'Movies of the 1920s'

' The Golden age of British Movies of the 1920s'

British films of the 1920's were struggling to compete with the boom in Hollywood. In 1914,

Alfred Hitchcocks' Blackmail

only 25 percent of films shown in the UK were British, but by 1926 only 5 percent of movies of the 1920's were British. 1927 marked the end of the silent film era and this time until to the 1950’s was known as the golden age.

This golden age was due to the introduction and development of sound and color cinematography. More people found motion pictures as a source of entertainment, making film production, distribution and exhibition very profitable. Movie studios like Warner Brothers and MGM were able to buy their own chain of movie houses.

This boom in Hollywood affected the British film industry and movies of the 1920s. Already having a smaller local audience than Hollywood, production of British films slowly dropped. The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 was passed to boost the British film industry.

The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 obligated British theaters to show a number of locally made films for a period of ten years. A British film was defined as one where 75% of the salaries were paid to locals. It was patterned after the American way of doing business where the production, distribution and exhibition of films were done by the same company. This act was in theory a success, but resulted in the increase of low quality, low budget quickie films as film makers rushed to make enough movies to fill the quota. From this, many of Britain’s finest film-makers learned their craft whilst making these films, such as Michael Powell and Alfred Hitchcock. This also gave rise to many new stars with fleeting careers. The industry was also infiltrated by undesirable characters that were out to make quick money. Most people do not consider the Act a successful because of its side effects. However, it might have helped save the British film industry during its low times.

Known as the first British film with a sound feature of the 1920s , Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail was released in 1929. Initially intended to be a silent film, the sound was added later its finish result was a part talkie with a synchronized score and sound effects. When filming was first started the technology was not yet developed. He later went on to be one of Britain’s leading director with his movies such as: ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ (1934), The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938), before he moved to America.

The first British all talking film or sound on film was the Clue of the New Pin also released in 1929. Sound was recorded on 12 inch phonograph records and played to synchronize with the movie. It was based on a novel by Edgar Wallace, starring Donald Calthrop, Benita Home and Fred Raines, made by British Lion at their Beaconsfield Studios. Then came an all color sound feature that was shot silent and then had a soundtrack added was released called Romance of Seville (1929) and starred Alexander D’Arcy and Marguerite Allen.

With the creation of sound movies during the 1920's, it became increasingly difficult for some actors to keep working. During the silent movie era many audiences members accepted films and actors from all nationalities, but, with the invention of sound, many foreign actors found they were in much less demand due to strong accents, this also became a problem for some British actors who had strong regional accents as well.

Movies of the 1920's saw many technological changes along with many changes the British film industry saw many ups and downs, failures and success, but the golden age isn't only remembered for Hollywood movie success, but for British movies of the 1920's as well.