Hollywood's Artists

Virginia Wexman is professor emerita of English at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She is the author of A History of Film, 7th edition (Pearson, 2009) and Creating the Couple: Love, Marriage and Hollywood Performance (Princeton University Press, 2003) and the co-editor of Directing (Rutgers, 2017), Film and Authorship (Rutgers, 2002), and other books.Virginia Wright Wexman is professor emerita of English and art history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her books include Creating the Couple: Love, Marriage, and Hollywood Performance (1993) and A History of Film (seventh edition, 2010).

Lucy Fischer, author of Cinema by Design: Art Nouveau, Modernism, and Film History:
Hollywood’s Artists is a groundbreaking study of the Directors Guild of America—viewing it not primarily as a traditional union, but as an organization that has fought for the recognition of its members as artists. Wexman provides a well-researched history of earlier organizations leading up to the formation of the DGA, the cultural context for its claims of artistry (including European traditions and the auteur theory), the effects of the rise of television, as well as a discussion of a controversial moment in its history during the McCarthy era, the HUAC hearings, and the persecution of the “Hollywood Ten.” Furthermore, she examines the notion of the director as authority figure (which requires “charisma”) as well as the legal battles engaged in by the organization. Finally, Wexman explores new challenges to film directors in the current era involving the ascendancy of digital effects and streaming services, as well as the globalization of the industry. In sum, a thorough and masterful study.

James Naremore, Indiana University:
Virginia Wright Wexman’s original, fine-grained study of the Directors’ Guild of America shows us how that organization helped shape the idea of the film director as author, how it managed political tensions within Hollywood, and how it negotiated major changes in the industry. Based on extensive research, this is a revealing and highly important contribution to U.S. film history.