The leisure industry, cinema, jazz, dancing, motoring

Give 3 reasons Hollywood became so popular for shooting films.

It was sunny year-round

It was only a short drive away from mountains, oceans, deserts and forests

Land in California was plentiful and cheap

What was the name of the new system in place to streamline the production of films?

The ‘studio system’

How did the ‘studio system’ work?

Films had an appointed producer that supervises everyone involved in one location

What was the ‘star system’?

Stars were tied to studios by long-term contracts, and the studio’s chief of production would decide which films they starred in, as opposed to the director of each individual film.

How else did the ‘Big Five’ major studios make millions?

Owning their own cinemas so they could charge high ticket prices.

How many cinemas were there in the US by 1920?

20,000

What did Hollywood nickname the minor studios?

‘Poverty Row’

How did ‘poverty row’ cinemas keep costs to a minimum?

Re-using stock footage

Did film budgets rise or fall in the ‘20s?

They rose

Give 2 examples of long-lasting effects of the boom in the film industry

Our language (eg. box office)

Our perception of film stars

How come the film industry did not suffer immediately after the WSC?

People longed for excitement, glamour, and escapism from the Great Depression, and hard and dull times.

Which film was critical of the impact of assembly lines on worker’s mental health?

Who made it?

Which year?

Modern Times

Charlie Chaplin

1936

State the name of the first ‘talkie’ and who starred in it

The Jazz Singer

Al Jolson

Name 2 silent movie stars whose careers were damaged by the introduction of ‘talkies’, and where they were from.

Clara Bow, Brooklyn

Greta Garbo, Sweden