This four volume set profiles over 600 major films and the people who created them. They include short biographical sketches and filmographies.

Volume one treats 683 films and provides extensive bibliographies for further study. The second volume is devoted to the study of directors. Each of its 545 entries consists of "a brief biography, a complete filmography, a selected bibliography of works by and about the entrant, and a critical essay written by an expert in the field." Volume three focuses on 615 actors and actresses; volume four is on 545 writers and production artists; for all of these the Dictionary provides "a brief biography, a complete filmography, a selected bibliography, and a critical essay written by an expert in the field."