Hollywood's Greatest Trick

The history of Hollywood musical movies, from the very beginning until the 21st century, hosted by Shirley Jones.

A 60-minute salute to American International Pictures. Entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff founded AIP (then called American Releasing Corporation) on a $3000 loan in 1954 with his partner, James H. Nicholson, a former West Coast exhibitor and distributor. The company made its mark by targeting teenagers with quickly produced films that exploited subjects mainstream films were reluctant to tackle.

Larry Wessel presents darkest Hollywood and explores some of tinsel town's most grisly tragedies, including the murders of Sharon Tate and The Black Dahlia.

The silent cinema had already created colossal movies based on ancient civilizations, but it is in the 1950s when peplums reach their apogee in Hollywood. Then, peplums take root at Cinecittà studios, in Rome, where cheap cinema is produced with bodybuilders as heroes. The genre decays in the late 1960s, but rises again decades later, when a modern classic is released in 2000.

"No film may throw ridicule on any religious faith..." So began Article VIII of the Hollywood Production Code, a series of ethical guidelines that for forty years helped the motion picture industry produce many of the greatest and most family-friendly films in history. That was then, however, this is now. A revered "historical" movie quietly takes every opporturnity to lie and twist the facts in order to make Christians appear as backward, foolish hypocrites. An actress jumps at the chance to play a Christ-hating role, saying, "I'm an atheist, so it was a joy." One of Hollywood's most respected directors films a passion play written by a disciple of Friedrich Nietzsche, the father of the "God is dead" movement. Not surprisingly, the movie's Jesus helps crucify people and later confesses that satan is inside him. A media mogul states that "Christianity is a religion for losers."

An American low-budget action film celebrated an unexpected worldwide success in 1988: "Bloodsport". With its, the world of film fans and martial arts cinema discovered a new idol: Jean-Claude Van Damme. In the 1970s there was Bruce Lee, but at the end of the 1980s a Belgian won the day. Van Damme was a karate master and had unparalleled strength and flexibility. For ten years he was one of Hollywood's hottest action stars. But excessive overconfidence and drugs bring him down again. At home in Europe he becomes a laughing stock on talk shows. Only with "JCVD" does he manage to get back on his feet, playing his character with perspective and self-irony, but without ever giving up the reputation that his action films brought him and which has been a cult for several generations. The highs and lows of his eventful life are told through archive footage and contributions from people close to the popular Belgian actor.

For decades, a nice Jewish couple ran Circus of Books, a porn shop and epicenter for gay LA. Their director daughter documents their life and times.

The dawn of the 21st Century has found much of modern society obsessed with occult mysteries, sadistic violence, and evil. Everything from cartoons and video games to recorded music and major theatrical films are being designed and promote to "satisfy" the public's insatiable lust for the macabre. Most disturbing is the rise in the practice of Satanism. Law enforcement agencies are unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of heinous, Satanically inspired crimes. Basically a remake of Devil Worship: The Rise of Satanism (1989) using the same footage.

Documentary about the legendary American film director from his introduction to the film industry in its early years to his death in 1959.

The question of "who hunts virgins" and more will be stripped down and explored in the sexiest trailers hosted by Playboy's Nikki Leigh.

When former child star Aaron Schwartz (Mighty Ducks, Heavyweights) returned to the acting world as an adult, he found himself always being asked this recurring question: 'how is he still normal having been a child star?' After seeing one too many sensationalized 'where are they now' publications he began to notice that being a child actor carried with it a stigma that seemed impossible to break. Aaron explores why the Stigma of being raised in Hollywood exists, and why child stars are so often misunderstood.