genre stairs of sand
Pearl Zane Grey ( January 31 , 1872  October 23 , 1939 ) was an American dentist and author best known for his popular ___MASK39___ novels and stories associated with the ___MASK55___ genre in literature and the arts ; he idealized the American frontier . " Riders of the Purple Sage " ( 1912 ) was his best - selling book . In addition to the commercial success of his printed works , they had second lives and continuing influence when adapted as films and television productions . His novels and short stories have been adapted into 112 films , two television episodes , and a television series , " Dick Powell ' s Zane Grey Theater ". A film studio ( also known as movie studio or simply studio ) is a major ___MASK3___ company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films , which is handled by the production company . The majority of firms in the ___MASK3___ industry have never owned their own studios , but have rented space from other companies . Los Angeles ( Spanish for " The Angels "), officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L . A ., is the second - most populous city in the United States ( after New York City ), the most populous city in California and the county seat of Los Angeles County . Situated in Southern California , Los Angeles is known for its mediterranean climate , ethnic diversity , sprawling metropolis , and as a major center of the American ___MASK3___ industry . Los Angeles lies in a large coastal basin surrounded on three sides by mountains reaching up to and over . A media conglomerate , media group , or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in ___MASK13___ media enterprises , such as television , ___MASK28___ , publishing , motion pictures , theme parks , or the Internet . According to the magazine " Nation ", " Media conglomerates strive for policies that facilitate their control of the markets around the world ." The American Frontier comprises the ___MASK97___ , ___MASK48___ , folklore , and cultural expression of life in the forward wave of American expansion that began with English colonial settlements in the early 18th century and ended with the admission of the last mainland territories as states in 1912 . " Frontier " refers to a contrasting region at the edge of a European - American line of settlement . American historians cover multiple frontiers but the folklore is focused primarily on the 19th century west of the Mississippi River . Enormous popular attention in the media focuses on the ___MASK55___ United States in the second half of the 19th century , a period sometimes called the Old West , or the Wild West , frequently exaggerating the romance and violence of the period . Paramount Pictures Corporation ( known professionally as Paramount Pictures and often referred to simply as Paramount ) is an American film studio based in Hollywood , California , that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994 . Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world , the second oldest in the United States , and the sole member of the " Big Six " film studios still located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollywood . In 1916 Zukor contracted 22 actors and actresses and honored each with a star on the logo . These fortunate few would become the first " movie stars ." Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America ( MPAA ). California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area . Located on the ___MASK55___ ( Pacific Ocean ) coast of the U . S ., California is bordered by the other U . S . states of Oregon , Nevada , and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California . The state capital is Sacramento . Los Angeles is California ' s most populous city , and the country ' s second largest after New York City . The state also has the nation ' s most populous county , Los Angeles County , and its largest county by area , San Bernardino County . Riders of the Purple Sage is a ___MASK55___ novel by Zane Grey , first published by Harper & Brothers in 1912 . Considered by many critics to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular ___MASK55___ genre , the novel has been called " the most popular ___MASK55___ novel of all time ." Otto Brower ( December 2 , 1890  January 25 , 1946 ) was an American film director . He directed 45 films between 1928 and 1946 . He was born in Grand Rapids , Michigan , and died in Hollywood , California , from a heart attack . A film director is a person who directs the making of a film . Generally , a film director controls a film ' s artistic and ___MASK64___ aspects , and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision . The director has a key role in choosing the cast members , production design , and the creative aspects of filmmaking . Under European Union ___MASK4___ , the director is viewed as the author of the film . Viacom , Inc . ( known simply as Viacom ) is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in cinema and cable ___MASK52___ . It is currently the world ' s sixth largest broadcasting and cable company in terms of revenue , behind Comcast , The Walt Disney Company , Time Warner , 21st Century Fox and CBS Corporation , respectively . Voting control of Viacom is held by National Amusements , Inc ., a privately owned theater company controlled by the billionaire Sumner Redstone . Redstone also holds via National Amusements a controlling stake in CBS Corporation . Hollywood (, informally Tinseltown ) is an ethnically diverse , densely populated , relatively low - income neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles , California . It is notable as the home of the U . S . film industry , including several of its historic studios , and its name has come to be a shorthand ___MASK40___ for the industry and the people in it . Stairs of Sand is a 1929 silent film made by Paramount Pictures , directed by Otto Brower , and written by Agnes Brand Leahy , Sam Mintz and J . Walter Ruben , based on ___MASK49___ by Zane Grey .