Hollywood is a district of the American city of Los Angeles, located in California. Currently, it is known to everyone as the center of the global film industry. Famous actors and directors live here, and the films that are produced here have the highest world rating. Having examined briefly the history of Hollywood, it can be noted that during its relatively short existence, cinema has undergone a powerful upsurge in development.
How it all started
In 1853, there was one hut on the site of Hollywood. Until the 70s of the 19th century, agriculture was flourishing in this area, crops were successfully grown here.
Telling briefly the history of the birth of Hollywood, researchers recall the Wilcox spouses. In 1887, they bought this piece of land and built a farm here. The name "Hollywood" the spouses gave him, marking his boundaries. Wood in translation means "forest", and holly - holly (holly) - trees that grew in large numbers in this area. A few years later, the Wilcox couple began to lease part of their land. Gradually, a settlement began to grow around their land, which later became part of Los Angeles.
The rise of the film industry
The history of the creation of Hollywood was continued by Colonel William N. Zeling. He created a film company in Chicago, and part of it was located in Hollywood, having bought a piece of land from Wilcox. At that time, all those who did not have a patent for the film business were prosecuted. The colonel was the legal owner of the rights to film, equipment, copying films, so his film business knew no obstacles.
A large role in the development of the film industry was played by immigrants. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a huge number of people began to move from Europe to America. Interest in cinema increased, which gave a powerful impetus to the development of cinema. New films were needed to meet people's needs. From this time begins the history of Hollywood movie studios.
The first film companies
At this time, a number of film companies appear. One of them is Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, the founder of which was a native of Russia, Louis B. Mayer. Before the film business, he was engaged in the purchase and resale of scrap metal.
Another Paramount film studio was founded by Adolf Zukor, a journeyman with a furry mechanic from Hungary. The Warner Brothers, a bicycle advertising company, founded Warner Brosers. The famous Universal studio was created by German clothing seller Karl Leml.
Thus, enterprising people, who have nothing to do with the film industry, became at the origins of the super-profitable film business at that time, playing a decisive role in the history of Hollywood.
Cinema development
One of the first films in Hollywood’s history was the Indian Man’s Western. Its creator was Cessil B. de Mill.
The nature of Hollywood, cozy houses, streets are ideal for filming various films. As a result, more than 800 films began to be created here annually.
In parallel with the development of cinema, the city’s infrastructure related to the activities of film companies began to develop. At this time, the appearance of entertainment complexes, clubs, restaurants, financial institutions was characteristic. The entire population of Hollywood was divided into two layers - the urban elite and the workers. In place of residential buildings on the main street, new movie studios appeared.
The development of the film industry in the history of Hollywood went very rapidly. Film studios, especially small ones, survived in the face of enormous competition, with difficulty avoiding bankruptcy. As a result, they began to unite in film trusts to strengthen their position. They later teamed up with rental companies. So the film companies Warner Brothers, Paramount and others arose.
The era of color and sound cinema
The year 1935 was marked by the release of the first full-length color film called Becky Sharp. It was directed by director Ruben Mamulian.
In 1953, the first film in widescreen format was released. It was the film of the Shroud of Henry Coster.
A huge advantage over silent cinema was sound cinema. However, the transition to it meant a revolution in cinema. There were a number of problems associated with this transition. The first of these is the purchase of expensive new equipment. At first it was not perfect enough and had flaws in the synchronization of action and sound. Subsequently, this system was improved. In addition, the shooting had to be done in complete silence. Films began to be shot at night to avoid extraneous noise.
The next serious problem of the transition to sound cinema was the loss of foreign sales markets, which amounted to a third of Hollywood's profit. After all, silent films were sold to any country, enclosing a text in the desired language.
Over time, all of these problems were resolved, and the success of sound cinema was overwhelming. In the early thirties of the 20th century, almost every American cinema was equipped with sound equipment. The cinema audience has doubled.
A new wave in the development of cinema
By the sixties of the twentieth century, in the mass audience, which was focused on Hollywood movie production, there is a satiation with films shot according to the template. The existing studio system began to crumble. New ideas were needed that could interest the sophisticated viewer. On the next wave of the development of Hollywood cinema, new names of directors appear, including Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and others. Their ideas marked the beginning of a new era in the development of modern Hollywood cinema.
First star of hollywood
Initially, the actors who starred in American films told their viewers only their pseudonyms. Thus, the audience did not know the real names of the actors, and the producers paid them the same amount of money. For the first time, this unspoken agreement between producers was violated by Universal, which concluded an agreement with actress Florence Lawrence. She first starred under her name. The film company arranged a promotion before the screening of the film, thanks to which it was a stunning success with an intrigued audience, becoming the first American star. As a result, the film company made a good profit. This practice is widespread in other film companies. Since that time, Hollywood actors began to gain fame and fame, world celebrities began to appear. The stories of Hollywood stars have become public.
Hollywood movie stars
Movie business lovers quickly realized that nothing attracted the attention of viewers to the film so much as the participation of a star actor or actress in it. Pinups began to appear at a rapid pace. For each of the actors there was a role. So, for Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton , the images of comedians were fixed, for Tom Mix and William S. Hart - cowboys, Lon Cheney - king of horrors. Female images were divided into innocent girls (Mary Pickford and Lillian Guiche), earthly women (Greta Garbo and Gloria Swenson), vamp women (Paul Negri and Ted Bara), frivolous girls (Louise Brooks and Colin Moore).
Since the movie attracted millions of viewers, the audience watched with great interest everything that happens around their idols. Especially great attention to movie stars attracted scandals. Realistically appreciating the role of advertising of this kind, Hollywood strategists began to punch scandalous stories about Hollywood stars, fueling public interest in them. Over time, the yellow press has become the main source of information about the personal lives of stars.
"Dream Factory"
Hollywood is booming. They began to talk about him around the world. All actresses and actors dreamed of becoming stars of a Hollywood scale. A huge number of young people - young men and women, rushed to Hollywood in search of happiness. They all dreamed of a stellar career. With the light hand of the French journalist Jean-Francois Josaine, Hollywood began to be called the "dream factory", a mirage for seekers of wealth and glory. Here virtue and vice, talent, beauty, alcohol, drugs and money were mixed. Star idols, surrounded by brilliance and extravagance, were admired by millions of moviegoers.
Hollywood Detective Stories
Scandals have become part of the life of star actors. Some of them have become unusual Hollywood detective stories.
In February 1922, director William Desmond was shot from a revolver. The main suspect was his mistress, actress Charlotte Shelby. The motive for the crime was the revenge of the actress for the fact that the director seduced her daughter. However, direct evidence of the guilt of the mother and daughter could not be found. The murder remained unsolved.
The next high-profile detective story of Hollywood was the sudden death of actor Rudolfo Valentino at the age of 31. He played lover heroes and was very popular with the audience. There were many speculations about this unexpected death. The true reason turned out to be quite commonplace - peritonitis.
There are a lot of scandals in which Hollywood stars were involved.
The American public condemned Hollywood for immorality. The so-called “Haines Code” was adopted, which prohibited the negative impact on the moral character of the viewer. However, few adhered to these rules.
Admirable Love
One of the most striking love stories of Hollywood was the novel of first-magnitude stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The relations of these temperamental people were very stormy: joint filming, passion, quarrels, drunken fights, parting and reuniting ... They divorced twice, getting married again. The development of their relationship, which the stars did not hide from the very beginning, was watched by the entire world press.
Another great love story is the relationship between Hollywood star Frank Sinatra and stellar beauty Ava Gardner. For a long time they hid their meetings from society and the press. Frank suffered from love for her, and Ava played with his feelings, starting novels on the side. She left him, and he sought after her. In desperation, Sinatra nearly died from an overdose of sleeping pills. After this, the long-awaited wedding took place. Marital happiness, which lasted several years, was overshadowed by constant scandals, scenes of jealousy, quarrels. After the divorce, their relationship did not end: they continued to meet secretly.
Love stories of modern Hollywood are also noteworthy. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are actors whose age difference is 25 years. Their relationship began when Michael was 56 years old. He was married for 23 years. Faced with the sultry beauty Katherine, Douglas fell in love immediately.
He beautifully looked after her for five months, and, finally, the couple announced that they intend to formalize their relationship. However, Michael's wife did not give a divorce, demanding huge compensation from his multi-million state. But Douglas did not stop it. For the sake of a new lover, he gave his wife part of his fortune. In 2000, a grand wedding took place. None of those around believed in the strength of this marriage. However, it was this marriage that became almost the most durable in modern Hollywood.