Having heard little discussion on blogs about TCM’s original documentary series in December, “Moguls and Movie Stars”, I wondered if others were, like me, still working my way through the episodes I recorded because I didn’t have the time to watch them when they were broadcast.
I thought the series very well done, and the early decades especially were enlightening for much information I hadn’t known, particularly about the influence of female directors and writers. Does anybody else have any comments or opinions about the “Moguls and Movie Stars” series?
4 comments:
I enjoyed it very much. Would have liked them to spend more time on the stars of the 30s and 40s, the so-called "Golden Age." But overall, very good viewing.
"Moguls and Movie Stars" had its moments, and was a good overview of the growth of the industry from that perspective. However, it's been compared to Brownlow and Gill's "Hollywood," which covered a relatively small segment of that story (the silent era) and did it in a far more thorough manner -- but it had many more hours to tell its story. In that vein, "Moguls & Movie Stars" came up short (only seven hours in all; I presume TCM was a bit reluctant to make it longer and take further time from its primary function, showing vintage movies).
I am hoping that TCM will have plenty of extra footage in the DVD version when it is issued. (Unlike "Hollywood," rights issues for the DVD format were likely part of the negotiating process.)
I was most fascinated with the earlier episodes of the program. As the series went on the information was more a rehash of things fairly well-known to film buffs.
If I must quibble (and I must), I deplored the lack of credit given to Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy whenever the topic of silent comics came up. I think of Stan as a genius definitely on a level with Keaton, Chaplin and Lloyd, and here was a missed opportunity to give him his due.
I've enjoyed these comments, you've all made excellent points. I agree with you, Caftan Woman, about the lack of credit to Laurel & Hardy, but it seems to me it's not just this doco; they don't seem to be given as much play as they deserve generally, (though last week TCM did show a marathon of their short films).
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