The first great cinematic boom didn’t take place in

Hollywood or even in California. It actually

happened in New Jersey. The first films were
rudimentary affairs, but the story of cinema is a
story of rapid technological advances. The latest
Marvel movie may not seem to have much in
common with a nickelodeon, but the people in
theater seats waiting to be entertained throughout
the decades have been proof that no matter what
level of filmmaking sophistication is currently
available, audiences love looking at a story told as a
flickering image projected on a screen.
The Pioneer Era
The first era of moviemaking lasted from 1895 to
1910. Incredible leaps in filming techniques were
made during this time. The first narrated film was
released in 1905 and was a story about a visit to the
moon that lasted about five minutes. It was very
different from the silent newsreels and recordings of
stage plays that predominated until Georges Méliès
released his tale of the moon. Méliès also invented
several rudimentary special effect techniques that
other filmmakers rushed to follow.
•
 • The Early History of Film in Gilded-Age
America
• Best Movies of the 1900s: Top Films from
1900 to 1909
• Timeline of Greatest Film Milestones and
Turning Points in Film History: 1900
• 1900s: Early Cinema in the United States

The Silent Era

Filmmakers started organizing into movie studios to
make silent films that were popular not only in the
United States but also in Europe. Film editing started
to become a major element of filmmaking during
this time. The films also told a cohesive story, and
genres like comedies, westerns, romances, and
historical sagas became very popular. The first
international movie stars emerged during this
period. Two notable stars were Charlie Chaplin and
Mary Pickford. Together with early action star
Douglas Fairbanks and director D.W. Griffith, they
founded United Artists, an early movie studio.
•

• From Nosferatu to Metropolis: A

Beginner’s Guide to the Silent Era
• The Silences of the Silent Era
• 30 Essential Films of the Silent Era
• Why We Need to Keep Searching for
Lost Silent Films
The Sound Era
Hollywood and the film industry changed forever in
1927 when Warner Bros. Pictures released The Jazz
Singer, the first full-length feature film with sound.
The rise of the talkies changed the movie landscape
forever. Many silent movie stars were unable to
make the transition, and new stars quickly rose to
take their places. New genres, like horror movies
and movie musicals, used sound to its fullest effect.
New movie theaters appeared nationwide, equipped
with nicer seating and sound so that they could
show talkies. Soon, five major Hollywood studios
emerged as the industry leaders, making the vast
majority of movies released each year.
•

• When Did Sound First Appear in

Movies?
• How Talkies Changed the Film Industry
• Seven Silent Film Actors Who
Transitioned to Talkies
• The True Story Behind the Rise of the
Talkies in Downton Abbey: A New Era
Goldmic90, CC BY-SA 4.0
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>,
via Wikimedia Commons
The Golden Age
The Golden Age of film began during the Great
Depression. People were desperate for an escape,
and films were an inexpensive way to leave the
cares of the real world behind. Color movies started
being released in this time period, and films like The
Wizard of Oz took full advantage of advancements in
special effects and the ability to shoot in color to
create movie magic. More genres were introduced
during this period. New stars like Jimmy Cagney and
Humphrey Bogart popularized gangster movies.
World War II meant many young male stars left
Hollywood to serve in the armed forces, but it also
brought about advances in technology and an
interest in war movies.
•

• When Was the Golden Age of

Hollywood, and Why Did it End?
• The Golden Age of Hollywood: Its Rise,
Decline, and Legacy
• How TV Killed Hollywood’s Golden Age
• Golden Age of Hollywood
The Blockbuster Era
The next great change the movie industry faced was
the spread of television. Once people could stay at
home and be entertained, it became a challenge for
studios to get them to go to movie theaters. Filmed
spectacles were one way the studios convinced
people to keep going to the theater: Lush spectacles
didn’t play well on small televisions. By the 1970s,
filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg
were ushering in the age of the blockbuster. Movies
like Star Wars were made possible by special effects
generated by computers. The blockbuster era also
brought in the idea of the summer blockbuster, a
movie with lots of special effects and action that
kids and college students would flock to the theaters
to see over summer break.
•

• Blockbuster Era
• The Rise of the Summer Blockbuster
and the End of the Hollywood Auteur
Dominance
• Jaws: The Groundbreaking Summer
Blockbuster That Changed Hollywood,
and Our Summer Vacations, Forever
• The Blockbuster Era and High-Concept
Cinema
The Modern Film Era
Some have named this the Marvel era of Hollywood.
The release of Iron Man in 2008 changed the
Hollywood landscape. Although X-
Men and Batman had been successful earlier in the
decade, the success of Iron Man and the eventual
creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe meant
that reboots, sequels, and comic book plots
dominated the release schedules of major movie
studios. Genres like romantic comedies, which had
been huge in the 1990s, were largely relegated to
streaming services. Movie theaters started
adding seating that reclined or had footrests so that
people could enjoy the latest chapter in their
favorite comic book saga in a chair almost as
luxurious as the ones they had at home.
•

• The Franchise Era: Blockbuster

Hollywood in the 2010s and Beyond
• How 2020 Changed Hollywood, and the
Movies, Forever
• The Marvelization of Hollywood
• Marvel Stardom Helps Fuel Indie Boom
for Supporting Actors