History of Film

First off, I am in Charlotte, North Carolina right now, and it is beautiful. 

Second off, I really like this book. It's written in an easy-to-read style and has pictures and it's great fun. I like the subject matter.

Did you know that actors were usually in contracts for 7 years that they could not get out of, but the studio could relinquish whenever they wanted to?

And studios were making a film a week at least to keep up with the demand of the public. They had "A," "B," and "C," movies, with "A" movies being made over complex schedules and "C" movies being made in three days. 

But the theatre was a way of escape for many in America who were jobless and homeless. They were inexpensive, and with programs that lasted four plus hours, they gave you somewhere safe and warm to be in an uncertain economy. That's powerful stuff.

Dixon, Wheeler W., and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster. "The Hollywood Studio System in the 1930s and 1940s." A Short History of Film. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2008. 89-108. Print.

Dixon and Foster begin by briefly discussing the transition of sound into Hollywood films. From 1923 to 1927, the studios resisted the change from silent to sound because they feared the economical and technological changes they knew would ensue (89). A troubled Warner Brothers broke the trend with The Jazz Singer in 1927. By 1931, nearly all theaters in the nation were wired for sound, and, due to the Great Depression, many frequented the theaters because they were inexpensive and gave many a safe housing that provided an escape from their harsh realities (90). Dixon and Foster then discuss each studio’s identity, naming MGM as the Tiffany of studios (91). Many directors are discussed as well as what made them memorable. Howard Hawks was known for his strong portrayals of women in a man’s world (99). Fritz Lang wanted to expose social injustices. In fact, he petitioned for a black lead in his films to expose racism. He was denied by MGM (101). Ernst Lubitsch found ways to suggest sex that avoided censorship, while Max Ophus was known as the supreme romanticist of the movies with his luxurious camera movement (107).