Cinema: A Look in Time of the Great Depression Audrey Garrett and Conor Brennan

Why was it popular? 60-80 million people attended the movies during the Great Depression Movies provided relief and escape Attracted people by offering sweepstakes and drawings at the theater for prize money "During the Depression, when the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles." - President Franklin Roosevelt

Why was it popular? (continued) The movies were rejuvenated with profanity, violence and sex, which attracted customers Allowed people to forget their troubles for a couple of hours Famous actors emerged during the 1930s Katharine Hepburn Shirley Temple Clark Gable Cary Grant

Actors Clark Gable Katharine Hepburn Shirley Temple Cary Grant

The Movies Reflected The People In the 1930s movies made the stories parallel with that of a perfect government and personal success In the early thirties movies such as M(1931), City Lights(1931), Scarface(1932), Frankenstein(1931) and Treasure Island(1934) were released Later on movies such as Gone With the Wind(1939), The Wizard of Oz(1939), Snow White and the Seven Dwarves(1937) were released Early on in the depression movies provided an escape from the real world, whereas towards the end they were still an escape, but the stories were more intricate and complex

Famous Movies during the Depression I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang Gone With the Wind The Wizard of Oz My Man Godfrey Modern Times

Screwball Comedy New genre of comedy that developed during the Great Depression theme of juxtaposition educated vs. uneducated rich vs. poor male vs. female A mix of sophistication and slapstick Made the rich look snobby and the poor noble My Man Godfrey

Was Hollywood All That Glamorous? There were 17,541 people registered as extras at the Central Casting Office, and this list had to be cut to 1,500 “A mere pencil mark, and fifteen thousand would-be actors and actresses will be flung out of the world of motion pictures forever, into the streets of Hollywood.” (Hamilton 1) Most “extras” got one day’s work in seven months People resorted to living outside the studio doors in hopes of a job offer “I could have the job if I had a pair of glasses. It means 5 dollars - God knows I need it.” (Hamilton 3)

BIBLIOGRAPHY Dirks, Tim. "Film History of the 1930s." Film History of the 1930s. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.filmsite.org/30sintro.html>. Hamilton, Sara. "The Tragedy of 15,000 Extras." Photoplay Magazine Nov. 1934: 1-3. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/Hollywood_history_of_Movie_Extras-pdf>. "Hollywood in the Depression." N.p., 15 Dec. 2000. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/film/hollywooddepression.html>. Price, Patrick. "The Impact of Hollywood During the Great Depression." North Shore Senior Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <https://www.nssc.org/index.php?pid=10&bid=35&page=the-impact-of-hollywood-during-the-great-depression>. "Screwball Comedy." Modern Times. N.p., 2007. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <http://moderntimes.com/screwball/>. Whitington, Paul. "How the Great Depression Inspired Hollywood's Golden Age." Entertainment Movies. N.p., 10 Apr. 2008. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/how-the-great-depression-inspired-hollywoods-golden- age-26481978.html>.