Movies and Money (Vintage) Book

Ex-Columbia Pictures chief David Puttnam was knighted for making the world safe for British film with hits like Chariots of Fire and The Killing Fields. If any other ex-studio chief wrote a book called Movies and Money, it would be essentially similar to Roger Corman's How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. But Puttnam's book grew from his Oxford lectures--it's a scholarly history of the struggle for cultural supremacy between the film establishments of Hollywood and Europe. L.A. won the battle from the first shot. Despite massive totalitarian-government support, Russians shunned the masterpiece The Battleship Potemkin in favor of Douglas Fairbanks's Robin Hood. Today, 80 to 90 percent of Europe's filmgoers go to U.S. films, and Hollywood's influence is everywhere. Warner Bros. offered Puttnam extra money to reshoot Local Hero with a happy ending that would have destroyed its pro-pastoral, anticommercial message. He refused--but he admits it would've earned $20 million more with the Hollywood ending. The Crying Game was a flop in England, then a U.S. smash, thanks to superior Yank marketing. Four Weddings and a Funeral was made in England, cannily released Stateside, then repatriated as "America's No. 1 Smash Hit!" Puttnam yearns to see European film get on its feet and fight back with hits of its own, supported with more savvy marketing. He's not just a film professional and historian. He's a local hero. --Tim AppeloRead More