Paris by Hollywood

This comprehensive volume examines Tinseltowns fascination with the City of Light, from silent movies through to modern blockbusters. Romantic, elegant, and enticing, Paris has fascinated American filmmakers for over a century. As habile in accommodating a romantic comedy or mystery as it is in hosting an action-packed thriller, it is by far the foreign city that appears most frequently in Hollywood movies. In Paris by Hollywood, essays by eminent film experts and commentators uncover Hollywoods role in the cultivation of now timeless Parisian clichés, examining seminal films such as An American in Paris, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Sabrina. Chapters on Audrey Hepburns Parisian persona; Disneys and Woody Allens personifications of Paris; Hollywoods depictions of the French Revolution; and the American fascination with the enigmatic, glamorous Parisienne explore a cultural relationship that owes as much to the allure of Paris itself as to Hollywoods desire to paint a picture of European exoticism. Interviews with eminent filmmakers and actors including Martin Scorsese, Julie Delpy, and Leslie Caron bring us behind the scenes and provide intimate insiders perspective. Insightful analysis explores the reasons why Hollywood has invested and continues to invest so much in depicting the French capital; an often mutually-beneficial economic and cultural relationship. Covering over 100 years of movie-making, from silent films to the animated world of Disney, via Cancan films and action-packed blockbusters, Paris by Hollywood is the perfect companion for lovers of American cinema and those captivated by the magic of the French capital.