Talking Pictures is Barry Norman's witty, informative and
hugely enjoyable portrait of Hollywood movie. Starting with the premiere of The
Jazz Singer on 6 October 1927, the film that revolutionised the industry by
including the screen's first spoken words, Talking Pictures follows the
major events, trends, personalities and films that have played a part in the
story of Hollywood.
Barry Norman, with his distinctive style and humour, examines
a wide range of aspects, including the studio system with its one-time
tyrannical hold over the stars, the impact of the Second World War and the
strange and terrifying postwar era of the House Un-American Activities
Committee. He discusses the depiction of sex in the movies plus the parallel
story of censorship and the development of the western ('America's most
significant contribution to the cinema') as well as the B movie and the crime
movie. He also looks at Hollywood today and the implications of the industry's
frenetic wooing of youthful audiences.
Lavishly illustrated in colour and black and white, Talking
Pictures, though based on the major BBC1 Television series, extends beyond
the range of the ten programmes. As with Barry Norman's previously highly
successful books on Hollywood stars - The Hollywood Greats, The Movie Greats and
The Film Greats - it will delight, inform and entertain anyone who is
intrigued by the magic of Hollywood.
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