Best Documentaries About Hollywood
Filmmakers have been puncturing the myths — and celebrating the legacies — of Hollywood’s Dream Factory for decades. Documentarians have chronicled the history of the studio system, the stories of industry trailblazers, and reflections on the art of creating with shadows and light.
Here are noteworthy documentaries that reveal essential truths about Hollywood.
This affectionate yet poignant look at a true Hollywood eccentric traces Hal Ashby’s unlikely showbiz career, first as an editor (In the Heat of the Night) and then a director.
In the 1970s, he directed seven distinctive movies that helped define the era, including Harold and Maude, Shampoo, Coming Home, and Being There.
Ashby’s career faded, and it ended with a weak movie, and untimely death, but he’s far from being forgotten, as this documentary amply shows.
