1920’s Store / Movies / 1920’s Movies

1920’s Movies

October 7, 2008 by 1920s

The early silent movies were often accompanied by live piano or organ music and provided enormous entertainment value to audiences everywhere. Huge crowds flocked to the early theaters and paid a nickel for the novelty.

Although various attempts had been made to introduce sound, it wasn't until 1923 that a commercially distributed film contained a synchronised sound track that was photographically recorded and printed on to the side of the strip of motion picture film. It would still be seven years before talking pictures gained supremacy and finally replaced the silent era.

Casablanca Poster

1927 was the year when research into synchronized sound started to pay-off and new talking-picture technologies saw the light of day. The Warner Bro's Vitaphone sound–on–disc system was used for "The Jazz Singer". Vitaphone competitors, "Movietone" sound-on-film by Western Electric, and "Photophone" by RCA were also developed.

By 1927 Hollywood had become the center of movie-making in the U.S. with 85% of U.S. movie production occurring in or around Hollywood. Good weather and a wide variety of scenic locations were factors in its success. Whole new industries grew in conjunction with the film business including zoos and animal supply companies, costume suppliers, and casting agencies.

Wizard of Oz Poster

The 1920s represented the era of greatest output in the US movie market. An average of 800 films were produced annually. Although developments in color and sound were still in the experimental stage a strong demand for movies, and therefore potential for profit, encouraged production of "talkies" for commercial release.

The huge Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio was founded by Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer in 1924. Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin rose to stardom in this era, which also saw the premier of the first Walt Disney animated cartoon and the debut of Mickey Mouse.