Part two of the definitive history of one of Hollywood's most essential studios, covering the studio's golden decade, the fruitful years between 1936 and 1946 that produced a staggering amount of the canon of cinematic masterpieces: The Good Earth (1937), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), The Wizard Of Oz (1939), Mrs. Miniver (1942) and most unforgettably, Gone With The Wind (1939). It was the studio's era o fullest flower, but also a time for grooming new talents like a 12-year old Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet (1944) that began to usher in a new, less studio-controlled era of movie stardom. Illuminating -- and sometimes shockingly candid -- interviews with the likes of Helen Hayes add to the insight behind the clips. Narrator Patrick Stewart is still wearing the same strange bathrobe he wore in Part I, but he has such good humor about the sometimes overwrought narration that it's easy to forgive.

By Violet LeVoit