The actress, now 94, was nominated for an Oscar in 1950 for her supporting role in Sunset Boulevard, arguably the ultimate movie about Hollywood. Her intimate reminiscences go behind the scenes of Billy Wilder’s 1950 masterpiece and up close and personal to Hollywood figures during the golden age. Since she was married to lyricist Alan Jay Lerner (Brigadoon, My Fair Lady) at the time, it also gave her a bird’s eye view of Broadway in its heyday and, later, of the television boom, through her third husband, an entertainment executive.

Self-possessed silent screen star Marion Davies is too often relegated to footnote status – overshadowed by her long relationship with married publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst. This much-anticipated biography from an American film historian is as deeply researched as hoped, shedding new light on the philanthropist’s role in early Hollywood and her influence beyond that as a mistress and acclaimed hostess.

There’s not much new for ardent fans in this bio, authorized by Taylor’s children, who gave the writer access to their mother’s personal archives. But that’s missing the point. Larger than life, even in death, the irreverent and generous Taylor – a child actress turned superstar renowned for her frankness, appetites and refreshingly brazen vulgarity – is more of a delight to spend time with on the page than most contemporary celebrities could ever hope to be. (Bonus: Read an interview with Brower about her biography in a recent Zed books feature.)

Gates, a former museum curator, was part of the group who, in 1978, discovered an important trove of silent films buried in the Dawson City permafrost (now better known thanks to the acclaimed 2017 documentary Dawson City: Frozen Time). He links the parallel histories of cinema and the Klondike Gold Rush with valuable context on early Hollywood’s connection to the North through entertainment figures like Fatty Arbuckle, Sid Grauman, Jack London and Robert Service.

Through unparalleled access and collation of the American Film Institute’s extensive archives, the esteemed film scholar and the movie journalist deliver a definitive take on classic Hollywood. Or at least, a wide-ranging one. Between the candid anecdotes from bygone figures (from costume designers to cinematographers to directors) and commentary by contemporary ones (Steven Spielberg), it’s like listening in on the ultimate fantasy dinner-party chatter. What more could a Tinseltown devotee want?

Before the first significant use of CGI in 1973 in Westworld, stunt work was perilous if not foolhardy. The author, an industry insider who’s been everything from fencing fight director to screenwriter, offers a history of (and homage to) early stunt performers – or in the case of filmmakers like Buster Keaton, the reckless stars themselves. Most film action before CGI was done in-camera, which means live, with no special effects. So, as you read the staggering stories of the technical and legal considerations behind the derring-do, often in the absence of any safety precautions, remember: This all happened.

Hallett, an American history professor at Columbia, tells the story of Elinor Glyn, the celebrity author (and sister of fashion designer Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon) who pioneered the modern romance genre in the 1920s and coined the term “it” girl, meaning an ingenue with sex appeal. The cultural biography includes glimpses of her early childhood, when she was raised by her grandparents in Guelph, Ont., and is as entertaining as the bestselling fictions penned by Glyn herself.

As the former longtime executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Davis is uniquely positioned to impart the inner workings of the organization behind the Oscar and its place in Hollywood history. The annual awards and coveted gold statuette were conceived in 1927 by a cabal of studio heads as a marketing scheme – which, arguably, they still are. The exploration of the first 50 years (through war, the Cold War and the end of the studio system) make this a companion as awards season ramps up.

The Hollywood studio crafted its own image as meticulously as it did the public personas of its stars. This book is equal parts nostalgia trip and business study: Industry archivist and historian Bingen considers how MGM has been portrayed on screen by itself and others (it’s practically a character, for example, in filmmaker Damien Chazelle’s latest opus, Babylon). He also retraces MGM’s innovative early forays into brand extensions with airlines and casinos, for example. Refreshingly, as much attention is paid to what came after the studio’s oft studied (yet relatively short-lived) golden years, between the 1930s and 1950s, as the heyday itself.

As part of its ongoing efforts to reframe and widen the lens of Hollywood history, TCM’s imprint with Running Press has published books on the contributions of women, as well as on Black Hollywood. Now, this glossy yet comprehensive tome from scholar Reyes, who specializes in the history of the Latin and Hispanic communities in Hollywood, corrects the reductive racist stereotypes of Latin lovers and spitfire señoritas, and restores the legacy of artists who have contributed to cinema history. The stories of stars like Jennifer Lopez, Anthony Quinn and Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Cansino) are included, but many essential talents behind the camera are also celebrated.