Dustin Hoffman laments golden age of film

Dustin Hoffman has lamented the end of Hollywood's golden age (© HBO Enterprises)

Movie legend Dustin Hoffman has lamented the end of Hollywood's golden age, criticising the industry for focusing on profits instead of making quality films.

The two-time Oscar-winning star of Tootsie, Rain Man and The Graduate complained that studios no longer talked about "good work".

He told TV Times: "When you're in the golden age, you don't realise it. They didn't tell me that when I was making films in the 1960s and even the 1970s."

Hoffman, 74, said that "everything changed" with the success of Steven Spielberg movie Jaws in 1975, with films being ranked according to which had grossed the most.

"Before that, to use a baseball metaphor, studios were happy getting singles and they didn't have to hit a home run every time. Today, you've got to do that because the budget and prints and advertising are so big.

"They (the studios) don't talk about doing good work - they just talk about making money. In our day the studio was hoping to make a good film, which hopefully didn't lose money."

The Hollywood legend, who has been nominated for seven Academy Awards during more than 50 years in front of the camera, told TV Times he was now happier appearing on the small-screen because it gave him the opportunity to do the kind of work he did when he "started out".

"Now, television has taken the place of the golden age of film as the best writers prefer to go into TV because they're respected and given more control," he said.

The actor stars with Nick Nolte in US horse-racing drama Luck, which recently hit the rocks when a second series was cancelled following the death of three horses.

PA