Our Daily Bread (1930-1940)

Origin: This was a film released in 1934. According to the Internet Movie Database, it was directed and written by King Vidor. The film is filmed and set during the Great Depression It tells the story of a couple who are from the city who move to the farm, and discusses their transition into farm life. The couple sets up a communal farm group with other farmers, where food and money are shared. this film is a "talkie"meaning it uses dialogue in the plotline. 

Purpose: the film is meant to show the struggle of people during the Depression. In addition to providing some comic relief to the Depression, it also provides insight to the communal farms that may have been organized. Also it was a very popular film, with a great plot and actors. This is because during the Depression, movie theater attendance decreased dramatically. So a good film was needed to attract people who viewed it more worthwhile to spend their limited income. 

Value: The film really shows the struggle of the time period. It highlights the economic distress of the protagonists and other characters, and shows how people were forced to try to make income off of farming. It also implies some socialist ideals, through the communal farm society. It also shows how the depression affected everyone, from directors to the homeless, showing unity in the nation. Also, a few of the characters (and he actors who play them ) have progressive ideas, which shows the balance between views at the time. 

Limitations: The film doesn't highlight the issues leading to the depression, such as the stock market crash, and president Hoovers unwillingness to help. It also doesn't tell about the economic struggle of those in other professions. Additionally, it doesn't show the negative views towards communism. According to John Greco, a film analyst, many reactions to the film called it and its director "pinko" meaning that they felt that it supported communist ideals in a negative way. 

Overall, this film was a great depiction of its time period. It discussed the struggle during the depression and showed how people tried to deal with it. It is viewed so highly that according to turner Classic Movies, it received an honorary Oscar in 1979. 

Sources:

http://www.pictureshowman.com/timeline_1930_1939.cfm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025610/
http://www.indiana.edu/~libsalc/newdeal/depressionfilms.html
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/151878%7C0/Our-Daily-Bread.html
http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/our-daily-bread-1934-king-vidor/

The Jazz Singer (1920-1930)

Origin: This is a film telling the story of a young Jewish boy who dreams of becoming a jazz musician. It was released in 1927, and directed by Alan Crosland (IMDb). It is based off of a play and novel called "The Day of Atonement". This film is one of the first to not be a completely silent film. It involves synchronized voice recordings.

Purpose: This movie was telling a story of family estrangement and Broadway musicals. It highlights a struggle of a young Jewish boy who runs away from his family to become a famous Jazz musician. The family ties are tested when the father (who drove him away) asks him to return and sing at Yom Kippur (a Jewish holiday) on the same night of the opening musical.

Value: According to filmsite, This movie is among the first Hollywood talkies, or movies with dialogue. It tells about the rapid technological advances occurring during this time period. Also, the movie is filmed and set in the roaring Twenties , a time after world war one where consumerism and party life style were extremely promoted. This is touched on in the film. Also, the protagonist stars as a man in blackface paint in the musical he is in, which shows the lingering racist ideas in the entertainment industry. Additionally, the main character and his family being Jewish and how the director portrays them shows the view of Jews in the time period. It also tells about the popularity of jazz, which had grown during the speakeasies invoked by Prohibition.

Limitations: The film doesn't really show the issue of immigration and anti-semitism as much as it could. It also doesn't touch on the war or the Lost generation, which were both huge contributing factors to the problems in the time period.
Sources:
http://www.pictureshowman.com/timeline_1920_1929.cfm#1920top
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018037/combined
http://www.filmsite.org/jazz.html
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/jazzsinger.htm
http://black-face.com/

Tarzan of the Apes(1910-1920)

Origin: This film was released in 1918 and was directed by Scott Sidney (IMDb). It was based off an original novel, Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Since sound technology was not too advanced, this is a silent film. The movie explores the story of an orphaned Tarzan growing up and becoming king of the jungle. It changes the novel slightly in order to make Tarzan a bit more civilized and educated. According to s tor.com article by Kage Baker, the repetition of the plot (repeated mutinies and killing of ship captains) was also cut in order to make the story more exciting. However this version is known as the film with the closest adaptation of the novel's story line.
 (Unlike Disney with this guy) 

Purpose: The purpose of this movie was primarily to entertain the audience, but also like many other movies of its time, it retold a story. Along with Tarzan of the Apes, many other films were based on previously written novels in this time period, such as Alice in Wonderland in 1915. Also, this film is the part of many "Jungle" films that were popular during the time period. they included action, adventure, romance, and violence. What more could an audience want?

Value: Although it may not seem obvious, this film tells us a lot about the time period. First, it tells a lot about racial views. Tarzan is European, making him white. The native village tribes are African, or black. They are shown as uncivilized savages who killed Kala, his "ape mother". Tarzan gets very angry with them and starts to hurt them, and the tribes people give him offerings in order to "placate the white demon of the woods" (Kage Baker). The natives (black people) were portrayed as inferior to and weaker than white people. This plays into the issues of the time period, where racism and the KKK were a huge problem. Also, according to an article titled "Tarzans Through Time" by Beth Rowen, the actor for Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln (Not Elmo from Sesame Street) killed a real lion as part of the filming. This shows that animal rights were not considered a big deal. In fact, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (peta) the animal rights movement didn't start till the late 1900's. Another issue of the time period is shown through Jane being the damsel in distress. She is portrayed as unable to help herself, which was part of the mindset of that time period.

Limitations: Although it touches on the subjects, this film doesn't tell us about many of the issues of the Progressive Era. It doesn't tell us about the fight for feminism, or the fight for equal rights for immigrants and African Americans. It also doesn't tell us about other problems of the time, like Prohibition. additionally, it doesn't tell us about other types of films and camera techniques that were common in the time period.

Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0009682/
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/tarzan.html
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/09/ancient-rockets-strong-a-silent-day-1
http://www.peta.org/about-peta/milestones/

The Great Train Robbery (1900-1910)

Origin: This soundless film, The Great Train Robbery (directed by Edwin S. Porter), was released in 1903. It tells a story of, well, a great train robbery. Pity we couldn't hear what was happening. All jokes aside, this silent film is an innovative classic from this time period. It incorporates many new filming techniques that we are now familiar with but were back then amazing new innovation. For example, the film used dummies in the more violent fight scenes, something not used before. Also, according to Jennifer Rosenberg, the film was among the first to use a technique called crosscutting. Crosscutting is when the movie goes between two different scenes that were happening simultaneously. Another experiment with the camera is that instead of avoiding the constant stable picture, the director had the camera pan occasionally in order to follow the riders shown at one point of the movie, deviating from the standard of just holding it in one place. Additionally, instead of using just one set, the crew traveled to as many as ten different sets during filming. 

Purpose: What was new about this type of movie was that it was a narrative style film, telling more of a story than other movies with a beginning, middle, and end. The Internet Movie Database says that the movie was also meant to be an exciting action movie, the first of its kind. Although you may think it was boring, for the time period, this was one of those edge-of-your-seat movies that one couldn't look away from. This movie was meant to be a thriller. For example, the last scene, in which the man fires point blank at the audience (you), is supposed to be new and exciting, and scare the audience.

Value: This film tells us about the new styles of film used in this time period. It also shows that film was becoming a more and more popular way of expressing stories. People were taking more risks in cinematography in order to entertain their audience. As the film industry grew, as did the variety of movies. The movie can also be telling the story of the many train robberies that occurred in the US during and before that time, such as the Canyon Diablo and the Fairbank, train robberies that happened in Arizona in 1889 and 1900, respectively. The June 1999 edition of Wild West magazine summarizes an 1889 robbery known as the Wilcox train robbery which shares similarities with the film. This movie could also be an attempt to highlight the problems during this time period. The film was made in the progressive era, and Drew Todd, a film historian reports that during this time, many silent films were an attempt to highlight the increased problems in the time, such as crime. There was also concern about cities  filling rapidly with immigrants and the poor, some of which who formed criminal gangs, which could also be highlighted in the movie.

Limitations: This movie does not tell us much about other styles of film that were around at the time, such as the fantasy film La Voyage dans la Lune, a famous film that talks about a trip to the moon (for those of you who don't speak French), with a lot of fantasy type events involved.

A famous scene from La Voyage dans la Lune where a rocket lands on the moon's eye. ouch. (image from wikipedia)

 It also doesn't discuss views on other events of the time (progressive era), such as American immigration.

Overall, this is a new film with new ideas for the time period. It was one of the first nickelodeons (movies with a nickel admission, not the kids channel on TV), It also set a precedent for new movies of all genres, but especially action.

Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000439/
http://www.historynet.com/the-wilcox-train-robbery.htm
file:///C:/Users/Home/Downloads/ebscohost(18).pdf
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-fairbank.html

Intro

Hello!
This is a semester long project in which I will be analyzing movies and their development over the course of the 20th century. For each decade, I will choose a film and analyse it for the following (a basic version)

• Origin-how it originated, built upon from the past, the background and context 
• Purpose-what was new and changing in this time, how was it indicative of the mainstream of this time, why the piece was created, etc. 
• Value- why the piece is an expression of the time period, why it is a good expression of the time period
• Limitations-what it doesn't tell about the time period

I hope you enjoy and benefit from it!