FILM-904 Hollywood in the Twenties
The Hollywood studio system was established in the 1910s, but really came into its own in the 1920s. Not coincidentally, movie palaces were constructed in major cities in order to accommodate the large crowds that went to the movies every week. This course will consider the film history of that era as it reflects historical and pop cultural aspects of an exciting decade in which Jazz Age flappers danced the Charleston, mockingly raised a toast to Prohibition, and in other ways announced that they were modern people. The silent film stars on parade include Rudolph Valentino, Charles Chaplin, Clara Bow, Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks and Gloria Swanson. On the technological front, the course will consider how 'The Jazz Singer' and other early talkies revolutionized the film industry at the end of the decade.