Over 100 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine the Hollywood of today. Massive international box office pictures with outrageous budgets are all fighting to be the next billion-dollar franchise film. Studios all over the world compete to rake in the most at the box office, or instead, now most seem to be shifting between box-office dollars and proprietary subscription services. There are many moving parts to the industry today, but that was not always the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “Hollywood” that truly made Hollywood famous was controlled by just a few big studios. These studios weren’t just making movies; they practically owned the whole system. They held the rights to the pictures, had leading stars in multi-year contracts, and even owned all the major theaters. They also propelled technological advances like talking pictures, studio lighting, anamorphic lenses, aspect ratios, and color film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s dive into the early years, the evolution of cinema, and the downfall of the Golden Age of Hollywood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There isn’t a definitive starting year to the Golden Age of Hollywood. Some scholars credit 1915’s The Birth of a Nation<\/a><\/em> as one of the earliest films of the period, but the true mass appeal of cinema and non-stop release of films didn’t happen until the 1920s and 1930s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n