Thomas Edison invented his motion picture system in New Jersey in the 1890s, and within a few years most American filmmakers could be found within a mile or two of the Hudson River. They planted themselves here because they needed the artistic and entrepreneurial energy that D. W. Griffith realized New York had in abundance. But as the going rate for land and labor skyrocketed and their business grew more industrialized, most of them moved out. The way most historians explain it, the role of New York in the development of American film ends here.

In Hollywood on the Hudson, Richard Koszarski rewrites an important part of the history of American cinema. During the 1920s and 1930s, film industry executives had centralized the mass production of feature pictures in a series of gigantic film factories scattered across Southern California, while maintaining New York as the economic and administrative center. But as Koszarski reveals, many writers, producers, and directors also continued to work here, especially if their independent vision was too big for the Hollywood production line.

East Coast filmmakers-Oscar Micheaux, Rudolph Valentino, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, Paul Robeson, Gloria Swanson, Max Fleischer, and others-quietly created a studio system without back-lots, long-term contracts or seasonal production slates. They substituted "newsreel photography" for Hollywood glamour, targeted niche audiences instead of middle-American families, ignored accepted dramatic conventions, and pushed the boundaries of motion picture censorship. Rebellious and unconventional, they saw the New York studios as laboratories, not factories-and used them to pioneer the development of new technologies (from talkies to television), new genres, new talent, and ultimately, an entirely new vision of commercial cinema.

"This is the definitive history of New York filmmaking in the first half of the twentieth century—and this is no small story or accomplishment."

"A perfect blend of Hollywood history, film analysis, and New York cultural history. Richard Koszarski is oneof the preemnient film historians of our time."

"Koszarski's book is both industrial saga and film-buff opium den: Not only does he include all aspects of film production in New York, but also television. The author also writes with such fire and detail about all these films that you quickly forget most of them are either lost, incomplete, or difficult to see at best"

"This huge, richly detailed revisionist history of the relationship between Hollywood and New York City from the turn of the 20th century until WWII is an enormously important, ceaselessly eye-opening work of Gotham-based cultural anthropology and archaeology. This book gives back to New York a continuous history of invention and creativity that, without Koszarski's Herculean labors, might have disappeared forever. Marvelous, invaluable, breathtaking film history."

"Meticulously researched and richly detailed, this superb book documents film and, later, television production in the New York City area during the first half of the twentieth century. Koszarski covers every imaginable aspect of moving-image production of the East Coast during this period. The depth of the research is astounding. Koszarski brings to life a period when much of television, and even theatrical films, were centered in Manhattan to take advantage of the proximity of Broadway. A remarkable accomplishment and an indispensable, accessible guide to the period. Essential."

"Koszarski offers a massive and intensely detailed study of New York-based filmmaking in the years between the world wars. Koszarski shows how New York-area filmmakers drew on a region chockablock with actors, directors, writers, artists, costumers, and other creative types."

"This is the definitive history of New York filmmaking in the first half of the twentieth century—and this is no small story or accomplishment."

"A perfect blend of Hollywood history, film analysis, and New York cultural history. Richard Koszarski is oneof the preemnient film historians of our time."

"Meticulously researched and richly detailed, this superb book documents film and, later, television production in the New York City area during the first half of the twentieth century. Koszarski covers every imaginable aspect of moving-image production of the East Coast during this period. The depth of the research is astounding. Koszarski brings to life a period when much of television, and even theatrical films, were centered in Manhattan to take advantage of the proximity of Broadway. A remarkable accomplishment and an indispensable, accessible guide to the period. Essential."

"Koszarski offers a massive and intensely detailed study of New York-based filmmaking in the years between the world wars. Koszarski shows how New York-area filmmakers drew on a region chockablock with actors, directors, writers, artists, costumers, and other creative types."

"This huge, richly detailed revisionist history of the relationship between Hollywood and New York City from the turn of the 20th century until WWII is an enormously important, ceaselessly eye-opening work of Gotham-based cultural anthropology and archaeology. This book gives back to New York a continuous history of invention and creativity that, without Koszarski's Herculean labors, might have disappeared forever. Marvelous, invaluable, breathtaking film history."

"Koszarski's book is both industrial saga and film-buff opium den: Not only does he include all aspects of film production in New York, but also television. The author also writes with such fire and detail about all these films that you quickly forget most of them are either lost, incomplete, or difficult to see at best"