Moguls & Movie Stars is Director Jon Wilkman's documentary on the history of Hollywood beginning with its early origins in the late 1880's up until the 1960's. Although the rise of motion picture technology and the business are both front and center, including interviews with relatives of early moguls such as Louis B. Mayer, the Warner Brothers and Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Wilkman also takes care to show the industry's place in the great fabric of American pop culture as well as its impact on the world (and the world's impact on it). Major events, like WWII and the Great Depression are major areas of exploration.
Wilkman's film is meant for both academic film historians (one or two episodes have actually worked their way into classes where I teach) but also movie fans that are simply curious about how the industry got its start and how it grew into what it is today. It's really neat to hear the stories of a bunch of young entrepreneurs, many of who were immigrants, who decided the American Dream was achievable and decided to take a risk on something that was seen as a somewhat useless technology in the early days of the medium. In a sense, Moguls & Movie Stars is just as much about the history of the technology business as it is Hollywood.
To bridge the gap between the two viewerships, Wilkman brings in several film historians to discuss the "academic" side of the story. The film also features vintage interviews, movies and photos of early actors and businessmen, as well as several clips of memorable movies. I was really happy to see the pre-history of technology, such as magic lantern shows, presented and given its due. There's also a collection of early film experiments, which really help illustrate how the technology grew. These are joined with the more "human" stories, which are presented through interviews with family members, who offer their personal experiences of growing up alongside the business and those who made it happen.
The seven-episode series is accompanied by a series of Panel Discussions with Robert Osborne, one of the TMC hosts, and several filmmakers. Each panel originally aired in conjunction with that week's episode, so if you decide to give them a watch, it is probably best to watch them alongside the episode. Not that the info isn't memorable, but considering the documentary crams nearly ninety years of history into roughly 419 minutes, there's a lot to take in and remember. The series also comes with a full-color mini-companion book that is fun to flip through.
My only complaint about the series as a whole is where it stops. The 1960s was a big time, and the stoppage is a logical break. At the same time, in my view it's also where the business started to get really interesting. But, who knows, maybe a Moguls & Movie Stars 2 is in the works.
Moguls & Movie Stars is an all-around fascinating look at Hollywood and is a must-watch for both academics and movie fans.
