behold his mighty hand. hello? this is cecil b. de-mille in hollywood, california. the trouble with movies as a business is it s an art. and the trouble with movies as an art is it s a business. and it is. every one of us who makes films struggles with that. the system demands success. it rewards it, but punishes failure as well. annenberg media and: with additional funding from these foundations and individuals: and by: and the annual financial support of: hello, i m john lithgow. welcome to american cinema. during the golden age of hollywood, the film studios became incredibly powerful. they controlled production, distribution and exhibition. the mass production system that made ford motors a success worked for the film studios as well. a very efficient assembly line was built that enabled a studio to release a film a week. adventures, comedies, romances, westerns, gangsters, musicals. ford was famous for one model; the studios had many. but the genius of the system was
hello, i m john lithgow. welcome to american cinema. during the golden age of hollywood, the film studios became incredibly powerful. they controlled production, distribution and exhibition. the mass production system that made ford motors a success worked for the film studios as well. a very efficient assembly line was built that enabled a studio to release a film a week. adventures, comedies, romances, westerns, gangsters, musicals. ford was famous for one model; the studios had many. but the genius of the system was although they were factories, individual artists were still able to pursue their vision and create some of the best pictures ever made. take paramount pictures, for example. it was home to billy wilder, josef von sternberg, and ernest lubitsch, great artists who left their individual stamp on the films they made. the paramount story is a model of what happened in hollywood over the last 70 years. a corporate giant that suffered with the fall of the system, on
keep undercover. a trailer from the 1941 film, sergeant york starring gary cooper, joining us from new york is jim mulholland and retired colonel gerald york, who was your grandfather and what we need to know about him? he was a fantastic grandfather. but, he was a man from rural tennessee, grew up in the mountains, had the equivalent of a third grade education but ended up having a couple of life-changing experiences and ended up getting drafted along with 4 million other men at world war i. he ended up with the company in the 3/28 infantry in the 82nd all- american division. a trip to france and in the argonne forest is where the action where he s best known for , where he killed around 25 germans and he and his men captured 132 . we will take a look at the highlights of the film and learn more about him but what are your best memories of your grandfather you were 17 when he passed away . i was. one of the best memories is, i got in trouble with my father one time
i ain t going to war. war is killing, and the book is against killing. so war is against the book. and unto god the things that are god s. keep undercover. [explosions] come back here. where are you going? you didn t give me a command. steve: a trailer from the 1941 film sergeant york starring gary cooper. joining us from new york is filmmaker and historian john mulholland. and here in washington, retired colonel york. what do we need to know about your grandfather? col. york: first of all, he was a fantastic grandfather. but he was a man from rural tennessee, grew up in the mountains, had the equivalent of a third grade education, ended up having a couple of life-changing experiences, and ended up getting drafted along with over 4 million other men for world war i, and ended up with company g, the 328th infantry of the all-american division, shipped to france, and in the argonne forest is where the action he is best known for. that is where he killed around 2
[gunshots] he got me. i ain t going to war. war is killing, and the book is against killing. so war is against the book. and unto god the things that are god s. keep undercover. [explosions] come back here. where are you going? you didn t give me a command. steve: a trailer from the 1941 film sergeant york starring gary cooper. joining us from new york is filmmaker and historian john mulholland. and here in washington, retired colonel york. what do we need to know about your grandfather? col. york: first of all, he was a fantastic grandfather. but he was a man from rural tennessee, grew up in the mountains, had the equivalent of a third grade education, ended up having a couple of life-changing experiences, and ended up getting drafted along with over 4 million other men for world war i, and ended up with company g, the 328th infantry of the all-american division, shipped to france, and in the argonne forest is where the action he is best known for. that is