Book Review: City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s by Otto Friedrich
The book’s title comes from a Bertolt Brecht opera, “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.” Brecht had not yet come to Hollywood at the time, but “like a net set for edible birds” is a plausible description of the town.
“City of Nets” has little original research in it, being more a collection of anecdotes combed from more specific books. It’s arranged by year, from 1939 to 1950, with stories flashing back and forward as people are introduced when their movies are important. I think the closest comparison I can make to a movie is “That’s Entertainment!” It skips from person to person, story to story, never really settling down and examining one story in detail.
Still, it’s interesting for seeing the larger picture of what the trends were in Hollywood year by year, and what was happening at the same time. The serious scholar will be more interested in the extensive bibliography and footnotes suggesting further lines of research. Since the book was written during the Reagan years, the postscript is dated, and most of the people mentioned (including Reagan) have passed on.
I picked up my copy very cheaply used; I recommend you do the same.
