Film director Martin Scorsese considers the American cinema, divided into short chapters each looking at one aspect of American film, including: the studio system past and present; the question of narrative; technique - both technical and the development of visual literacy specific to films. He also looks at B-movies, films noirs, Westerns, gangster movies and musicals and some of the great figures in American cinema, from von Stroheim and Welles to Kubrick and Cassavetes.