Lisa's Nostalgia Cafe - 1930s Movies & Theater


Color Before the 1920s, moviemakers tried many different ways to add color to their films. Their efforts fell into two categories: 1) hand-tinting, color washes and toning, which added color after the film was developed. 2) true color photography using the two-strip method. The first experiments with true color photography were conducted around 1900. During the 1900s and 1910s, a variety of primitive two-strip methods were developed that did a fairly good job of reproducing natural color. The Technicolor Corporation was founded in 1915. They introduced their first two-strip color system in 1917, which was followed by two improved versions in 1923 and 1928. Although this system didn't record the full range of colors, and had an especially difficult time registering blue tints, it was the best color system available at the time. The Prizmacolor, Natural Color and Multicolor systems were also used in the 1920s. In 1932, three-strip Technicolor was invented. This new version faithfully reproduced the entire color spectrum, but it was expensive and not without its problems. Between 1932 and 1935, the process was limited to cartoons, shorts and color sequences in black & white films. Becky Sharp (1935) was the first feature-length film to use the new three-strip Technicolor process from beginning to end. The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine (1936) was the first outdoor Technicolor film.	-----	Hays Production Code In the late 1920s, movie audiences were getting tired of hearing about the decadent lifestyles of the Hollywood elite. High-profile cases like the Fatty Arbuckle scandal and the murder of director William Desmond Taylor didn't help matters, either. The public was also getting tired of wild movies featuring flappers, smoking, drinking and gangsters. In 1930, the movie industry decided to regulate itself. Will Hays was hired as the industry "chaperone" and a moral code was instituted. This code was completely voluntary and, as expected, very few studios followed it. In 1934, Joseph Breen took over the administration of the code, and compliance became mandatory. Some of the rules included.... 1) no swearing 2) no vulgar terms 3) no revealing undergarments 4) don't show the intimacies of married life 5) don't use questionable words (pregnant, hot, tomcat, virgin) 6) the good guys must win in the end 7) no screen kiss can last longer than seven feet of film 8) no nudity, either in fact or silhouette 9) no interracial relationships or marriages 10) no scenes showing slavery 11) no scenes showing homosexuality or adultery 12) no scenes showing childbirth 13) films must foster positive attitudes towards marriage, family, home, government and religion For the most part, these rules remained in effect for the next 35 years, until the movie rating system (G, PG, R, X) replaced them in the late 1960s. The Development Of Color Films 1930 Motion Picture Production Code Technicolor Color Films 1917-1935

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Film Sites The Great MGM Musicals The Films Of Alfred Hitchcock Class Act: Those Golden Movie Musicals Andy Hardy Movies Warner Brothers In The Pre-Code Era ======================================== ======================================== ======================================== ======================================== My YouTube Playlist 1930s Movies	-----	Quotes There's no place like home, there's no place like home... --Dorothy's ticket back to Kansas (The Wizard Of Oz) It's alive! It's alive! --Colin Clive creates Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) Frankly, my dear....I don't give a damn. --Rhett tells Scarlett how it is...but don't worry, Scarlett...tomorrow is another day! (Gone With The Wind) One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know. --Groucho as Captain Spaulding in Animal Crackers. You're going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a star! --Warner Baxter gives Ruby Keeler a pep talk (42nd Street) ======================================== ======================================== ======================================== ======================================== Cool Sites Mickey & Judy The Real "Boys Town"


In the 1930s, going to the movies involved much more than just seeing a movie. During the early years, movies were usually part of a longer variety bill. The Perils Of Pauline and The Keystone Kops shared the stage with live comedians, chorus girls and singers. By the 1930s, most theaters had dropped the variety acts and replaced them with cartoons, comedy shorts and newsreels. Radio City Music Hall was an exception to this....their movies were still surrounded by lavish stage productions. Cliffhanger serials were very popular in the 1930s. For kids, going to the theater each Saturday to see the latest installment of Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers was a weekly tradition. Add some popcorn and a few cartoons, and the day was complete! Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller was the most famous Tarzan. His distinctive Tarzan yodel was actually an electronic combination of many different sounds. Buck Rogers The Serials: An Introduction Serial Squadron Musical & Educational Shorts Sound Shorts 1926-1934	-----	newsreels The March Of Time Fox Movietone News Pathe Universal News cartoons Betty Boop Mickey Mouse Goofy (1932) Donald Duck (1934) Elmer Fudd & Porky Pig The Three Little Pigs (1933) Silly Symphonies shorts Our Gang--Little Rascals Laurel & Hardy Every Sunday The Three Stooges Baby Burlesks W.C. Fields serials Flash Gordon Zorro Tarzan The Phantom Creeps Dick Tracy Buck Rogers


1930 All Quiet On The Western Front Animal Crackers The Blue Angel Anna Christie The Big Trail Whoopee! They Learned About Women Good News 1931 City Lights Frankenstein Dracula Monkey Business The Public Enemy Little Caesar M The Front Page 1932 Freaks Scarface Horse Feathers The Mummy Grand Hotel I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang Tarzan The Ape Man Red Dust A Farewell To Arms No Man Of Her Own 1933 Duck Soup King Kong 42nd Street Dinner At Eight Little Women Gold Diggers Of 1933 Flying Down To Rio Footlight Parade Dancing Lady Roman Scandals Hallelujah, I'm A Bum Frankly, my dear.... 1934 It Happened One Night The Thin Man The Man Who Knew Too Much The Gay Divorcee Babes In Toyland Of Human Bondage Manhattan Melodrama Bright Eyes Little Miss Marker Stand Up And Cheer!	1935 The 39 Steps A Night At The Opera Bride Of Frankenstein Mutiny On The Bounty Top Hat Captain Blood China Seas Curly Top Broadway Melody Of 1936 The Littlest Rebel Roberta "A pretty girl is like a melody...." --the fabulous revolving set from The Great Ziegfeld 1936 Modern Times My Man Godfrey Mr. Deeds Goes To Town The Petrified Forest Swing Time Camille The Great Ziegfeld Showboat Anthony Adverse Rose Marie Flash Gordon Captain January Three Smart Girls 1937 Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs A Day At The Races Lost Horizon Captains Courageous Stage Door Young & Innocent Topper A Star Is Born The Good Earth Heidi Charlie Chan At The Opera Maytime Saratoga Quality Street 1938 Bringing Up Baby The Adventures Of Robin Hood The Lady Vanishes You Can't Take It With You Angels With Dirty Faces Jezebel Boys Town A Christmas Carol The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer The Divorce Of Lady X Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm Love Finds Andy Hardy The Shopworn Angel 1939 The Wizard Of Oz Gone With The Wind Mr. Smith Goes To Washington Stagecoach Ninotchka Wuthering Heights Gunga Din The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Goodbye Mr. Chips Dark Victory The Little Princess Babes In Arms Idiot's Delight Of Mice & Men


popular stage productions musicals & revues I'd Rather Be Right Jubilee 42nd Street Porgy & Bess Strike Up The Band Girl Crazy Of Thee I Sing Anything Goes Red, Hot & Blue Leave It To Me Hellzapoppin' Smiles As Thousands Cheer Roberta Lew Leslie's "Blackbirds Of 1932" Life Begins At 8:40 Flying High The Boys From Syracuse The Band Wagon Jumbo George White's Music Hall Varieties drama & comedy Design For Living Our Town Golden Boy	-----	stage tidbits * The Boys From Syracuse was based on Shakespeare's A Comedy Of Errors. It was the first Broadway play to be adapted from Shakespeare. *Hellzapoppin' ran for 1,404 performances, making it the longest-running Broadway play until Oklahoma! came along in 1943. In 1938, Mary Martin made her Broadway debut in Leave It To Me.* Her memorable performace included the Cole Porter song "My Heart Belongs To Daddy." The late 1920s were blockbuster years for Broadway shows. In the 1930s, both the Depression and the novelty of talking pictures caused theater attendance to dwindle. After 24 years on the Broadway stage, the last Ziegfeld Follies was produced in 1931. Florenz Ziegfeld died in 1932. Although two short-lived revivals were produced in 1934 and 1936, it was truly the end of an era.