American Movies of the 1920's

The years following the devastating war take place prior to 1920 and fortunately left the United States unharmed. The United States was therefore able to experience a decade of peace and prosperity following one of the most devastating wars. One of the reason’s America was able to prosper was because technology played a vital part in bringing the economic and culture prosperity that America experienced in the 1920’s. New advancements, new inventions and the discoveries improved American lives in numerous ways. The combination of an increase in American recreation and the invention of the automobile helped in bringing success to the movie industry. Early movie attendance was low due to the distribution of theaters. As soon as the automobile was more popular, transportation was less of a hassle and movie attendance increased. The history of film spans from the early part of the nineteenth century. Motion pictures developed gradually from carnival novelty to one of the most important tools of communication and entertainment. Many of the films in the 20th century were silent. In the silent era of film, marrying the image with sound was not possible for the inventors and producers. For the first thirty years of the history of film, they were silent, and sometimes were accompanied by live musicians and sometimes sound effect and commentary were spoken by the showman. In the earliest silent films the actors were responsible for method acting or pantomime to portray their feelings to the audience. This in itself took much talent from the actors and actresses to help the audience feel the total impact of the movie. The movie industry became a huge part of American industry in general. Movies became America’s favorite form of entertainment. “Early movie stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks became idols to the American people who set trends in clothing and hairstyles” (James, 2009). Although the movies were a