HISTORY105 - Movies in the USA: Part 1
I’ve always liked movies. I don’t watch anything on television these days except for sports and movies and I still enjoy a theater movie once in a while. After a little digging recently, I found out that I didn’t know much about the early days of movies or their history through today. So, I’m going to write about the history of movies. This is a big subject - so I’m focusing on movie history in the USA, except for inventions in Europe that contributed greatly to the development of movies. I’m also going to do this in two parts: After a short introduction, Part 1 will cover the early years of movies, 1830 to 1910; the silent years, 1910 to 1927; and the sound era through the end of World War II. Part 2 will cover the post-World-War II trends; the transition to the 21 st century; the status of movies today; and finally, a look at the future of movies. I will list my principal sources at the end of Part 2. Introduction Movies (alternatively called motion picture