1. THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD

2.   The 1930s decade has been nostalgically labeled "The Golden Age of Hollywood" (although most of the output [FILMS] of the decade was black-and-white).  The 30s was also the decade of the sound and color revolutions and the advance of the 'talkies', and the further development of film genres.  gangster films  musicals  newspaper-reporting films  historical biopics  social-realism films  lighthearted screwball comedies  westerns  horror THE GOLDEN 30’S

3.   As the 1930s began, there were a number of unique firsts.  young 'platinum blonde' star Jean Harlow appeared in her first major role in Howard Hughes' World War I aviation epic, Hell's Angels (1930); the "Blonde Bombshell" was signed by MGM in 1932 and soon became a major star!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iabQmjaWC M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iabQmjaWC M THE GOLDEN 30’S

4.   the first of Hollywood's dramatic prison dramas (a new subgenre) was produced by MGM, The Big House (1930), directed by George Hill.  in 1930, the Motion Picture Production Code, administered by Joseph I. Breen set film guidelines regarding sex, violence, religion, and crime (not yet strictly enforced until the Production Code Administration (1934)  Curly-topped, dimpled child star Shirley Temple appeared in her first films, an Our Gang type series of shorts titled Baby Burlesks (1933)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsCQ0t-3t1I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsCQ0t-3t1I THE GOLDEN 30’S

5.   The first appearance of the cartoon character Popeye was in the Betty Boop cartoon from Paramount and Max Fleischer, Popeye the Sailor.  The world's first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, N.J. in June, 1933; the fourth drive-in was located on Pico in Los Angeles, CA and opened in September, 1934.  Walt Disney's 8-minute The Wise Little Hen (1934) featured the first appearance of Donald Duck.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvgTElZPD-o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvgTElZPD-o THE GOLDEN 30’S

6.   Most of the early talkies were successful at the box- office, but many of them were of poor quality.  dialogue-dominated play adaptations, with stilted acting (from inexperienced performers) and an unmoving camera or microphone.  Screenwriters were required to place more emphasis on characters in their scripts, and +  title-card writers became unemployed  THE SOUND ERA IS COMING OF AGE

7.   One of the first 'color' films was Thomas Edison's hand-tinted short Annabell's Butterfly Dance.  Two-color (red and green) feature films were the first color films produced, including the first two-color feature film The Toll of the Sea, and then better- known films such as Stage Struck (1925) and The Black Pirate (1926).  It would take the development of a new three-color camera, in 1932, to usher in true full-color Technicolor. Two-Color and Three- Color Technicolor