I get asked about the 1980 HOLLYWOOD miniseries quite a bit so here's the final breakdown:

The way it presents silent films (respectfully, beautifully scored, nice prints) is beyond reproach and a much-needed correction after years of scratchy prints and heckling.

BUT

It was made in 1980. It's 40 years old. We've learned a lot since then (much inspired by that miniseries) and not all the information presented is accurate according to our current understanding.

AND THAT'S OKAY.

Historical research is a constant learning process. We always have to have our eyes open for new information.

So, I enjoy the documentary (though I do fast-forward some of the fawning Gish-Griffith bits) and admire it but I keep in mind that four decades have passed.

It's like consulting Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking: it's important, it deserves its laurels but we understand that time has passed since it was first released.

However, many great French cookbooks have been published in English.

Great documentaries on the entire silent era? Not so much. So, the issue is not necessarily HOLLYWOOD itself, it's the lack of conversation since then.

There have been docs covering actors, filmmakers, etc. but overall silent film history docs of any significant length are scarce on the ground.

And THAT is the problem. (Sips tea, glances at recent docs that ignored the silent era altogether.)

But historians and documentarians have to make the call. They can't just sit frozen in fear about something they thought was true being disproved later on.

Be as careful as you can but you have to publish, you have to release.

My issue is with sloppy research. Not research that was as good as it possibly could be in 1980.

For example, Marion Meade's abysmal Buster Keaton bio? Fair game. And I can and have torn it to bits.

HOLLYWOOD? No, they put in the work. They did their best.

But all of this is hard to condense into one tweet when people are like "I saw HOLLYWOOD, what do you think???"

So, I've put a lot of it here. I'm sure I am missing something but that's the way of things.