What Is The Second Chapter Of Robert Kolker's The Cultures Of American Film

It was estimated that by the late teens of the 20th century, Zukor held 75% of the best talent in the filmmaking business. I was baffled by this statistic when I read it. For one studio to hold ¾’s of the best talent in the industry is nearly a monopoly. Another thing I found interesting was that Fox worked on 70 mm wide-screen techniques. This was thought provoking to me because this summer I saw the film Dunkirk, and my friends and I saw it with the 70 mm wide-screen edition. I had never seen a movie with this wide-screen 70 mm and it was definitely different from a regular screen. Another thing that caught my attention was the connection between film and politics. I was interested to learn that MGM used a film to bring down Upton Sinclair as he was running for office. I was also shocked to read that Charlie Chaplin was not let into the United States because of his progressive political views. I was baffled that a man that was once called the “king of comedy” in the United States was denied entry because of his political

During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that,

The existence of the motion picture industries has been a primary source of media information. In fact, video studio gave birth to some magazines. The is so much obsessed with celebrity and star news leaving the media personnel with no option but dig star gossips as much as they can. The movie industry has been around for quite some time. However, over time it can be appreciated that cultures have regularly changed as time goes by (Thomas 67). Values to be depicted on in a movie vary widely as well as the actors. To get a clear picture of these varying cultures and values, it is important to compare two Hollywood stars; One before the year 1980 and the other one our current time.

This paper was prepared for Introduction to Film History, Module 1 Homework Assignment, taught by Professor Stephanie Sandifer.

Labelled the ‘golden age of Hollywood’ the 1930’s was arguably a decade of turmoil. This led to many people attending the cinema to escape from reality. Among adults, women tended to go to the cinema more often than their husbands, and this finding was echoed by rowntree, who found that 75 per cent of cinema-goers in New York during the late 1930’s were women[1]. With large numbers of children attending these types of pictures, parents and adults began questioning the effect the movies had on their children. As one 1930s screenwriter, Dudley Nichols, put it: "Our exposure to the theatre is either helping us to resolve our own conflicts and the conflicts of society by

People will go to great lengths to be close to the stars of Hollywood. It drives some people insane. That drive for fame and power leaves a lasting impression on the landscape and on lives for decades.

Over time, there were several changes in Hollywood that led to the end of the studio system, but the star system remained one of the most important aspects of the film industry. The creation of movie magazines made the actors and actresses more assessable to fans. Belton stated that the power of today's stars is driven by the amount of focus that is put on them by entertainment journalist and television shows (90). Entertainment magazines line the shelves of grocery stores and newspaper stands with the names and faces of stars plastered throughout the pages.

Modern film was brought to the Americas when the Kinetoscope, the basic film viewer, was first invented by Thomas Edison in 1889. This, along with his Kinetograph allowed short films to be displayed in Kinetoscope parlors; these would later evolve into the movie theaters of today. Many people loved the concept of movies because they allowed one to see different events from the comfort of a theater. Films however do more than just entertain they can also impact society in a beneficial or harmful way. This essay will explore the history of film, its changes throughout time, and its impact on American culture.

Hollywood has influenced American history since it began. It boosted and shaped the morale of a nation for almost a century. But Hollywood has not only been the influencing American society, it has been influenced by American society. In the 1920s, American society was booming; people were getting rich, spending and borrowing money, and they thought life was looking good. Then in October of 1929 the stock market crashed. Many people lost all they owned. People had invested all their money into the banks before the Crash. After the Crash, the banks had nothing. People were destitute. They had no money to pay for their houses, electrical bills, and food. It became the Great Depression. Likewise, Hollywood was impacted by the Great

Analyzing the studio system simplistically we see basic capitalism. In the 1920’s movies became more popular, so fulfilling the rules of basic supply and demand, studios were formed to profit from the insatiable public desire to see more films (in

Marilyn Monroe and James Dean are unquestionably cultural icons and their iconicity is not the consequence of an only element. The analysis of these figures has been an observation and a study of the American society, of its concerns and anxieties. The creation of cultural icons owes its biggest part to the society’s response to the personalities that are shown on screen. Therefore, the elevation of Dean and Monroe to the iconic status reveals the issues and worries of their time; they incarnate in their films characters that are for different reasons extremely appealing to their audiences. This appealing starts with a personal connection, the audiences see themselves represented in the characters these actors portray, they establish a personal

Street for financial backing. Attracting investors, the mogul had enough capital to vertically integrate the business. Purchasing theaters and exhibition venues across the nation. Zukor looked overseas for profits and with political support of Will Hays and others he lobbied for open international markets. However, Zukor not only possessed a business savvy he had a deep understanding of the public.

The classical Hollywood film has dominated cinema markets from the 1920s. This film recipe is both successful and interesting, and has led to the creation of some of the world’s greatest films. Moreover, the classical Hollywood film style has even been adopted by other countries, “for example, The Road Warrior, although an Australian film, is constructed along classical Hollywood lines” (Bordwell and Thompson 97). However, not all films produced are classical Hollywood films, some stray away from the essential elements of this movie-making style. The most important elements of the classical Hollywood film are, “the story centers on personal psychological causes: decisions, choices, and traits of character”, “the filmmakers adjust time to fit

There is no doubt that Hollywood is an industry based on selling movies and what sells movies better than the marketing of a Hollywood star. An actor or actress can not only make movies successful, but in addition their images are also profitable. The Hollywood Star System has been very profitable for Hollywood and contributed to saving Hollywood in the late 1920s and 1930s when studios found it financially hard to survive. Once Hollywood realized their star’s had financial power there was no stopping the lengths they would go to in order to sell their star’s persona.

“Films are an important part of our culture, a way to bring people together, to entertain, to inform, and to stimulate critical thinking” (Smith and Smith 193). As films have become an important part of our life, so have the actors and actresses that portray the characters in those films. I’m sure everyone can come up with at least one actor or actress that they love and admire. What people never think about though, is how did these people make their way onto the big screen to capture the hearts of many? I took the time to look into both a movie star from the Hollywood Studio Era (Spencer Tracy) and a star of more recent years (Johnny Depp). I wanted to see what made these two stars cultural icons and also wanted to see how cultural icons have