war, film making almost stopped in Europe, partly because a chemical used
in celluloid was needed for making gunpowder. The American film industry
thrived during the war because there was money for making films; and also
because of popular the genius of D. W. Griffith. In 1915 Griffith made The
Birth Of Nation, a film about the American Civil War and in 1916 he made
Intolerance. These three hour’s films were American’s answer to the
spectacular Italian films such as Quo Vadis that had earlier astonished the
world. For Intolerance Griffith had built a set of an ancient Babylonian
city, which was over a mile long, and he photograph it from a balloon.
Griffith was a genius, not just because he could show huge and thrilling
scenes on the screen, but because he was aware of the artistic
possibilities of film.
The actors in the old-sealers had mostly been unknown and their
performances very poor. Because the films were silent, actors made up for
lack of speech by frantic and unnatural gestures and movements. A new and
better style of acting was adopted by a young American actress called Marry
Pickford who showed that a simple natural style was more effective on the
screen than dramatic arm-waving and chest-thumping. Her fame spread across
the Atlantic. In 1918, she signed a contract for more than a million
dollars. The stars system was born.
About the same time, some of the slapstick comedians developed unique
comedy styles, and also became world-famous stars. Charlie Chaplin, the
little man with the derby hat, cane, and boggy pants, became the most
famous (he, too, sealed a million-dollar contract). But others such as
Buster Heaton, Harold Lloyd, and Harry Langdon were also widely acclaimed.
They were great artists whose work is still popular today. By 1920 the
cinema had became the most popular form of leisure activity outside the
home.
Film studios such as Metro-Goldwin Meyer, Paramount, Warner’s, 20th
Century Fox, and United Artists developed a system for producing films on
the same principle that Henry Ford used for his cars- the assembly like
Hollywood, on the west coast of the United States, became the center of the
film industry. Its climate, light and physical surroundings were suited to
the film industry, which shot much material out of doors. Film making
thrived. In succeeding years, many great films were made in Hollywood,
beginning with the silent films, followed, in the mid-twenties, by the
first sound pictures.
The first animated cartoon drawn in the United States especially for
film was done in 1906 by J. Stuart Blackton. The first full-length animated
feature film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made in 1937.
The stars of the films being produced in Hollywood became known
throughout the world. Among them were famous Cagney, Clark Gable, Marlene
Dietrich, who had first appeared in films in Germany, the Swedish Greta
Garbo and the young Shirley Temple. Some of the most famous stars were
Mickey Mouse and characters from Walt Disney’s cartoon. Leading film makers
included John Ford, Howard Hawks, Frank Capra and George Cukor.
During World War II some of the best Americans directors in the US
were recruited by the War Department, because films were needed to help
raise the morale of servicemen. Among the best films of this war period
were Frank Capra’s ''Why We Fight'' series (1942-45). Walt Disney’s
animated films; and documentaries about important battlers directed by
Garson Kanin, John Huston, Billy Wilder. Orson Welles’s masterpiece
''Citizen Kane'' (1940) was the story of a newspaper tycoon. After the war
high-quality films continued to pour out of the United States. They
included Charlie Chaplin’s ''Limelight'' (1952), the fine Western Shane
(1956), a drama of the New York docks called On The Waterfront (1954) and
many high-spirited musicals of which An American In Paris (1951) was
outstanding. Alfred Hitchcock made his best films during this period.
''Psycho'' with its famous murder-in-the-shower scene was probably the most
successful. Despite these successes the great studios began to get into
financial difficulties because of declining audiences.
However, the late 1960s saw a turning point in the American film
industry with the release of a number of films appealing to the youth
market, which drew enormous audiences. The most famous of these were Arthur
Penn’s ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967) and Dennis Hopper’s ''Easy Rider''
(1969). Realising that they could no longer rely on their traditional
family audiences, film makers increasingly concentrated on films for the so-
called ‘teenage market’, science fiction and fantasy ‘blockbusters’ with
computer enhanced special effects Dolby sound such as George Lucas’s ''Star
Wars'' (1977) and Steven Spielberg’s ''Raiders Of The Lost Ark'' (1981)
became very popular.
Popcorn
Today Americans still continue the custom of eating popcorn at the
movies. Americans use 500,000 pounds of popcorn every year. All corn does
not pop. A seed or kernel of corn must have 14 percent water in it to pop.
Other kinds of pop have less water and do not pop. When you put a kernel of
corn on a fire, the water inside makes the corn explode. This makes a ‘pop’
noise. That is why we called it popcorn. The American Indians popped corn a
long time ago. The Indians knew there were three kinds of corn. There was
sweet corn for eating, corn for animals, and corn for popping. The Indians
introduced corn to the first settlers, or Pilgrims, when they come to
America in 1620. One year after they came, the Pilgrims had a Thanksgiving
dinner. They invited the Indians. The Indians brought food with them. One
Indian brought popcorn. Since that time Americans continued to pop corn at
home. But in 1945 there was a new machine that changed the history of
popcorn. This electric machine popped corn outside the home. Soon movie
theatres started to sell popcorn to make more money. Popcorn at the movies
became more and more popular. Many people like to put salt and melted
butter on their popcorn. Some people eat it without salt or butter. Either
way - Americans love their popcorn!
The Oscar.
The Oscars are awarded every year by the American Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Science. These statuettes are awarded to actors, film
directors, screenwriters and so on for outstanding contributions to the
film industry. The Oscars were first awarded in 1927. The first winners
were chosen by five judges. Nowadays all of the members of the Academy
vote. The ceremony is attended by most Hollywood stars, although some
famous stars, such as Woody Allen, refuse to go, even if they win an award.
The oldest winner of an Oscar was 80-year- old Jessica Tandy for her
performance in the film “Driving Miss Daisy” in 1990. The youngest was
Shirley Temple when she was only five years old. The statuette is of
soldier standing on a reel of film. Nobody is really sure why it is called
an Oscar, although some people say that it is because when the first
statuette was made, a secretary said, “It reminds me of Uncle Oscar!”
Hollywood.
When people think about of Hollywood, they probably think of film stars
like Marilyn Monroe, Gary Grant and James Dean. Hollywood is the center of
the international movie industry and American movies are distributed all
over the world. They are made in English but often dubbed into other
languages. In some countries 90 percent of the movies that people see are
US production. Sometimes, a film is not very popular with Americans, but
people in other countries like it. The first films were made in Hollywood
in 1911. Between 1930-1945, the five largest Hollywood’s studios produced
most of the movies and owned most of the movie theatres in the United
States. Making films is expensive. On the average, it costs 36 million
dollars to produce a movie. Some of this goes to pay the salary of well-
known movie stars and large sums can be spent on special effects like
computer-generated imagery (CGI). Marketing the movie to the public may
cost another 17 million dollars or more. To cover these costs film
companies receive money for movie theatre tickets and the sale or rental of
videos. They also sell CDs of the soundtrack and toys, books, or clothes
associated with the movie. Indeed, there was a time when Hollywood was the
most famous place in the USA, if not the world.
The Hollywood story begins at the end of the last century.
1887. A man called Harvey Wilcox bought a large ranch in a district
north-west of Los Angeles in California. His wife called the land
‘Hollywood’.
1902-04. The first cinemas (‘nickelodeons’) opened in the USA.
1911. Two brothers from New Jersey built Hollywood’s first film studio.
1912. Film-makers from the east coast of the USA came to California,
first in small number and then in thousands.
1912. The Hollywood industry was born.
There were several reasons why film makers went to Hollywood. Firstly,
there was a lot of space, secondly, California’s warm sunny weather was
ideal for making films outside. Thirdly, there was a variety of locations
for filming: ocean, mountains, deserts, villages, woodland and rivers.
By 1939 the great dream factory studios made nearly 500 movies a year,
drew American audience of 50 million a week and earned over 700 million
dollars at the box office-all with the help of 30,000 employees who dealt
