Hollywood suggests glamour, a place where the young star-struck teenagers could, with a bit of luck, fulfill their dreams. Hollywood suggests luxurious houses with vast palm-fringed swimming pools. Cocktail bars and furnishings fit for a millionaire. And the big movie stars were millionaires. Many spent their fortunes on yachts, Rolls Royces and diamonds. A few of them lost their glamour quite suddenly and were left with nothing but emptiness and colossal debts.
    Movies were first made in Hollywood before World War Ⅰ. The constant sunshine and mild climate of southern California made it an ideal site for shooting motion pictures. Hollywood's fame and fortune reached its peak in the 1930s and 1940s, the golden days of the black and white movies. Most of the famous motion picture corporations of those days, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia and Warner Brothers are still very much in business and great stars like Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, Gary Cooper, and many others besides, have become immortal.
    In those days Hollywood was like a magnet, drawing ambitious young men and women fr
om all over the world. Most of them had only their good looks to recommend them and had no acting experience—or ability—whatsoever. Occasionally they got jobs, if they were lucky enough to be noticed. Gray Cooper was one of the few who was noticed. He started as a stunt rider, and from there rose to be one of the great stars of the early Westerns. Many of the girls got jobs in cafes or gas stations, and as they served their customers they tossed their heads and swung their hips, hoping to attract the attention of some important person connected with the movies. Most of them hoped in vain.
    As for the stars themselves, they were held on a tight rein by the studio chiefs who could make or break all but the stars with really big appeal. The stars were "persuaded" to sign seven-year contracts, during which time the studios built up their images. Under their contracts the stars did not have their right to choose their parts. Their studios decided everything.
    No country in the world has developed so expertly the skill of advertising as the Americans. They advertise everything, from ice cream to candidates for the Presidency. T
he Hollywood studios, by means of advertising, turned starlets into superstars. Many studio chiefs were tyrants, determined to get their own way at all costs, no matter how unscrupulous the means.
    Stars were often typecast and if he or she appealed to the public as a lover, then he or she always played the part of a lover. A star who was a hit as a cowboy or a bad guy, got the same kind of role again and again. There was little arguing, "you're the perfect dumb blond, baby, and that's how you're going to stay," they would say. They even tried to interfere in their stars' private lives: "No, sugar! You just can't marry Mel Billigan. He's too intellectual. He'd destroy your image." Only when they ceased to be stars did some of them discover that they were also good actors! Movie stars like Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and James Mason gave distinguished performances in character parts as well as leading roles.
glamour
    Hollywood is no longer the heart of the world's motion picture industry. Most movies today are filmed on location, that is to say, in the cities, in the countryside and in any part
of the world that the script demands. The Hollywood studios are still standing, but most of them have been leased to television networks. About 80% of all American TV entertainment comes from Hollywood.
    Yet Hollywood has not lost all its glamour. Movie stars still live there, or in neighboring Beverley Hills, and so do many of the famous and wealthy people who have made their homes in southern California. There is also the attractive Hollywood Bowl, The huge outdoor amphitheater where every summer since 1922 "Symphonies under the Stars" are played by America's best orchestras before packed audiences.
    Hollywood, above all, has the glamour of the past. It is a name which will always be associated with motion-picture making, and for many years to come the old Hollywood movies will be shown again and again in movie houses and television screens all over the world.
好莱坞
    好莱坞意味着魅力，是那些怀揣明星梦的少男少女们有点儿运气就能实现他们梦想的地方。好莱坞使人联想到棕榈树环绕的大游泳池的豪宅。鸡尾酒吧及其室内陈设是适合百万富翁的．而大腕电影明星们都是百万富翁。许多电影明星在游艇、劳斯莱斯豪华轿车和钻石饰品上一掷千金。但他们其中也不乏昙花一现者，只落得空虚失意和债台高筑。
    最初的电影是在一战前的好莱坞制成的。南加利福尼亚一年四季的阳光与温和宜人的气候，使好莱坞成为拍摄电影的理想场所。好莱坞的盛名与财富在20世纪三四十年代达到了顶峰，那时也正是黑白电影的黄金时代。当年就已出名的电影公司，如米高梅、哥伦比亚、华纳兄弟等今天仍然叱咤风云，还有如葛丽泰·嘉宝、玛莲·德烈奇、查理·卓别林、贾利·库珀和其他许多明星已永垂青史。
    那时候的好莱坞像块磁铁．吸引着世界各地满怀抱负的少男少女来到这里。他们当中的大多数唯一的资本便是漂亮的外表，并无任何表演经验或才能。如果他们足够幸运被人注意到了，那么偶尔也会有点事干了。贾利·库珀就是那几个被注意到的人之一。他开始的时候是做马术表演替身，此后一跃成为出演早期美国西部片的著名影星之一。许多在咖啡店和加油站工作的女孩为客人服务时搔首弄姿，期望以此引起某位影界要人的注意。但她们大多数的期望都是徒劳的。
    至于那些明星们则被制片商牢牢控制在手心里。这些制片商既可以造就也可以毁灭那些明星，除非他们是真正的大明星。明星们被“说服”去签订长达7年的合同，在此期间，由制片厂塑造他们的银幕形象。由于合同的约束，明星们无权选择自己的角，一切皆由制片厂决定。
    世界上没有国家像美国的广告技巧一样发展到了如此娴熟的地步。他们可以为任何东西做广告，从冰激凌到总统候选人。好莱坞的制片厂通过广告的方式，将小明星变成超级明星。许多制片商就是暴君．肆无忌惮，我行我素，不择手段。
    明星常常被定型，如果他们扮演的情人角受观众喜爱，他们就总是扮演情人。一个因扮演牛仔或坏蛋而走红的明星会多次扮演那种角。角的选定几乎不容争辩。“宝贝，你是个完美的花瓶，而且你将继续保持这一形象，”他们会这样说。他们甚至还干涉影星们的私人生活：“不行，甜心，你不能和梅尔·比利甘结婚。他太聪明博学了，会毁了你的形象的。”直到他们退出影坛之后，他们其中的一些人才发现自己也是一流的演员！像贝蒂·戴维斯、凯瑟琳·赫本、斯宾塞·屈塞和詹姆斯·梅森这些电影明星，除了担任主角外还成功地扮演了性格鲜明的其他角。

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