This book is a record of the movie industry's greatest achievement, portrayed through facts, figures, charts, diagrams, and numerous photos, many in color. Part 1 explores the American movie industry as a whole, from the silent era to the 1980s. Tracing the development of Hollywood as the center of movie-making and the progress of movie theaters from nickelodeons to drive-ins and multiplexes, chapters cover every facet of the industry's growth, including the finances; the transition from silents to sound and the development of color; experiments with wide-screen processes; the producers, directors and stars; and the many other craftsmen and technicians behind all the major hits -- and the most expensive flops -- to come out of the studio era. Part 2 continues with in-depth portraits of each of the eight leading studios. Much of the information has never been published in collated form before; here it is used to tell the story of Hollywood through charts exploring every aspect of the relationship between finance and creativity that forms the basis of the industry's output. Part 3 contains more detailed statistics in simple, tabular form, together with a comprehensive index.