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The decade of the 1930s in film involved many significant films. The year 1939, in particular, was one of the biggest years (and is still considered one of the greatest years) in Hollywood with MGM's release of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz . [1]
The 1930s was a decade of political turmoil and economic problems; the Great Depression affected the entire world, and Europe was dealing with both the fallout of World War I and the economic hardships of the time, both of which resulted in the rise of fascist political movements. The uncertainty resulted in the widespread popularity of fantastical escapist fiction. Swashbuckling adventures and the safe scares of the Universal Classic Monsters were highly successful.
Many full-length films were produced in the 1930s. Sound films ("talkies") were a global phenomenon by the early 1930s. Advances in color film included Technicolor and Kodachrome.
The year 1930 is the start of "the golden age of Hollywood", which through at least the 1940s. The studio system was at its height in the 1930s, studios having great control over a film's creative decision. This included the creation of the Hays Code, which was the first large scale attempt at organized censorship of Hollywood films.
This was also a decade in which many memorable stars made their careers and saw their earliest starring roles.
Trends in the 1930s film industry include:
Remakes
Following the switch to talking movies c. 1926/1927, many classic films were remade in the 1930s (and later). These include Alice In Wonderland (1933), Cleopatra (1934), and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937).
Monsters
Among the numerous remakes and new films were the 'monster movies', with a wide spectrum of stereotypical monsters. Given that many of these films were produced by Universal, they are regarded as part of the 'Universal Horror' genre. The first of these films debuted in 1931, and consisted of Dracula, Frankenstein , plus Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , then a 1932 trio with The Mummy , Vampyr , and White Zombie , followed by a 1933 trio of King Kong , The Invisible Man , and Mystery of the Wax Museum . In 1935, appeared Werewolf of London and The Raven leading to 1939's The Hunchback of Notre Dame .
Sequels/spin-offs
Within five years of sound films, sequel films and spin-off plots appeared. Examples include The Son of Kong (same year, 1933), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Dracula's Daughter (1936).
Stars
The 1930s saw the rise of some of the best known performers in acting and film history. The aforementioned Dracula and Frankenstein films both launched the careers of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, respectively; the two men would spend much of the decade starring in Universal Horror films. Actor Errol Flynn, best known for his role as Robin Hood, saw his first starring part in Captain Blood. The Marx Brothers, making their debut at the end of the silent era, rose to fame in the 1930s. The meteoric but short film career of Jean Harlow, The Blonde Bombshell, [2] was completely contained in the 1930s. Fred Astaire, with his frequent partner Ginger Rogers, revolutionized film musicals. [3] With charm [2] [4] and a "distinctive kind of nonmacho masculinity", [5] Cary Grant became the decade's "epitome of masculine glamour". [4] Other stars of this era included Clark Gable, [2] Katharine Hepburn, [2] child star Shirley Temple, Spencer Tracy, [2] and Mae West.
A number of actors from the previous decade continued to be well regarded, such as Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo. [2]
The Hays Code and the end of the Pre-Code era
In response to a number of scandals in the 1920s, the studios adopted a series of guidelines known as the "Hays Code", after its creator Will H. Hays. Hays was the head of the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association, which would later be renamed as the Motion Picture Association of America in 1945. Starting in 1927, Hays began compiling a list of topics which he thought Hollywood should avoid. The code was revealed and implemented in 1930, but it was not until 1934, with the establishment of the Production Code Administration, that it was significantly enforced. Due to this delay in enforcement capability, the Pre-Code era of Hollywood is technically considered to last until 1934, despite the code itself being unveiled in 1930.
The specific date in which the Pre-Code era ends could be considered July 1, 1934. According to an amendment made on June 13, 1934, all films released after July 1 of that year had to receive a PCA certificate of approval. After this, the code was stringently enforced, though various forbidden subjects became less taboo and thus regulations regarding them were gradually relaxed. The code would remain in effect until 1968, when it was abandoned entirely. It was then replaced by the familiar letter rating system.
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), all considered classics. Whale also directed films in other genres, including the 1936 film version of the musical Show Boat.
The 1930s was a decade that began on January 1, 1930, and ended on December 31, 1939. In the United States, the Dust Bowl led to the nickname the "Dirty Thirties".
Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film Frankenstein. As with the first film, Bride of Frankenstein was directed by James Whale starring Boris Karloff as the Monster and Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein. The sequel features Elsa Lanchester in the dual role of Mary Shelley and the bride. Colin Clive reprises his role as Henry Frankenstein, and Ernest Thesiger plays the role of Doctor Septimus Pretorius. Oliver Peters Heggie plays the role of the old blind hermit.
Frankenstein is a 1931 American gothic pre-Code science fiction horror film directed by James Whale, produced by Carl Laemmle Jr., and adapted from a 1927 play by Peggy Webling, which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The Webling play was adapted by John L. Balderston and the screenplay written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort, with uncredited contributions from Robert Florey and John Russell.
Dracula is a 1931 American pre-Code supernatural horror film directed and co-produced by Tod Browning from a screenplay written by Garrett Fort and starring Bela Lugosi in the title role. It is based on the 1924 stage play Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Lugosi portrays Count Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England and preys upon the blood of living victims, including a young man's fiancée.
Dwight Iliff Frye was an American character actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his portrayals of neurotic, murderous villains in several classic Universal horror films, such as Renfield in Dracula (1931) and Fritz in Frankenstein (1931).
Jack Pierce was a Hollywood make-up artist best remembered for creating the iconic makeup worn by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein (1931), along with various other classic monster make-ups for Universal Studios.
The Invisible Man is a 1933 pre-Code American science fiction horror film directed by James Whale loosely based on H. G. Wells's 1897 novel, The Invisible Man, produced by Universal Pictures, and starring Gloria Stuart, Claude Rains and William Harrigan. The film involves a stranger named Dr. Jack Griffin (Rains) who is covered in bandages and has his eyes obscured by dark glasses, the result of a secret experiment that makes him invisible, taking lodging in the village of Iping. Never leaving his quarters, the stranger demands that the staff leave him completely alone until his landlady and the villagers discover he is invisible. Griffin goes to the house of his colleague, Dr. Kemp and tells him of his plans to create a reign of terror. His fiancée Flora Cranley, the daughter of his employer Dr. Cranley, soon learn that Griffin's discovery has driven him insane, leading him to prove his superiority over other people by performing harmless pranks at first and eventually turning to murder.
Dracula's Daughter is a 1936 American vampire horror film produced by Universal Pictures as a sequel to the 1931 film Dracula. Directed by Lambert Hillyer from a screenplay by Garrett Fort, the film stars Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden in the title role, and Marguerite Churchill, and features, as the only cast member to return from the original, Edward Van Sloan – although his character's name was altered from "Van Helsing" to "Von Helsing".
Lionel Alfred William Atwill was an English and American stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the United States, he appeared in Broadway plays and Hollywood films. Some of his more significant roles were in Captain Blood (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939) and To Be or Not to Be (1942).
Son of Frankenstein is a 1939 American horror film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The film is the third in Universal Pictures' Frankenstein series and is the follow-up to the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein. Son of Frankenstein stars Rathbone as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein who, with his wife Elsa and son Peter, returns to his late father's estate. Near the castle lives Ygor, a crazed blacksmith whose neck was broken in an unsuccessful hanging attempt. Among the castle's remains, Frankenstein discovers the remains of the Monster and decides to try to save his family name by resurrecting the creature to prove his father was correct. He finds, however, the Monster only responds to Ygor's commands.
Arthur Edeson, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer. Born in New York City, his career ran from the formative years of the film industry in New York, through the silent era in Hollywood, and the sound era there in the 1930s and 1940s. His work included many landmarks in film history, including The Thief of Bagdad (1924), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Frankenstein (1931), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Casablanca (1942).
Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines in 1934. Although the Hays Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment of the Production Code Administration. Before that date, film content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers.
The Universal Monsters media franchise includes characters based on a series of horror films produced by Universal Pictures and released between 1913–1956.
Shock Theater is a package of 52 pre-1948 classic horror films from Universal Studios released for television syndication in October 1957 by Screen Gems, the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. The Shock Theater package included Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man as well as a few non-horror spy and mystery films. A second package, Son of Shock, was released for television by Screen Gems in 1958, with 20 horror films from both Universal and Columbia.
The Ginger Rogers filmography lists the film appearances of American actress Ginger Rogers, as well as her television, stage, and radio credits. Rogers's career spanned fifty-seven years, from 1930 to 1987.
Frankenstein is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the play version by Peggy Webling and the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. The series follow the story of a monster created by Henry Frankenstein who is made from body parts of corpses and brought back to life. The rest of the series generally follows the monster continuously being revived and eventually focuses on a series of cross overs with other Universal horror film characters such as The Wolf Man. The series consists of the following films: Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
Dracula is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and its 1927 play adaptation. Film historians have had various interpretations over which projects constitute being in the film series; academics and historians finding narrative continuation between Dracula (1931) and Dracula's Daughter (1936), while holding varying opinions on whether Son of Dracula (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945) are part of the series. Author and academic Gary Don Rhodes stated the all the mentioned films would require an audience to be familiar with Count Dracula, portrayed by Bela Lugosi, and the various character traits the actor established in the original 1931 film.
The history of horror films was described by author Siegbert Solomon Prawer as difficult to read as a linear historical path, with the genre changing throughout the decades, based on the state of cinema, audience tastes and contemporary world events.