The Golden Age of Hollywood

Hollywood’s “Golden Age” from the 1920s to the 1940s is one of the most infamous periods of all time.  Studios were able to create a desirable and aesthetic product while using industrial and assemble-line techniques.  Through vertical integration, Hollywood studios like MGM, Paramount, 20^th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and RKO, also known as the “Big Five,” were able to control every step of the process of making movies from production, distribution, and exhibition.  Studios had all writers, directors, and actors under contract and shot all scenes on their studio sets, making production faster and cheaper.  Studios also owned their own movie theaters where their movie could be screened, often for an entire year. 

                                                      Casablanca, Meet Me in St. Louis, Citizen Kane & Gone With the Wind

From vertical integration, Hollywood studios turned into money machines and limited the types of genres they created, often to one.  Warner Bros. became known for detective and gangster pictures and with Humphrey Bogart under contract, made Bogart synonymous with crime-thriller movies.  MGM also narrowed their genres to musicals with actors like Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.  Actors in staples would often make up to four movies a year and paid a yearly income, compared to today where actors make millions of dollars for one few every few years. 

             While for the most part house-style studios have disappeared, some aspects still remain today.  Many actors are often type cast into characters or genres of movies.  Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are slap stick comedians, and Sylvester Stalone and Jason Statham are action heroes, and are often linked to the same studio or director.  Hollywood’s Classical Era may be over, but heads of studios continue to reinvent the industry hoping to make the same impact as the “Golden Age.”