Americans and people around the world find a deep passion in watching their favorite movies. It is a past time that we seem to enjoy as we are entertained by our favorite movie genres.
How deep is this passion? Each year, we spend millions of dollars buying and renting movies, DVD’s and entertaining films. However, having access to so many movies has not always been so easy.
A quick look at history will reveal a time when access to a movie was considered almost a luxury, especially during the Great Depression and in times when the nation was at war. There were only a few sources for movie entertainment during those times and people sought to movie watching experience with great interest.
During the 1920′s sound was first introduced to movies. It was then that you could watch a movie and actually hear the characters for the first time. Movies that cam out with sound technology were instant hits as people fell in love with actors such as Shirley Temple.
Popular films that depicted the rise of the mob in the U.S. such as gangster movies seemed to gender great interest amongst the working class men and young teenage boys. A favorite amongst women seemed to be musicals and plays staring well known actors of that time.
During The Great Depression, many people did not have a lot of extra money to spend on entertainment. A movie ticket was equivalent to a meal ticket. So people started turning to entertaining radio shows. Here they could listen to their favorite radio personalities as stories of adventures, mysteries and romance were play out in great detail.
Some of the greatest box office hits during that time included movies by Gloria Swanson, Colleen Moore, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Norma Talmadge, Harold Lloyd and others, all idolized stars.
Musical performances put on by Big Bands were another great hit during the Great Depression. People would listen to these musical shows and stage performances over the radio as an alternative to spending money for movie tickets. It was very popular.
The economic woes during those times may have made life unnecessarily hard, but people seemed to find a way to keep themselves entertained. This is how they had fun and is a testament to their sense of determination to move forward while hoping for better days.
Today, even though the country is going through an economic recession, at large we are not encountering the plight they had to endure. With a mouse click or a short drive to a DVD rental store, we have access to tens of thousands of movies and high quality DVD’s such as western movies, science fiction, comedy or scary movies. It is amazing how far we have come.
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