Classical Hollywood cinema
In film criticism, Classical Hollywood cinema refers to both a narrative and visual style of filmmaking that first emerged during the 1910s to 1920s, in the later years of the silent film era. It became characteristic of American cinema during the Golden Age of Hollywood, which began around 1927 with the advent of sound film, and continued until the arrival of New Hollywood productions in the 1960s. Ultimately, it evolved into the most dominant and widespread style of filmmaking worldwide.
Similar or related terms include classical Hollywood narrative, the Golden Age of Hollywood, Old Hollywood, and classical continuity. This period is also known as the studio era, encompassing films from the late silent era.
History
Silent era and Emergence of the Classical Style For millennia, the sole visual standard of narrative storytelling art was the theatre. Since the first narrative films in the mid to late 1890 s, filmmakers have sought to capture the power of live theatre on the cinema screen. Most of these filmmakers began their careers as directors on the late 19 th- century stage, and similarly, many film actors had roots in vaudeville (e. g., The Marx Brothers) or theatrical melodramas. Visually, early narrative films adapted little from the stage, and their narratives drew very little from vaudeville and melodrama. Before the visual style that would become known as "classical continuity, " scenes were filmed in full shot and utilized carefully choreographed staging to present plot and character relationships. Editing techniques were extremely limited and primarily consisted of close- ups of writing on objects for legibility.
Though lacking the immediacy inherent to the stage, film (unlike the stage) offers the ability to manipulate perceived time and space, thus creating the illusion of realism – that is, temporal linearity and spatial continuity. By the early 1910 s, when the Lost Generation was coming of age, filmmaking began to fulfill its artistic potential. In Sweden and Denmark, this period would later be referred to as the "Golden Age" of film; in America, this artistic transformation is attributed to filmmakers like D. W. Griffith, who finally broke the grip of the Edison Trust to produce films independent of the manufacturing monopoly. Films across the globe began to noticeably adopt visual and narrative elements that would be characteristic of classical Hollywood cinema. 1913 proved to be a particularly fruitful year for the medium, as pioneering directors from various countries produced films such as The Mothering Heart (D. W. Griffith), Ingeborg Holm (Victor Sjöström), and L' enfant de Paris (Léonce Perret), which set new standards for film as a form of storytelling. It was also the year when Yevgeni Bauer (considered the first true film artist, according to Georges Sadoul) began his short but prolific career.
In the world generally and America specifically, Griffith's influence on filmmaking was unmatched. His actors were equally influential in adapting their performances to the new medium. Lillian Gish, the star of the film short The Mothering Heart, is particularly noted for her impact on on-screen performance techniques. Griffith's 1915 epic The Birth of a Nation, also starring Gish, was groundbreaking for film as a means of storytelling – a masterpiece of literary narrative featuring numerous innovative visual techniques. The film instigated so many advances in American cinema that it quickly became outdated. While 1913 marked a global landmark for filmmaking, 1917 was primarily significant for America; the era of "classical Hollywood cinema" is characterized by a narrative and visual style that began to dominate the film medium in America by 1917.
Sound era and the Golden Age of Hollywood
The narrative and visual style of classical Hollywood advanced further after the transition to sound film production. The primary changes in American filmmaking originated within the film industry itself, coinciding with the peak of the studio system. This production method, with its dominant star system promoted by several key studios, had developed prior to the advent of sound. By the mid-1920s, most of the prominent American directors and actors, who had worked independently since the early 1910s, had to join the new studio system to continue their careers.
The beginning of the sound era is ambiguously defined. To some, it began with The Jazz Singer, released in 1927, when the Interbellum Generation came of age and box-office profits for films increased as sound was introduced to feature films. To others, the era started in 1929 when the silent age had definitively ended. Most Hollywood pictures from the late 1920s to 1960s closely adhered to specific genres — Western, slapstick comedy, musical, animated cartoon, and biopic (biographical picture) — and the same creative teams often worked on films produced by the same studio. For instance, Cedric Gibbons and Herbert Stothart consistently worked on MGM films; Alfred Newman was with 20th Century Fox for twenty years; Cecil B. DeMille's films were primarily made at Paramount Pictures; and director Henry King's films were largely produced for 20th Century Fox. Similarly, actors were predominantly contract players. Film historians note that it took about a decade for films to adapt to sound and return to the artistic quality of the silents, which occurred in the late 1930s when the Greatest Generation came of age.
Many great works of cinema that emerged from this period featured highly regimented filmmaking. One reason this was possible is that, with the production of so many films, not every one needed to be a big hit. A studio could take a chance on a medium-budget feature with a good script and relatively unknown actors. This was the case with Citizen Kane (1941), directed by Orson Welles and regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. Other strong-willed directors, such as Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, and Frank Capra, clashed with the studios to achieve their artistic visions. The pinnacle of the studio system may have occurred in 1939, which saw the release of classics such as The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Destry Rides Again, Young Mr. Lincoln, Wuthering Heights, Only Angels Have Wings, Ninotchka, Beau Geste, Babes in Arms, Gunga Din, The Women, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and The Roaring Twenties.
Major figures from classical Hollywood cinema
These were recognized on the American Film Institute's list ranking the top 25 male and 25 female greatest screen legends of American film history.
As of 2025, Sophia Loren (Sep 20, 1934 (age 90) ) is the only living star. Other surviving figures who were nominated for the list include Ann Blyth (Aug 16, 1928 (age 97) ), Claire Bloom (Feb 15, 1931 (age 94) ), Rita Moreno (Dec 11, 1931 (age 93) ) and Margaret O'Brien (Jan 15, 1937 (age 88) ).
- Chico Marx (1887–1961)
- Harpo Marx (1888–1964)
- Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977)
- Groucho Marx (1890–1977)
- Mary Pickford (1892–1979)
- Edward G. Robinson (1893–1973)
- Mae West (1893–1980)
- Lillian Gish (1893–1993)
- Buster Keaton (1895–1966)
- Fred Astaire (1899–1987)
- James Cagney (1899–1986)
- Humphrey Bogart (1899–1957)
- Spencer Tracy (1900–1967)
- Clark Gable (1901–1960)
- Gary Cooper (1901–1961)
- Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992)
- Zeppo Marx (1901–1979)
- Claudette Colbert (1903–1996)
- Cary Grant (1904–1986)
- Greta Garbo (1905–1990)
- Henry Fonda (1905–1982)
- Joan Crawford (1904-1977)
- Laurence Olivier (1907–1989)
- Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003)
- John Wayne (1907–1979)
- Barbara Stanwyck (1907–1990)
- Bette Davis (1908–1989)
- Carole Lombard (1908–1942)
- James Stewart (1908–1997)
- Jean Harlow (1911–1937)
- Ginger Rogers (1911–1995)
- Gene Kelly (1912–1996)
- Vivien Leigh (1913–1967)
- Burt Lancaster (1913–1994)
- Orson Welles (1915–1985)
- Ingrid Bergman (1915–1982)
- Gregory Peck (1916–2003)
- Kirk Douglas (1916–2020)
- Robert Mitchum (1917–1997)
- William Holden (1918–1981)
- Rita Hayworth (1918–1987)
- Judy Garland (1922–1969)
- Ava Gardner (1922–1990)
- Lauren Bacall (1924–2014)
- Marlon Brando (1924–2004)
- Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962)
- Sidney Poitier (1927–2022)
- Shirley Temple (1928–2014)
- Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993)
- Grace Kelly (1929–1982)
- James Dean (1931–1955)
- Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011)
- Sophia Loren (born 1934)
External links
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Classical_Hollywood_cinema ]
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