The four Warner brothers, Albert, Sam, Harry, and Jack, first entered the movie business as film exhibitors travelling around Ohio. They bought their first theaters in New Castle, Pennsylvania and became major distributors on the east coast. They soon realized, however, that maximum profits could only be had by producing films as well as distributing and exhibiting them. So, they headed west to California. In 1918, the brothers built their first studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. This was their home base for such hits as those directed by Ernst Lubitsch and those starring the courageous canine Rin Tin Tin. Warner Brothers became the main studio for sound shorts by working with Vitaphone technologies. In 1927, they released the first feature length sound film with dialogue, The Jazz Singer. Another milestone was achieved when the studio bought the Stanley Company of America for its theaters. Now Warner Brothers was vertically integrated like its competitor studios, controlling the production, distribution, and exhibition of their films. …show more content…
First National’s studio in Burbank, California, built in 1926, became the main studio. During the “Golden Era” of Hollywood, Warner Brothers had a slew of stars under contract: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Humphrey Bogart, among many others. They released such classics as The Public Enemy, 42nd Street, and Casablanca during this time. Also in the 1930s, Warner Brothers established an animation unit that would go on to create the iconic Looney Tunes characters. Warner Brothers stood out from other studios because of its use of realism. Gangster and crime films were common, as were “social issue” films, often inspired by contemporary headlines. An example is I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, which highlighted the problems of the prison system at the
As the 1920’s came to a close and America was in the midst of the Great Depression, a new genre of film was becoming popular. With 1928’s Lights of New York the “gangster” film genre as we know it today was born. Little Caesar and The Public Enemy (1931) were also highly influential and set the scene for the modern gangster film. The culmination of the gangster genre came about a year later. Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932), is one of the boldest and most political gangster films ever made. Many changes were made by industry censor boards due to the diabolical nature of the film. Most notably, all scenes that contained shots of blood were removed and a subtitle was tacked onto the film denoting it as Scarface: The Shame of the Nation. Considered
The sub genre “Hood Movies” was first introduced in American movies where most of the movies exposed problems with/by/from black protagonists. The movies from this genre are mostly debunkers portraying problems like drug abuse, racial discrimination with blacks, gang rapes, street gangs, hip hop music, Maras, shattered familial problems, illegal immigration, poverty and etc. Most of the films from this genre, typically have a very similar story line like “An urban Black youth facing problems either with poverty or immediate danger in the neighborhood.” This quality present in any movie depicts Hood Films.
The four creative minds behind the beginning of Warner Bros. were Jack, Harry, Sam, and Albert Warner (Company par 3). Their parents’ names were Benjamin and Pearl Lean Eichelbaum, and together they had twelve children (Warner par 2). Jack Warner was born on August 2, 1892 in London, Ontario; Jack’s actual name was Jacob, but it was soon changed after his birth (Jack Leonard par 2). When Jack was two years old, his family moved to Youngstown, Ohio, and in 1907 the family’s last name was changed to Warner (Warner par 2). Jack inspired to be an actor since he was young boy; Jack even selected Leonard to be his middle name after a minstrel he adored (Jack Leonard par 3). He began to sing and tell jokes before and after shows and operettas, and he was used to clear audiences from the showing so people could start to move in for the next (Jack Leonard par 3). Jack joined the Air Force during WWII and was ranked as a Lieutenant Colonel (Jack Leonard par 4). In 1914, Jack married Irma Solomon (Jack Leonard par 7)....
MGM’s name was derived from the three subsumed companies: Goldwyn Pictures, Metro Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Productions (Hanson para 2). MGM was formed under the finance of Marcus Loew (Collins para 1). Marcus Loew merged Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures on April 17, 1924. After he bought the two companies he went after Louis B. Mayer Productions; he bought the company for $75,000 (Hay 15). Louis B. Mayer was chosen to be the vice president-general manager of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Collins para 1). The new studio resided in Culver City, California on Goldwyn Pictures’ old lot (Collins para 3).
When one thinks of a gangster they may think of speakeasies and classy cars or maybe drive-bys, but they will always imagine a man who is not afraid to get his hands dirty to grasp for a higher place on the social ladder. They will think of a man portrayed in a genre of cinema more American than any other, the gangster film. This genre began in the early thirties and has been re-adapted each decade to fit a new time. Although gangster films may mold themselves to fit into a certain cultural era, they still stay deeply tied to the foundations of the genre and its historical relevance to the american dream. This is apparent when comparing the differences and similarities between The Public Enemy and American Gangster. To better understand this comparison one needs to understand the origination of some of the classic conventions of the gangster film genre.
In film, many times the auteur often uses the medium to convey a moral or make a social commentary. In the case of Howard Hawkes’s original version of Scarface, there is more being portrayed through the characters then merely the story. Hawkes makes a statement about the façade of organized crime, and the farce of the American Dream.
Like most things captured on film for the purpose of being marketed, the richness of gangster life, with sex, money, and power in surplus, is glorified, and thus embraced by the audience. And as a rule, if something works Hollywood repeats it, ala a genre. What Scarface and Little Caesar did was ultimately create a genre assigning powerful qualities to criminals. Such sensationalism started with the newspapers who maybe added a little more color here and there to sell a few more copies, which is portrayed in Scarface’s two newspaper office scenes. Leo Braudy denounces genres as offending “our most common definition of artistic excellence” by simply following a predetermined equation of repetition of character and plot. However, Thomas Schatz argues that many variations of plot can exist within the “arena” that the rules of the genre provide.
In recent times, such stereotyped categorizations of films are becoming inapplicable. ‘Blockbusters’ with celebrity-studded casts may have plots in which characters explore the depths of the human psyche, or avant-garde film techniques. Titles like ‘American Beauty’ (1999), ‘Fight Club’ (1999) and ‘Kill Bill 2’ (2004) come readily into mind. Hollywood perhaps could be gradually losing its stigma as a money-hungry machine churning out predictable, unintelligent flicks for mass consumption. While whether this image of Hollywood is justified remains open to debate, earlier films in the 60’s and 70’s like ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (1967) and ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) already revealed signs of depth and avant-garde film techniques. These films were successful as not only did they appeal to the mass audience, but they managed to communicate alternate messages to select groups who understood subtleties within them.
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
New York circa 1950 to 1960, when the film would take place, was full of gang violence and juvenile delinquents. Arthur Laurents, and Leonard Bernstein had been meeting up, trying to collaborate on a work which would end up falling through. Spying a Los Angeles Times headline on gang violence in 1955 be...
Walt Disney Pictures (Production Co.), & Armstrong, S., Ferguson, N., Jackson, W., Kinney, J., Roberts, B., Sharpsteen, B. (Directors). (1941). Dumbo [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures.
Every film can be related back to socially significant issues that occurred during the time it was released. It’s a snapshot of the issues during that time period. Film is not created in a vacuum. As described in our textbook, film “Conveys “the temper of an age of a nation” as well as that of the artists who produces it” (Belton 22). Films tend to reflect current society, country ideals or beliefs in order for the audience to relate. Some of those techniques used include, the American dream, family, corruption, divorce, and crime. If a director decides not include current social issues than it becomes harder for an audience to relate to the film because they will not be able to connect to the characters and get into their shoes. One film that encompasses all of these current social issues is American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013). This film is a melodrama because of the context and social issues this film deals with. American Hustle has a social significance to today’s current culture, society, beliefs and social issues through the use of the American dream, corruption, divorce, crime and family.
For the next three decades, the movie industry in the United States and the rest of the world operated by according to these principles. Cultural, social and economic changes ensured the demise of this system after the Second World War. A new way to run Hollywood was required. Beginning in 1962, Lew Wasserman of Universal Studios emerged as the key innovator in creating a second studio system. He realized that creating a global media conglomerate was more important than simply being vertically integrated.
Carl Laemmle who was a film exhibitor, and producer formed the American motion picture studio in 1912. The studio started off creating low budget films, until it was purchased by the Music Corporation of America, which formed it into the most profitable and largest company for films and television in the world.
The American motion picture studio was formed in 1912 by Carl Laemmle who was a film exhibitor, and producer. The studio started off creating low budget films, until it was purchased by the Music Corporation of America, which formed it into the most profitable and largest company for films and television in the world.