Talking Pictures (1988)

Film veteran Barry Norman wrote and presented the ten part history of Hollywood: from the coming of sound in the 1920s, where The Jazz Singer caused chaos, to the state of contemporary film underscored by interviews with the likes of Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg. Having grown up in the midst of the film industry, Barry was able to lend rare insight to the shaping of modern film. Viewers were taken through the Depression years, the portrayal of sex and romance on screen and the subsequent issue of censorship, wars, westerns and gangsters; right up to the birth of blockbusters and contemporary cinema. Each part features film clips and lots of anecdotes from actors, actresses, directors, producers, sound men and screenwriters.