Film Industry in the 1920s

In the 1920s the film industry began blossoming. It began growing and the most popular types of films at this time were silent films. "By the mid-20s, movies were big business (with a capital investment totaling over $2 billion) with some theaters offering double features. By the end of the decade, there were 20 Hollywood studios, and the demand for films was greater than ever" (Dirks). This is when the industry was the most prodomiant and your choices of films were wide. Although they weren't as avaliable to the public as what they are now the 1920s definitley made a mark in the film industry. "Most people are unaware that the greatest output of feature films in the US occurred in the 1920s and 1930s (averaging about 800 film releases in a year) - nowadays, it is remarkable when production exceeds 500 films in a year" (Dirks). 


Genre became known in the twenties as well as several different genre styles. "The major genre emphasis was on swashbucklers, historical extravaganzas, and melodramas, although all kinds of films were being produced throughout the decade" (Dirks). Westerns became very popular in the 1920s and would continue to be throughout the next several decades. 

The 1920s films were becoming a lifestyle. "The studio system was essentially born with long-term contracts for stars, lavish production values, and increasingly rigid control of directors and stars by the studio's production chief and in-house publicity departments" (Dirks).  This is when many women became involved in the industry and were signed to studios as contract stars. Hollywood began to lead the world in film production. "After World War I and into the early 1920s, America was the leading producer of films in the world - using Thomas Ince's "factory system" of production, although the system did limit the creativity of many directors" (Dirks). Hollywood went full steam ahead and kept producing major productions. "Production was in the hands of the major studios (that really flourished after 1927 for almost 20 years), and the star system was burgeoning" (Dirks). 

Also in the 1920s is when we started to see the major studios form and become predominant. The big five studios consisted of Warner Brothers, Paramount, RKO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and 20th Century Fox. There were also three minor studios which were Universal, United Artists, and Columbia. And then there were the Independent Studios will ilnclude Disney, 20th Century Pictures, and Republic Pictures. 

"The top box-office stars in the 1920s included Harold Lloyd, Gloria Swanson, Tom Mix, Norma Talmadge, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Colleen Moore, Norma Shearer, John Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Lon Chaney, Sr., Clara Bow, and "Little Mary" Pickford" (Dirks).  

The History of Film: The 1920s http://www.filmsite.org/20sintro.html