Hollywood on the Veld: When movie mayhem gripped the City of Gold

In 1913, a secretive American millionaire, who lived on the top fl oor of the famous Carlton Hotel, had a crazy idea: to make movies in Johannesburg. And not just any movies but the biggest in the world, huge spectacles with elaborate sets, thousands of extras and epic story lines.

Isidore Schlesinger – better known as 'IW' – built a studio on a farm called Killarney, where he set out to challenge a place in America that was in its infancy: Hollywood.

The glamour, gossip and high drama of IW'...