Marking Hollywood's 100th anniversary, Paul Merton travels to America to explore how the language of cinema, and the blueprint for the contemporary film industry, were laid down in the age of silent film.

Through Paul's passion for, and knowledge of, early cinema, the series builds on the success of his previous series Silent Clowns, Paul Merton Looks At Alfred Hitchcock and Paul Merton's Weird And Wonderful World Of Early Cinema.

Driven by narrative sequences shot in today's Hollywood, Paul finds out how much modern film-makers owe to the pioneers.

Searching through the archives of the big film studios, interviewing actors, producers and directors in Hollywood, he aims to reunite cinema with its creative origins in a tribute to a century of Hollywood film-making.