Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking

Movie fans and film historians will celebrate the treasure trove of rare notes, memos, and telegrams from Hollywood’s Golden Age in Letters from Hollywood.

“Compiled by producer Rocky Lang and film historian Barbara Hall, [this book] features five decades of correspondence from the likes of Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Jane Fonda, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Tom Hanks, Bela Lugosi and Frank Sinatra.” —Los Angeles Times

Here, reproduced in full color, are scores of entertaining and insightful pieces of correspondence from some of the most notable and talented film industry names of all time—from the silent era to the golden age and up through the pre-email days of the 1970s. Through intimate messages exchanged between colleagues, friends, lovers, and rivals, larger-than-life movie giants come alive here.

Culled from libraries, archives, and personal collections, the 135 letters, memos, and telegrams are organized chronologically and annotated by the authors to provide backstories and further context. While each piece reveals a specific moment in time, taken together, the letters convey a bigger picture of Hollywood history.

Contributors include celebrities like Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Elia Kazan, Francis Ford Coppola, among many more, Hollywood’s great stars are revealed here in a way you have never seen them before. Together, the correspondence offers a fascinating history of bygone, though definitely not forgotten, eras of American moviemaking.