This beautifully nostalgic and wonderfully insightful volume examines Tinseltown’s 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 as an action-packed thriller, it is by far the foreign city that appears most frequently in Hollywood movies. In Paris by Hollywood, eminent film commentators uncover Hollywood’s 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 Hepburn’s Parisian persona; Disney’s and Woody Allen’s personifications of Paris; 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 Hollywood’s desire to paint a picture of European exoticism. Interviews with eminent figures including Martin Scorsese, Julie Delpy, and Leslie Caron provide intimate insider’s perspective. Insightful analysis explores the reasons why Hollywood invests so much in depicting the French capital—an often mutually beneficial economic and cultural relationship. Covering more than 100 years of moviemaking, Paris by Hollywood is the perfect companion for lovers of American cinema and those captivated by the magic of the French capital.
