A cultural influence that has withstood the test of time was the cinema. Hollywood dominated not only took over America, but Europe as well. Millions of people around the world “Hollywood was American civilization” (201) the reason why movies became so popular is because they had pictures, but no sound the opposite of the radio. That changed in 1927 Al Jolson spoke and sang in “the Jazz Singer” during the year of 1927 an astonishing seventeen thousand movie theaters in the United states. The cinema brought Broadway to a weekly audience of almost ninety-five million “inculcating them with a cheerful myth of the Roaring Twenties” (201). In 1923 Time magazine came up with the phrase “movie moguls, first as cinemoguls” (201). Some of these moguls were Eddie Mannix at MGM and Winfield Sheenan at Fox. Often times the moguls were Jewish first or second-generation …show more content…
Society seemed to be a bit hypocritical towards their views on eroticism. The reason why is because during the early 1920s there were many scandals from rape, drug abuse, murder and affairs because it may of clashed against morals. The audiences around the world held both a superficial and hypocritical in the views of eroticism. To me the theaters helped the economy because the more theaters began to open the more people would come and as you know you would have to pay to see these movies. Socially I feel that the theaters also it not only entertained Americans, but also brought people from all across the world together. The more theaters being built means the more money that it brings in economically and also it gave people a form of entertainment that they had not had before the fact. These are just a few examples, of how the theaters affected not only America, but other countries as
The overall appeal of the cinema to the masses was particularly evident during the interwar era. Audiences worldwide wanted to watch the variety of films, particularly American produced films, and they always went back. The visibly attractive and glamorous Hollywood movies often depicted the success of the underdog over unjust authority. Values of cash over culture were often a theme in the early American films and societies with restricted social mobility, such as those in Europe, could dream of such a triumph. The working class and unemployed could fantasise about wealth, fame and freedom which America as a country was portrayed as offering.
Throughout the late 1920's an important theatrical movement developed: The Workers' Theatre Movement. In the end, it diminished around the middle of the 1930's, and one of the developments aiding the decline of the Workers' Theatre Movement, was the creation of the Federal Theatre Project. The Federal Theatre Project was the largest and most motivated effort mounted by the Federal Government to organize and produce theater events. Once the government took on the duty of putting people to work, it was able to consider the movement. The Federal Theatre Project’s purpose was “to provide relief work for theatrical artists that utilized their talents and to make their work widely available to ordinary Americans, thus democratizing high culture.” (www.answers.com) Furthermore the FTP tried to present theatre that was relevant socially, politically, and had popular prices, such as free shows. The majority of its famous productions, although not all of them, came out of New York City. New York had many units, such as, a classical unit, Negro unit, units performing vaudeville, children’s plays, puppet shows, caravan productions, and the new plays unit. The Federal Theatre Project was “the only fully government-sponsored theatre ever in the United States”. (Witham 16)
Lewis, J. (2008). American Film: A History. New York, NY. W.W. Norton and Co. Inc. (p. 405,406,502).
Reed, Elanine Walls. "'A very unusual Practise [sic]': miscegnation and the film industy in the Hays era." West Virginia Univesity Philological papers 50, 2003: 42-53.
Similar to businesses standardizing in making and advertising consumers goods, the practice of mass-producing culture standardized and sped up in the 1920s. Radio became a national obsession. What started out as only a few independent stations soon evolved into huge networks and sponsored programming became popular. Movies during this time became accepted by all social classes with the expansion from rowdy nickelodeons to uptown theaters. With audiences nearing 80 million people a week, the corporate giants Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, and Columbia made the ...
The 1920s was a time of conservatism and it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world of politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century. It was the age of prohibition, it was the age of prosperity, and it was the age of downfall.
...netti, Louis, and Scott Eyman. “The Talkie Era.” Flashback: A Brief History of Film. Ed. Leah Jewell. 4th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. 140-145. Print.
During this decade, the film industry went through massive changes that would completely change what movies were or stood for. After the Great War, more people began considering movies as a form of entertainment. This increased attention caused change in the industry, allowing the experience of the movie goer to massively change for the better. Many new genres, ideas and technologies emerged in the 1920s that would later dominate the industry. The 1920s saw massive changes happening in the movie industry that would help it to get one step closer to what it is today.
Another change in society was the glamour of motion pictures. During the 1920s, movies began to capture the interest of the nation. The film industry began to flourish during this time. By the end of the decade twenty Hollywood studios were created and released and average of eight hundred films in one year. Young women of America loved the glamour of the silver screen and began to follow the fashion of their favorite actresses.
“You know some guys just can’t hold their arsenic” (Chicago). Theater in the 1920’s was greatly influenced by prohibition, mobsters and large murder cases as shown in the musical Chicago. Prohibition fueled many of the social issues of the day and also influenced theater. 1920’s theater was in turmoil as American society struggled to establish a new moral code. The musical Chicago gives examples of corruption in the legal system and the changing roles of women in society.
Describe some ways in which business values and artistic values in Hollywood contend with one another.
Works Cited Epstein, Dan. A. 20th Century Pop Culture: The Early Years to 1949. Philadelphia:
Thompson, K 2003, ‘The struggle for the expanding american film industry’, in Film history : an introduction, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston, pp. 37-54
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form
The Civil war is just one historical event of the 19th century. The civil war began on April 12, 1861 (Axelrod 4). It lasted four years (Axelrod intro). Slavery was one of the many causes of the war, but it was not the cause of the war (Axelrod 3). Over 1.5 million soldiers fought for the union army or the “north” and approximately 850,000 fought for the confederate army or the “south” (Axelrod intro). There were over 1.1 million causalities during the war which equaled 36% of America’s total population. A total of about 21% of the nation’s young men were killed during this war (Axelrod intro). The civil war did not really affect the theater; however, some theaters were forced to shut down for a year (19th century). Culture is also a big deal in the 19th century. The Population was greatly increasing and Americans had better standards of living (19th century). Small towns and communities became popular with plays and drew in many rural communities (Poole 141). Those small towns also created a theater culture creating ideas of what it means to be an “American” (Poole 141). Another factor that helped the spread of theaters and dramas were small businesses that promoted the plays (19th century). One of the more popular 19th century American plays was Uncle Tom’s Cabin (19th century). The new 19th century culture created many performance places called opera houses (Poole 141). Agriculture is also important in the 19th ...