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Movies
The technology for making motion pictures was
developed at the end of the nineteenth century. The first "nickelodeon,"
named after the five-cent price of admission, opened in the United
States in 1905. Within a few years there were thousands of them
across the country, especially in New York City on the Lower East
Side. The new from of entertainment was particularly popular among
working-class immigrants; the price was right and the silent medium
overcame the language barrier.
Over time, films grew from one- or two-minute pieces to the feature-length
we see today. "Talkies," films with sound, were first
introduced to the public in 1927. The new technology helped Hollywood
survive the crash of 1929 and subsequent depression. The theme of
films also developed over time. Early motion pictures usually dealt
with the lives of ordinary people and presented a moral at the end
of the story. In the 1920s, films became more materialistic and
sensual as movie studios sought wider audiences; gangster films
were quite popular. The slump caused by the Depression, however,
forced the industry to accept a conservative production code early
in the 1930s, marking a return to "wholesome values."
Despite the Depression, Hollywood boomed in the late-1930s, turning
out more films to a wider audience at greater profits than ever
before. The industry was unionized during the 1930s as well. The
escapist fare of Hollywood provided relief to 80 million people
a week. People of all classes now flocked to the grand movie palaces
to see their favorite celebrities. Greta Garbo made her first
talkie in 1930. Katherine Hepburn made her film debut in 1932,
Fred Astaire in 1933, and Judy Garland in 1935. Clark Gable won
an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1934 for It Happened One
Night. Shirley Temple became a child star in the 1930s and
Walt Disney made his first feature-length animated film, Snow
White and The Seven Dwarves, in 1938.
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