Bakersfield Community Theatre

In accordance with many experts and people the golden era of Hollywood was during 1930's and 1940's if the industry was thriving. But a majority of experts agree that although 30's introduced the commercial success however the actual golden age from artistic perspective began in 1920s itself when it drew talent from all around the globe. Before this period Hollywood was just like any other film making locations but it was after First World War which it created a niche for itself in the world. The obvious reason was the magnitude of injury the European countries suffered in the World War and subsequent economic hardships faced by them thus affecting the film industry. Prior to the advent of Hollywood as a top destination Germany was the most popular destination known for its artistic excellence. America taken advantage of the fact that it suffered relatively less casualties and lack of property compared to European Nations.

The popular names during the Golden Era were Clark Cable, Bette Davis, Charlie Chaplin, Bing Crosby, Spencer Tracy, Bob Hope, Ingrid, Judy Garland, Bergman, James Cagney, Jennifer Jones, Taxation, Elizabeth Taylor and Cary Gran, their list is endless. These actors took over as the house hold names through the entire country in 1930's and 1940's. The film industry in this era was so wealthy and powerful that studios like Paramount, MGM, Universal, Last century Fox and RKO kept adding more buildings to their studios. More than 7,000 films were released by these studios during 1930's and 1940's. More than 75 million people flocked to view at least one film in a week throughout the peak years of Hollywood.

Also in this era the nation saw threats due to Second World War. When soon this threat become reality the presidents of these studios took this just as one opportunity to make films that could bond countrymen together during these tough and dreadful years. They made many patriotic movies involving actors like Betty Grable and Van Johnson. These movies in ways also helped the war efforts. Apart from the movies there were numerous short films and documentaries made.

Some of the famous movies of the golden era include Memphis Belle: A narrative of a Flying Fortress directed by William Wyler, Howard Hawks directed movies Sergeant York, To possess and Have Not. The commonality among all the movies of golden era was that the majority the movies ended on a happy note and patriotic ardor, that has been liked by the people also. The movies made during the 1940's are known as "film noir" which in the literary context means "dark films". The flicks were mostly pessimistic with tough male protagonist who was also a cynic and female protagonist would be attractive woman leading the males to some disastrous situation. Few types of the Film Noir are Stranger about the Third Floor directed by Boris Ingster, High Sierra directed by Raoul Walsh, Shadow of the Doubt directed by Alfred Hitchcock and also the Maltese Falcon directed by John Huston.

The comedies were also popular during that era, the main feature with the comedies were duos forming during this period. Some of the famous duos of actors were Bob Hope and Bing Crosby famous for his or her movie Road to Singapore, Abbott and Costello, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The films that portrayed the lives of the westerns during the era were also favored by the people some of the examples being Fort Apache and he or she wore a Yellow Ribbon. But by the time these movies were released the undoing of the Hollywood has already begun due to effects of the war, depression and arrival of television just to be not able to recover again.