The first comprehensive history of one of the greatest, most famous, and most American of all American films. Compulsively readable, richly biographical, and full of anecdotes--on the set and behind the scenes--it places the film firmly within its era and recreates the experience of making a cinematic masterpiece.

Combining lucid prose with meticulous scholarship, this provides for the first time the complete inside story of how this classic movie was made, marketed, and received. It re-creates the actual movie-making experience, on the set and behind the scenes, and chronicles every step in production from original concept through casting, scripting, rehearsals, filming, scoring, and editing. They then trace its distribution, critical reception, and enduring reputation.