Silent Films, the Silver Screen era, & 1920's Hollywood by Lillian Wright

The Racist History of "The Birth of a Nation"

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 14:10:31 UTC

The plot of the film was two families (Abolitionist Northers & Southern Landowners) live on opposite sides of the Mason-Dixon Line (A border between Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia that separated the north and south during the civil war) becoming friends because of their sons attending the same school but it quickly changes after the start of the civil war. It shows the development of the war, Lincoln's assassination, and a positive connotation of the birth of the Ku Klux Klan as well as several depictions of overt racism towards African Americans, upsetting civil rights advocates and the African American community during the time that the film had been released. It was one of the most racist films ever made,portraying slavery as a positive thing and depicts black people as a "Good fit" for slavery “The film is one of the most racist films ever made. Maybe the most racist film ever made,” - Ellen Scott, author of the just-published Cinema Civil Rights. The film was based off of the original novel and play titled 'The Clansman', written by Thomas Dixon Jr. in 1905 and was a historical fiction based on it's many inaccuracies.

Charlie Chaplin

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 14:11:08 UTC

Charlie Chaplin was a British Comedian, Starring in several comedy films and being one of the most recognized faces of the early silver screen. He produced, acted, directed, wrote, and composed several films in his lifetime, debuting in 1914 and eventually retiring in 1952. He acted in The Tramp(1915), The Circus(1928), City Lights(1931), The Gold Rush(1925), Limelight(1952),The Cure(1917), and etc. He acted in a total on 93 films, directing 72 of them.

Cecil B. Demille

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 14:12:00 UTC

Cecil went to the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts and debuted on stage in 1900.
He promoted feature-length films and focused on production values over star power, developing stars like Gloria Swanson.
He contributed by acting in Joan the Woman (1916), The Ten Commandments (1923), The King of Kings (1927), & The Squaw Man (1914). His larger and more famous films were in the 50s' when he was mostly known as a film producer.

1920's Hollywood

2025-03-14 14:15:08 UTC

A period of growth and change in film, with the studio system, silent cinema, and scandals. Few aspiring actors succeeded many had jobs. Some turned to prostitution or waited for auditions. Movies changed Hollywood from a quiet town to a busy entertainment center. The 1929 stock market crash ended this golden age, impacting many film careers.

Rubber-hose Animation

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 14:23:37 UTC

The Rubber hose Animation style was popularized throughout the 1920's and 30's due its dynamic flexibility that allows for easily animated expressive movements. It's referred as rubber hose due to the bending and twisting of the limbs rather than anatomical correct animation similarly to how a rubber hose would move. It was popularized by characters and shows such as Felix the Cat, Steamboat Willie with Mickey Mouse (As depicted Above), and Betty boop. These animation was popularized by artists such as Walt Disney, Max Fleshier (Betty Boop's creator), and Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer (Felix the Cat's creators).

Black face and Ministerial shows depicted in films

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 14:33:44 UTC

Black face involved darkening typically white skin with shoe polish and is rooted into racism, using bigotry and white supremacy to incorrectly portray phenotypically black traits. Black face became infamous for negative stereotypes and ministerial shows. Ministerial shows are historically stage or film productions that were started in the 19th century but was popularized in the early 20th century, especially post-slavery and during Jim Crow, it displayed "entertainment" such as songs and dance that revolve around the negative stereotypes of African Americans, attributing negative traits to newly-freed slaves. It was seen as comedy back in the day and was seen in several films with even animations of Mickey Mouse depicted in blackface himself. It generated many harmful beliefs that are still held today and even had created movie tropes that are seen in more modern films.

Clara Bow

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 14:38:57 UTC

Clara Gordon Bow was a famous American actress in the silent film era, known as "The It Girl. " She starred in 46 silent films and 11 talkies before retiring in 1933. Bow died in 1965 at age 60. She stared in films such as Call Her Savage (1932), The Wild Party (1929), True to the Navy 1930), and Wings (1927).

Anna May Wong

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 14:40:52 UTC

Anna May Wong, was the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood. Born in 1905, she began acting at 11 enjoying success in films and television. she became frustrated by typecasting, she worked in Europe and pushed for Chinese representation. Wong made TV history in 1951 by becoming the very first Asian American actor to star in a television series with the Dumont network's anthology series 'The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong' and passed later in 1961.

Silent films

nancy_gomezsilva75 — 2025-03-14 14:42:54 UTC

Motion pictures without synchronized sound or dialogue used visual storytelling and inter titles.

Paul Robeson

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 17:32:53 UTC

Paul Leroy Robeson was a singer, actor, football player, and activist known for his impact. He attended Rutgers College as it's third African-American student and their first black football player. He gained fame during the Harlem Renaissance with key performances and supported workers and the Spanish Civil War. Robeson earned international critical acclaim for his lead role in Othello, winning the Donaldson Award for Best Acting Performance (1944). After 1939, he faced FBI surveillance but refused to abandon his beliefs, published a periodical, and released about 276 recordings.

Famous Films and Animations of the 1920's

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 17:33:29 UTC

Famous Films: Metropolis (1927), The Passion of Joan of Arc(1928),Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror(1922),& Sherlock Jr.(1924)

Famous Animations: Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie(1928),Plane Crazy(1928),The Skeleton Dance(1929), & The Barn Dance(1929)

MPPDA and Hays Code

lillian_wright27 — 2025-03-14 17:50:02 UTC

MPPDA stands for Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America it was one of the major trade association for companies in the motion picture industry during the 1920's and 1930's .
The Hay Codes were a set of guidelines and rules create in 1930 that were enforced into the film industry, which aimed to ensure films were "presentable" for the audience, They forbade use of profanity, obscenity and racial slurs. They were create as a result of problematic behaviors in films and by celebrities that upsetting and the public in the 1920s.
Quotes from the Document such as "Vulgarity in the Motion Pictures is limited precisely the same way as in decent groups of men and women by the dictates of good taste and civilized usage...", "No picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience shall never be thrown to the side of crime, wrong-doing, evil or sin.","Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.", and "Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation." is an example of the types of restriction that were put in place in films after disputable films in the 20s'.