TOD, Part the Second:
I haven't actually read all that many books about the making of films or Hollywood itself. I do have quite a few others on my shelves, as yet unread, that are supposed to be among the best. But at least I've read these at some point and feel great affection for them, even if in some cases their authority has been superseded (superseded?) in recent years.
Hitchcock/Truffaut
The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (Donald Spoto)
The Citizen Kane Book (Kael, Mankiewicz & Welles)
Lawrence of Arabia (Morris & Raskin)
A Star is Born (Ronald Haver)
A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrman (Steven C. Smith)
The Haunted Screen (re silent films, by Lotte H. Eisner)