Four films that take an unfamiliar look at the United States.
Narrated by James Cameron 1: Babes in Hollywood
The 1930s were the golden age of the child movie-star. Scores of tousle-headed moppets were dragged West to Hollywood by movie-struck mothers. It was the Great Depression, and desperate parents were lured to the world's film capital by the promise of easy riches and instant fame -$2,000 a week and top-line billing. But the reality was invariably crueller. A brief and lucky spell in the limelight led almost inevitably to retirement at 12 or 13. And then what for the rest of your life?
This is the story of five of those famous children and what became of them, with rare glimpses of what they looked like on screen. And there's a sixth; the legendary Baby Peggy who was a movie-star back in the 20s, long before the baby bonanza of the 30s boomed. From Hal Roach 's Our Gang, ' Stymie ' Beard and Darla Hood remember what it was like to be America's best-known ' next-door kids '; and Edith Fellows , Dickie Moore and Billy Mauch recall their scenes with Hollywood legends like W. C. FIELDS, MARLENE DIET-RICH and ERROL FLYNN.
Photography RAY HENMAN
Film editor GEOFFREY BOTTERILL Producer STEPHEN PEET
Director CHRISTOPHER COOK