And to be sure, it's essential to follow the money, which Thomson always does, making clear that the urge to tell the stories that are movies is inseparable from the urge to make money, and that the movies redefined greed — there was just so much money to be made. We start when D.W. Griffith yields final say on his films to a movie executive, making the essential point that it's always the studio that owns the work. We see Chaplin, who understands the whole equation, rising and then losing his way when he, the artist, not the mogul, has the final say — another essential point. We learn how Louis B. Mayer mastered the whole equation, and dominated the golden age of film, understanding both how to make a star and the dreamlike state of moviegoers, trying to escape reality.