City of Dreams

In an amusing opening chapter titled ""The Revolving Door,"" Dick, director of the Fairleigh Dickinson school of communication arts and author of Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio, charts the comings and goings of the top brass in all the other Hollywood studios. Forewarned, readers then follow the rise of Universal's German-born founder, ""Uncle Carl"" Laemmle, from his first nickelodeon, in 1906, to his boldest creation: Universal City, California, in 1915. Here the studio cranked out ""Super Jewels"" such as The Phantom of the Opera and the lesser ""Red Feathers."" Son Carl Jr. gave us Frankenstein and Dracula and got canned. Succeeding moguls turned to Abbott and Costello and Francis the talking mule. Following WWII, the revolving door of Universal's ownership began to turn faster: Decca Records... MCA... Matsushita of Japan... and lately the Seagram empire. Dick tries to tell both the story of Universal's movies and the story of its place in the corporate food chain. This is not an easy mix. Nor does his uneven style help. For every gleam (""Disaffection... can turn film regulars into ones who may go to a movie but not the movies""), there are numbing lists of budget figures, rambling detours and asides that fall into the ""Huh?"" category (""The typical Hollywood chestnut is roasted into mealiness""). That said, Universal's story is a good window onto Hollywood, and Dick's movie-going enthusiasm is evident, even if his audience may feel the need to call, ""Focus!"" 36 b&w illustrations. (May)