Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff

Koszarski, Richard. Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff. Rutgers Univ. 2008. 576p. photogs. index. FILM~ Koszarski examines the early years when U.S. motion-picture production thrived in the East, with numerous New York and New Jersey studios established in juxtaposition to California production. Koszarski assumes basic knowledge and a committed interest; his book is essential for film history collections in public and academic libraries. Background: Koszarski (An Evening's Entertainment) profiles mavericks like D.W. Griffith and studios like Paramount and Fox, describing their artistic credos and tracing their evolution, moves toward local consolidation (e.g., in Astoria, Queens), and decline. Readers will relish anecdotes of those years back East, with Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, and others engaged in alternative approaches to film, tweaking assumptions about method, story, and production. (A related film series with the same title at the Museum of Modern Art is screening examples of NYC filmmaking, 1920-39, from Sept. 17 through Oct. 19.)--Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal.