Even at the Depression's depths 60 to 80 million Americans attended the movies each week, and, in the face of doubt and despair, films helped sustain national morale. Although the movie industry considered itself Depression- proof, Hollywood was no more immune from the Depression's effects than any other industry.
How did the film industry survive the Great Depression?
Providing a place of escape for the public allowed the film industry to survive the hardships of not only 1932, but the unparalleled unemployment level of 1933. Theaters adjusted to fit their audience's new budgets, and managed to drop ticket prices, while continuing their ledgers move back toward the black.
During the 1930s, the entire film industry transformed and “Hollywood” became synonymous with big studio pictures and became the standard for movies around the world. Films became cheaper to produce as studios vertically integrated the production process, which allowed the price of film attendance to go down.
What role did Hollywood play during the Great Depression?
Hollywood played a valuable psychological role during the Great Depression. It provided reassurance to a demoralized nation. Even at the deepest depths of the Depression, 60 to 80 million Americans attended movies each week.
What was entertainment like during the Great Depression?
Radio programs, music, dancing and dance marathons, and cinema were popular forms of entertainment during the Great Depression. Many people affected by the economic downturn sought inexpensive ways to pass the time and distract themselves from the challenging circumstances.
The Film Industry During the Great Depression (old one)
How did movies made during the Great Depression reflect the time period?
Hollywood responded to the Great Depression almost immediately after the crash of 1929. The films produced were either “social conscious” dramas that reflected the plight of the farmers and white-collar workers who suddenly found themselves in a bread line, screwball comedies or escapist musicals.
How did the Great Depression affect artists and entertainers?
During the 1930s the United States was facing its longest and deepest economic downturn, the Great Depression. Spending money on entertainment was out of the question for most people. The United States put the nation back to work, including artists and entertainers in its assistance programs.
Although the stock market crash of 1929 marked the beginning of the Great Depression, 110 million people still went to the movies in 1930. The introduction of sound proved enticing and Hollywood's profits continued.
Was Hollywood in the golden age during the Great Depression?
The decade marked by the Great Depression and leading into World War II is remembered as Hollywood's Golden Age. During this period, new genres were formed, new stars were born, and the studio system rose to mammoth status.
Why were movies so popular during the Great Depression?
At an average price of $. 27 a ticket, movies offered a relatively inexpensive way to vacation from reality. Always popular, this sort of diversion was especially sought-after during the Great Depression. Audiences gloried in spectacular fantasies of high society and easy living that they would never know.
Why might the entertainment industry remain strong even during the Great Depression?
Movies were also a cheap form of entertainment and they provided a form of escapism from the economic conditions most family' faced. Theaters provided special nights when they gave away items or offered cheaper prices to get in to the movies. they were also the best way to keep up with the government.
During the 1920s, movie attendance soared. By the middle of the decade, 50 million people a week went to the movies - the equivalent of half the nation's population. In Chicago, in 1929, theaters had enough seats for half the city's population to attend a movie each day.
Despite the widespread impact of the Great Depression in America, two industries did not suffer. These industries included entertainment and alcohol. Alcohol, although previously prohibited in the 18th Amendment years earlier, was made legal to produce and sell again with the passage of the 21st Amendment in 1933.
As consumer confidence vanished in the wake of the stock market crash, the downturn in spending and investment led factories and other businesses to slow down production and begin firing their workers. For those who were lucky enough to remain employed, wages fell and buying power decreased.
How did movies and radio affect the Great Depression?
The next year the Great Depression began. Cinemas were among the first businesses to suffer, as their customers lost their leisure dollars. Between 1930 and 1940, one third of all movie houses closed. Those citizens who could no longer afford a weekly trip to the cinema turned to radio for escape.
Hollywood's Golden Age finally came to an end due to two main factors: antitrust actions, and the invention of television. The iconic Hollywood sign. Reprinted from Hollywood 1940 – 2008 by Marc Wanamaker (pg. 19, Arcadia Publishing, 2009).
The 1920s in particular were a freer time, says “Tinseltown” author William J. Mann. “There was an incredible freedom before the production code was established, and so people had a much freer sense of how they could live their lives. Hollywood before the code was a haven for free thinkers and free lovers.”
Hollywood, the place where dreams come true. But in reality, Hollywood, and especially during the “Golden Age” was a place of nightmares. Horrible treatment of actors and actresses, drug addiction, cover ups, forced abortions, eating disorders, death.
Not everyone, however, lost money during the worst economic downturn in American history. Business titans such as William Boeing and Walter Chrysler actually grew their fortunes during the Great Depression.
Which movie actors had great success during the Great Depression?
Large, powerful movie studios turned actors and actresses, such as Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992), young Shirley Temple (1928–), and Mickey Rooney (1920–), into superstars by featuring them in film after film. Rooney played the popular character Andy Hardy in a series of films that could be enjoyed by the whole family.
Artists created idealized visions for the future and experimented with abstraction in response to the changing world around them. Under Roosevelt's government programs, artists found meaningful work in making art for ordinary Americans and publicizing the WPA's accomplishments.
In the Great Depression, the publishing and arts sectors shrank by about a third, like they have again recently. Creatives were desperate. Then, as now, there was private desperation and there was public desperation.
What good things came out of the Great Depression?
In the longer term, it established a new normal that included a national retirement system, unemployment insurance, disability benefits, minimum wages and maximum hours, public housing, mortgage protection, electrification of rural America, and the right of industrial labor to bargain collectively through unions.
Rather, the high-pressure and hectic lifestyles of many artists may lead to depressive symptoms, as tight deadlines, high expectations, fierce criticism, and intense travel are common for such individuals.
