Essay about Cultural Report: Hollywood 1900-1940

Even though a vast majority of us wish that it was possible to turn back the hands of time and change or rewrite history. However, the truth of the matter is that we simply cannot. Everything happens for a reason, and we should learn to accept it. Accept it for what it is, rather than what we would like it to be.

“You ain’t heard nothing yet,” is one of the most popular lines from the first talkie ever produced. That being The Jazz Singer. With this quote, movies were inherently changed forever. Starting from the beginning, in the 1920’s economic prosperity spread like wildfire in America. With that, came more leisure time for the average person and movies, being a cheap source of entertainment, boomed along with the stocks. The hotspot for this movie epidemic was in Hollywood, California. With that being said, movies and Hollywood had a significant impact in the 1920’s and modern times through societal changes and technological advancements.

The Golden Age of Hollywood was a time when Hollywood hit its peak successfully and economically, starting with the late 1920s, and met its decline due to corruption in the late 1950s. One would ask the question: “Where did the name Hollywood come from?” The name came from Harvey Henderson Wilcox and his wife, Daeida, who were owners of a small ranch west of Los Angeles. According to u-s-history.com, “Daeida, who, while on a train trip east met a woman that described her country home in Ohio, that had been named for the Dutch settlement of Hollywood. Liking the name, Daeida christened their ranch 'Hollywood,' upon her return.” (History of Hollywood, California) Movies during this time period became a vital form of entertainment for all Americans during this time period. By the 1910s, Hollywood was combined into its neighboring city Los Angeles, and many motion-picture studios began to open. Moviemakers rushed to Hollywood, and competition started to become widespread between directors and producers. By 1910, the first motion picture was made in Hollywood, titled In Old California, and soon enough, Los Angeles became second to New York in producing films also because of it’s quintessential weather for movies to be made in all year long during this time. As Hollywood began to industrialize, filmmakers began to work on the image of a “star”; they would continuously use these highly-paid actors in order to achieve a form of comfort for the general audience of the movies. Seeing

This further demonstrates how the affluence of that period enabled people to support this industry and help its enormous growth. It was during the roaring 20s that the first real celebrities began to appear, with the ever-increasing role of cinema having a huge role to play. Similarly their fame contributed to the growing status of Hollywood and the American film industry. (Source J). Charlie Chaplin is one example of an actor that gained worldwide recognition in the twenties; he was particularly famous for his ‘highly visual style of acting’ (Soucre J). The 1920s was often referred to as “The Golden Age of Hollywood” (Source G) emphasizing how this period represents the era of greatest output in the United States movie market [an average of 800 films were produced annually]. ‘The cinema came of age in the 1920s and Hollywood confirmed its position as the “dream factory” of the English- speaking world. It was there that fame and fortune could be found.’ (Source J) This also highlights the growing image of Hollywood ‘throughout the roaring 20s, which started to represent wealth and achievement. ‘The establishment of the Academy Awards showed the maturing cinema as an industry confident of its own technical and artistic standards.’ (Source J) This further shows how there were many other expansions and transformations from this industry that occurred during this period. Artists, directors and other personalities of the film making industry received acknowledgement and recognition of their work in this industry. ‘The awards soon acquired international status’ (Source J) showing how Hollywood’s film industry developed into a global sensation that was supported by people all over

traveling circus presentations. They were marveled at, yes, but their use as a form of entertainment was limited and not considered, until on April 14, 1894 in New York City, the Holland brothers showed short films to the public in their arcade, using two rows of kinetoscopes. This started a country-wide fad, and the idea of showing movies gained speed. The film industry began to grow, until the 1920's, when it truly became an industry and movie theaters showing double-features had become common to most towns. This is when Hollywood studios began gaining ground as the place to be for actors, directors, writers, and anyone who was anyone in the film world. In the minds of the average American, Hollywood conjured up images of glamour and sophistication, of movie stars and lazily drifting smoke and reels of film flickering in a dark room. Hollywood; another world in of itself.

In American history, the 1920’s was a decade thriving in terms of style, social trends and an improving economy. Popular culture during this time period was mainly characterized by the innovation of new technological devices, the arts, and film. Right after World War I came to an end, when the “roaring 20’s” began, cinemas became a huge social and economical success in America during the 1920’s. The cinema turned into a lifestyle for many Americans. American citizens made trips to citizens on a weekly basis. Different theaters were rapidly growing and being built in many towns around the country due to the increasing interest in visiting nice places to watch a film. Cinemas in the early 1920’s showed silent motion films and then gradually later on in the decade ‘talkies’ were released. In the 1920’s the cinema led to an improved economy in America, happier citizens, and the mass media for the cinema created a national culture.

Cinema of Attractions is concerned with the ability to display. Attractions wanted to show the ‘here and now’, interacting with its spectator with the aim of satisfying the audience’s curiosity quickly (Gunning, 2004: 44). It displays current events, scenes form everyday life, composed scenes, vaudeville performances and also camera tricks (as pioneered by George Méliès). Cinema of Attractions aims to astonish its audience (Strauven, 1999: 50). through displaying, rather than amusing its audience through narrative content. This is seen in films such as G. Méliès’ ‘ L'homme-orchestre (One Man Band)’ (1900), or his ‘L'homme à la tête de caoutchouc (The Man With The Rubber Head)’ (1901) where the actor(s) constantly address the camera/spectator and the audience is

The history of film is essentially one of representation of certain groups, or as the case may be, misrepresentation. After America’s short stint with Nickelodeon-type movie theatres, full-length feature films became the norm with Birth of a Nation (1915). D.W. Griffith used the film to innovate cinematography, but made few compromises to create a

Without the new innovations and ideas of Hollywood in the 1950s, our films would not be the way that they are today. We cannot forget the wonderful magic of Hollywood’s golden age; we must celebrate the influence that they have had on filmmaking. Without the changes in character, morals and the new inventions in film from the 50s, movies would have never been the

In the early twentieth century movies signified modernity by becoming the most prevalent medium of culture in the United States in a period of time where the social makeup was shifting from a predominantly middle class to working class neighborhoods that were made up of many different communities. As a direct consequence, nickelodeons, temporary storefront theaters, and vaudeville programs all flourished in the working class districts. By the late 1920s, almost every large American city showed off a new “picture palace,” an elaborately constructed movie theater. Moreover, with this transition from previous vaudeville houses and nickelodeons to the rise of these so-called picture palaces in the United States, new spaces of consumerism were forged that focused on enlightening the average spectator as movie moguls such as the notable Samuel “Roxy” Rotahfel who envisioned a specific function for all major theaters. Consequently, I would argue that these new spaces of consumerism transformed and transfixed its audiences architecturally (looking at the physical space of the theater) and psychologically (reading space as consumerist fantasy) in Roxy’s picture palaces such as the Family Theater and the Regent Theater and how these theaters fit into the market of mass consumerism in creating desire as well as a release from modern societal pressures. Additionally, I would like to explore how Roxy and his team carefully created an

Classical Hollywood film sprung up in the 1920s and lasted until the mid to late 1960s. This type of cinema, now know as the “Golden Age of Hollywood,” had a very specific style. It used flashbacks, continuity editing as well as “narratives structured around the goals of individual characters” (Belton 44), also known as a deadline device. Stars of that era were chosen specifically to play the individual main characters and they had more traits than less involved characters, such as launching the main actions of the story. Verisimilitude, the appearance of being true or real, was an attribute aspired to be reached through the use of props, settings and décor. In addition, music and lighting were used to stimulate an emotional connection and/or response to the story. The film Casablanca is one of the greatest examples of the classical Hollywood era because it embodies everything the style entails, but especially the mise-en-scene, sound and lighting used throughout the film.

The 1930’s began with depression, and ended with the war. Surprisingly, despite a difficult economic situation in the United States, the one industry that remained quite stable was fashion. One of the factors of such state was the impact of Hollywood-style luxury. The thirties are known as Hollywood’s Golden Age, with screen idols becoming role models for the masses. There were also Hollywood costume designers that played a crucial role in dictating fashion trends (gingham dress, a cotton fabric dress featuring a checked or striped pattern). Fashion trends that featured in the movies were quickly copied by retailers. Women, who found a dress or a gown in a movie appealing, were able to purchase a lower priced version of it in a nearby department

The turn of the 20th century saw the whole nation at the peak of a major transformation, especially in the sector of moving pictures. With major technological inventions at the end of the 19th century, such as Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, a type of peep-show device, that had already established a presence in the film scene, and devices such as the Vitagraph, Panoptikon and Biskop projectors, Mutescope flip frames, the Kinora, the Cinecosmorama, Street Cinematograph, Biokam, Graphonoscope, Kinemacolor and a host of of other equipments over the years. But the major development to modern day cinema as we know it was the pioneering work of the Lumiere brothers - Auguste and Louis, who invented the Cinematographe, a combination of camera and projector,

For my film project for exam #1 of FEA 205, I chose to emulate the era of film during its earliest years, from the 1880s to 1904. The specific timeframe which my film project covers is the period of film production following the construction and completion of Thomas Edison and W. K. L. Dickson’s production studio (adjacent to Edison’s New Jersey laboratory) on January 1893, named the Black Maria (Thompson, Bordwell 7). Being an emulation of this specific period, my film reel would have been shot right inside the Black Maria studio. My film contains various clips of comedic performances including a conductor who performs

Most people get to know their co-workers well...and sometimes working together can even lead to romance especially on Hollywood movie sets. Some of the most famous couples in Hollywood history met while making a film, including Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Here's a look at the famous actors and actresses whose chemistry set off sparks on the