Today, Hollywood is a somewhat seedy Los Angeles suburb, bereft of its one-time glamour as the capital of the movie world. But to most movie fans, past and present, Hollywood - also known as the Dream Factory and Tinsel Town - was never so much a place as a state of mind. Even during Hollywood's golden era of the 1930s and 1940s, the studios were spread far and wide across the Los Angeles basin. Hollywood was originally the name of a ranch that existed on the site of the world's future film mecca. It was owned (and named) by a Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox, late of Kansas, who had retired there in 1886. Mr. Wilcox had been a successful real-estate man and he put his skill to work again in 1891 when he began to subdivide his ranch and sell homesites. In 1903, the sleepy little community was incorporated as a village, taking the name of the ranch as its own.
Meanwhile, the American film industry was growing by leaps and bounds in New York. It was, essentially, an East Coast business. But in 1907, movie production on a small scale began in the Los Angeles area when Colonel WILLIAM N. SELIG began to shoot films there. The area of southern California appealed to filmmakers for a variety of reasons: Abundant year-round sunshine allowed more time to shoot movies, and the wildly varied terrain was suitable for making various genres of films outdoors. In 1908 when the Edisoninspired Motion Picture Patents Company began to try to put their competitors out of business, Southern California became a haven for upstart film companies who were trying to stay as far away from New York as they could. In addition, the Mexican border was close by for a quick escape from the law. Hollywood became part of greater Los Angeles in 1910 but was still a backwater.
That changed dramatically when CECIL B. DEMILLE arrived in 1913 with the intention of making his first movie there. He had planned to shoot his film in Flagstaff, Arizona, but he didn't care for the locale and kept traveling by train until he reached the end of the line: Hollywood. There he made the feature-length hit The Squaw Man (1914), and suddenly, thanks to DeMille (who is sometimes referred to as the Father of Hollywood), filmmakers arrived in droves. By the time the Motion Picture Patents Company was dissolved in 1917, most major studios had come out to the West Coast to make movies, keeping their business offices in New York.
Despite the fact that the big studios had built their massive soundstages and back lots in places as divergent as the San Fernando Valley and Culver City, Hollywood was the name that stuck to describe the home of the movie business. To movie audiences all over the world, the words Made in Hollywood ensured the most opulent, most professionally made, and most exciting movies available.
So it remained until the late 1940s and early 1950s when the STUDIO SYSTEM finally ended. Forced to divest themselves of their movie-theater chains in an antitrust case and suffering big box-office losses due to the newly expanding television medium, studios began to crumble. Films that would once have been routinely made in Hollywood were now shot overseas for tax reasons. In addition, stars, directors, and producers became independents, merely renting studio space to make their movies. Finally, the studios became largely distribution networks rather than genuine film producers. As this erosion took place, Hollywood's image as a film capital suffered. Hollywood was saved by what had, at first, killed it: television. The film industry's soundstages and back lots continue to hum with activity today thanks to the steady production of TV series and TV movies where once the great classics of the silver screen were made. Yet, all these years later, Hollywood remains a synonym for movie.
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Webworldarticles.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
This article was sent to us by:
Leah Rimbles at
09072010
1. Learning the Craft of Closeup Photography
All articles in this directory are property of their respective authors. Additionally, read our Privacy Policy
© 2010 WebWorldarticles.com - All Rights Reserved. Partners: Gunblade Saga