A Filmarian Series
The History of Hollywood
From a nickel peep-show in 1894 to the streaming wars of today — how the movies were invented, industrialized, monopolized, and reinvented, told in eleven chapters. Along the way, the studios that rose and fell inside each era.
Eleven chapters · 1894 – present · a complete history
This is the industry’s story. For the art’s, read The Movements That Changed Cinema.
Chapter 01 · 1894–1913
The Move West: How Hollywood Was Born
Between a nickel peep-show and a dusty California suburb, an entire art form was invented, industrialized, monopolized, and set free.
Studios of the eraEdison's TrustBiographVitagraphEssanaySelig PolyscopeKalem
Read this chapterChapter 02 · 1913–1927
The Silent Era and the First Movie Stars
A nickel novelty became an art form: the feature film arrived, the movie star was invented, and cinema learned to tell sweeping stories without a single spoken word.
Studios of the eraKeystoneTriangleMutualMetro PicturesFamous Players–LaskyFirst National
Read this chapterChapter 03 · 1927–1934
The Talkies and the Rise of the Studio System
A single Al Jolson number turned Hollywood upside down. Within seven years, sound had ended careers overnight and five studios had built the most powerful movie machine the world had yet seen.
Studios of the eraMetro-Goldwyn-MayerTiffanyEducational Pictures
Read this chapterChapter 04 · 1930–1934
Pre-Code Hollywood: The Four Years American Movies Ran Wild
Between the arrival of sound and the iron grip of the Production Code, Depression-era Hollywood flirted, killed, and cracked wise with a frankness it would not recover for a generation.
Studios of the eraWarner Bros.ParamountThe Hays Office
Read this chapterChapter 05 · 1934–1945
The Golden Age: The Dream Factory at Its Peak
The studio system ran like a factory of dreams — perfecting genres, minting stars, and crowning 1939 as the greatest year cinema has ever known — all at a human cost hidden behind the glamour.
Studios of the eraRKO Radio PicturesRepublicMonogramSelznick InternationalHal RoachPRC
Read this chapterChapter 06 · 1945–1955
Film Noir and the Postwar Shadow
Hollywood turned off the lights. Out of low budgets, émigré shadows, and postwar dread came film noir — the darkest, most honest reflection the American Dream ever cast.
Studios of the eraEagle-LionInternational PicturesEnterprise Productions
Read this chapterChapter 07 · 1947–1954
The Fall of the Studios: HUAC, the Blacklist, and the Paramount Decree
Two blows — an antitrust ruling and a political witch hunt — cracked the foundations of a factory that had looked invincible only a year before.
Studios of the eraThe Big FiveThe Hollywood Ten
Read this chapterChapter 08 · 1950–1962
Widescreen vs. Television: Hollywood Fights for Its Life
A glowing box in the living room emptied America's movie palaces. Hollywood answered with everything the small screen couldn't do — and dismantled its own factory in the process.
Studios of the eraAllied ArtistsAmerican InternationalCinerama
Read this chapterChapter 09 · 1967–1980
New Hollywood: The Auteur Renaissance
A generation raised on European cinema and film school seized control of the American movie — and made the most director-driven decade the medium has ever known.
Studios of the eraAmerican InternationalNew WorldCinema CenterNational GeneralFilmways
Read this chapterChapter 10 · 1975–1999
Jaws, Star Wars and the Birth of the Blockbuster
In the summers of 1975 and 1977, two young directors rewired Hollywood's business model, turning the single film into the franchise that still runs the industry.
Studios of the eraOrionCannonCarolcoEmbassyHemdaleVestronPolyGramHandMade
Read this chapterChapter 11 · 2000–today
The Digital and Streaming Age: When the Movies Left the Building
From the death of celluloid to the rise of Marvel and the streaming wars, the years since 2000 dissolved nearly every certainty about what a movie is and where you watch it.
Studios of the eraArtisanFranchise PicturesWarner IndependentRelativity Media
Read this chapter