Why Was Cinema Going so Popular in the First Half of the Century and Why Did It Decline After 1950?

Prior to the 1920’s, the film industry consisted of the occasional silent movie and the very beginnings of jazz. People would mostly go to orchestra halls in the nearest city to view orchestras from around the world. Once the “Roarin’ Twenties” rolled around, the entertainment industry as a whole changed drastically. The capital of the entertainment industry was moved from New York City’s bustle and hustle to the quiet developing suburbs of Los Angeles, California, in a quiet area dubbed “Hollywoodland” (Digital History 2016). The silent movie made its big rise here and the first talking movies, also known as “talkies”, were introduced in 1927 (Digital History 2016). The film industry grew rapidly, becoming the fifth largest industry in the

Although cinema is now a priority, some feel as if cinema is no longer the cinema when it was first established. Movies no longer have that special feeling like viewers once had. Today, films are not only shared within a theater, if one pleases they could always have the same experience elsewhere. Moreover, with technology expanding, it takes away the importance cinema once had. “The

During the early 1900s, the film industry had just gained popularity but the films during this era were drastically different from films today. Films during this time were done in white and black, were much shorter, and were without sound. In this silent film era, no star shined brighter than that of Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin is without a doubt the biggest name of film during this or possibly any era. In fact, Chaplin should be considered the greatest influence of the film industry in the 1920s because of his fame in silent film, his career as a director, his controversial satire, and the popularity of The Tramp.

To begin with, some background information on movies and Hollywood in the 1920’s. In the 1920’s, movie attendance soared (The Rise of Hollywood par. 4). As stated in the introduction, with the influx of money in the American economic system, the average person also had an influx of time on their hands. The normal solution was to spend that time on entertainment and movies were the perfect way to do that. By the mid-decade, movie attendance rose to fifty million and only increased from then. The five main movie studios were Warner Brothers, Paramount, MGM, RKO Radio Pictures, and 20th Century Fox (Dirks 1). Before these studios were formed, every aspect of making movies was separated into different companies. The aspects may include filming, editing, or distributing. With the spark of interest in movies, these five companies took it upon

This essay explores the popularity of Australian film, both locally and internationally and asks the question: Is there a crisis in the Australian Film Industry? This essay will go through the current issues the Australian Film Industry and will demonstrate examples of those problems.

Based on Filmsite.org, a website that interprets and explains the history of cinemas, mentions that cinemas in the 1960s had more daring films with darker themes, horror, violence, rock ‘n’ roll and crime. There were also an influx of foreign movies and british movies. This decade in film history, was a period struggling to stay afloat as there was a decline in movies. There was a spike in reinvention of cinemas - change of styles to keep up with television and social changes.

One thing that movie entertainment fulfilled was attracting people to the big screen. For example, I can introduce this quote: “In just eight years, from 1922 to 1930, weekly U.S. movie attendance soared from about forty percent to over ninety percent of the population” (americainclass). This shows how in just eight years movie popularity spiked, where as about 40 million Americans went to motion picture theatres on a weekly basis. As the brink of silent films came to society and the evolution of the industry had risen, going to the movie theatre became a weekly event. This transition in entertainment, from stand-up comedy/plays to movies, was remarkable. The huge trend and liking for going to the movies impacted America in the way it had reshaped entertainment. Movie companies like Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros made a lot of money and success. The industry became very rich. Going to the movie theatre in the 20s was classy, fashionable, and it became a

Subsequently after the war female employment dropped, but during the 1950’s when Birth Control was introduced to the market female employment reached an all-time high (“people”). This was due to the views that employers held on women, they were seen as less reliable because of motherhood and their possible absence due to child birth. Furthermore, during the Baby Boom era “young women who had reared one to four children had the fear of another ten to twenty years of fertility” (“people”). Often times these young couples lived in cramped apartments due to the rising house prices (Byrant). In the long term, WWII began a long string of events that all contributed to the social advancement of

Early cinema is often referred to as a progression to narrative cinema, Tom Gunning would argue that it was not a progression but had its own purpose and coined the term The Cinema of Attractions in his essay ‘Now you see it, Now you don’t’. This is the concept that a large quantity of the first film makers produced films that were more about the spectacle, most of the films leading up to 1900 reflected the fascination with technology and how things happened rather than why. Gunning noted that there were three assumptions of film; the general ideas that people had about the timeline of film and where it would end up. There is the cinematic assumption, the idea that film was ‘restricted to the technological reproduction of theatre’ (Gunning T.1993) early cinema was primitive and only a practice for what was to come. The narrative assumption is that film is ‘only important as it is a predecessor to a more engaging and effective form of film,’ (Gunning T. 1993) this suggests that narrative cinema is the natural form of film. The final assumption is the idea that ‘cinema only truly appeared when it discovered its mission of telling stories.’ (Metz C. 1974) These assumptions all encompass the idea that narrative is the end form of film. In this essay I am going to discuss Tom Gunning’s theory of The Cinema of Attractions and the differences between them and narratively driven films.

According to (Bates 665), “Cinematic society refers to the 20th century societal formation that recognizes itself via cinematic apparatus,” he points to the chief place that films hold in

The 1930’s is remembered as the “Golden Age of Hollywood,” when the glamourous fashions sported by silver screen stars were all the rage. To look ladylike by day in silk, rayon, or lightweight cotton florals or art deco prints was the goal, while evenings demanded elegant backless ballroom gowns in velvet or

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.

So, now the question of how they could entertain without offending anyone come into play. Films from this period have been named the "Cinema of attractions" by film scholar Tom Gunning, in part, because they treat show over narrative. The popularity of film in its first decade was for some, a cause for concern. It faced challenges to produce longer pictures, which not only would advance their profitability, but also needed to be narrative, which in turn allowed films to carry ethical and good messages.

The art of film made it’s way into the penetration stage around the turn of the century and remained there until

The BBFC has commissioned me to undertake research as part of a project to ascertain to what degree films can be regarded as powerful within contemporary society. In this assignment, I will comprehensively explain the relationship between audiences and films with well explained examples. I refer to the different sectors relating to the topic that include the following: