pickfair can't be; a few years after this production, Pia Zadora had it razed--an astonishing act, it would seem), but the photos from about 1903 till about 1920 are almost all of landscape that has disappeared: I was even vaguely surprised that when the transformation from 1903 to the present is dramatically shown, that the Hollywood Hills in the background still had their general shape--at least the far-off taller one did; I think one closer to the foreground had been leveled.And, especially in Agnes de Mille's inspired description of the "virility" of the grass in Los Angeles at that time "that was so exciting," of the "lupine, marigolds, the poppies.." that were "just growing wild" and that "we just gathered by the armload.." this is just so moving. In fact, Miss de Mille's love for the place itself is perhaps the strongest of those who speak of their memories; she also describes wonderfully a moment when she and her mother were stuck at a location shooting and all the actors changed their clothes without a thought, her mother telling her not to look, but instead to "think of God." What a glorious lady she was, as was Lillian Gish, one of the greatest actresses of the period , primarily for her work in the great works of Griffith, and who also offers fine commentary here.There is wonderful footage of 'Intolerance', of Douglas Fairbanks's sets for 'Robin Hood' and 'The Thief of Baghdad' (which ends with the remarkable words "Happiness Must Be Earned" streaked across the movie sky). There is a wonderful history of Pickfair and the fantastic reception given Fairbanks and Pickford in Europe and even in Moscow.I can't wait to see the rest of this glory of a documentary, but this one alone captures the spirit of camaraderie and fun and experimentation that preceded many of the harsher elements we now associate with the business of Hollywood. James Mason narrates and his voice is appreciated, as always. Carl Davis, who has written so much glamour-sounding music for movies and TV, as for THE RAINBOW by Ken Russell, does the same for this superlative production, and the "Englishness" of the music is not at all obtrusive.

hoadly It is many years since this wonderful series was shown on television here in the UK. I saw it when it was first broadcast, and again when it was rebroadcast some years later. It is a truly classic study of the silent era packed with fascinating interviews with the people who made the films, along with illustrative clips, lovingly restored and accompanied by the brilliant music of Carl Davis. Since most of the participants in this documentary series are no longer with us, it remains a unique opportunity to learn about the development of American film in Hollywood from its earliest days up until the coming of sound from those who were actually there. I feel strongly that this series should be made available on DVD so that others may have an opportunity to view this truly magnificent monument to the silent film in Hollywood. Kevin Brownlow's later series "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood" is happily available - and I really do hope that "Hollywood" will also be released on DVD at the earliest opportunity.