How can the history of Hollywood be viewed as narrative, corporate and cultural system? Covers the rise of continuity and stars, consolidation of the mode of production, including genres, and vertical integration of the major studios through 1950. This period also sees such politically sensitive movements as film noir, postwar melodrama, and the Red Scare. At the same time, the studios had to sell off their theatres and confront television. Independent production and corporate conglomeration changed the structure, but not the ultimate function of Hollywood entertainment. Concludes with discussion of recent scholarship on "New Hollywood," including new technologies and globalisation.