The birth of Hollywood
Originally a small farming community, Hollywood became a city in 1903, before merging with Los Angeles a few years later. Seduced by the wide open spaces of California and the sunshine that made it ideal for filming, the film studios left the East Coast in 1909 to set up shop in this rapidly developing area. Then, in 1911, the first production company opened its doors on Sunset Boulevard: the Nestor Film Company. It was soon followed by others, including the ancestor of Paramount Pictures: Lasky Feature Play Company, founded by the iconic Cecil B. DeMille, with Jesse Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn.
The birth of Hollywood was marked by such must-see silent films as D. W. Griffith's drama The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Charlie Chaplin's comedy The Kid (1921). Soon, the craze for these films spread nationwide. What followed was a decade and a half of great growth, experimentation and advances in the film industry, giving Hollywood the international prestige and stars it enjoys today.
At the time, five studios known as "The Big Five" dominated the industry: Warner Bros., RKO, Fox, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) and Paramount Studios. If the system benefited them, they could not escape propaganda films after W. Wilson officially declared war on the German Empire in April 1917. On the other hand, smaller studios emerged, such as Columbia Pictures, Universal and United Artists. Created by the pioneers Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin, the latter responds to a desire to break away from the big names. Initially intended for the distribution and production of the works of its founders, United Artists diversified with the achievements of other independents.
With the introduction of sound in the mid-1920s, an interesting variety of genres opened up to producers: westerns, musicals, horror, romance and documentaries, among others. Rewarded by the Oscars in 1929, the stars were even more idealized; Hollywood became the land of opulence and glory.
The Golden Age
Nevertheless, the consecration of Hollywood as the world capital of cinema will really take place from the middle of the 1930s. For when one thinks of the Golden Age of Hollywood, one visualizes the glitz and glamour popularized at that time, and this until the early 1960s. Despite the Great Depression that hit the United States in October 1929, 80 million Americans went to the movies every week. Several successful films made history: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - Walt Disney's first full-length animated film with sound and color - A Star is Born (1937), The Submissive (1938), Mr. Smith in the Senate (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939) - which exploded at the box office - The Wizard of Oz (1939), Fantastic Ride (1939) and Wuthering Heights (1939).
As World War II broke out, Hollywood took on the mission of making the general public laugh: it was the advent of comedians such as Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bob Hope and Jack Benny. That said, it was impossible to escape the international conflict: short documentaries brought the realities and violence of war to California. At the same time, the studios had to comply with civil security, requiring them to erect elaborate bomb shelters. Similarly, filming near the ocean or near military installations was prohibited, while nightly power cuts prevented night filming. Created in 1942, the War Production Board even set a maximum budget of $5,000 for new sets, forcing studios to limit their expenses, recycle costumes and props, and find creative and inexpensive ways to produce films.
Reflecting the rest of American society, Hollywood gave in to the prevailing paranoia at the start of the Cold War in 1947. The House Un-American Activities Committee quickly began investigating communism in films, and more than 40 people from the film industry were called to testify. More widely, hundreds of artists - actors, musicians, writers, producers and directors - were blacklisted. They include Lena Horne, Charlie Chaplin, Lloyd Bridges, Burl Ives and Anne Revere.
However, the dream factory will continue to make icons. They will be venerated as goddesses and gods, from Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire, in 1951 - to Marilyn Monroe - Men Prefer Blondes, in 1953 - through Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's, in 1961 - Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window, in 1954 - and Orson Welles - Citizen Kane, in 1941.
From "New Hollywood" to the advent of special effects
A wind of renewal blew over Hollywood in the mid-1960s, shortly after its golden age had come to an end. Very quickly, the reign of the studios was replaced by the advent of talented young directors: Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Mike Nichols, and Francis Ford Coppola. Gone were the "family-friendly" and the censorship of the Hays Code - a self-regulation imposed by the production companies themselves - in force from 1934 to 1966.
Against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the sexual liberation inherent in the Summer of Love of 1967, the revolution in morals brought cinema into a more modern era, where the focus was on reproducing the reality of mentalities in a less prudish way: it was the "New Hollywood". A movement particularly well depicted in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), where we follow the TV star Rick Dalton - Leonardo DiCaprio - and his understudy Cliff Booth - Brad Pitt - trying to pursue their respective careers in 1969, in a film industry in full mutation.
This counterculture was brought to the screen by iconic films such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Graduate (1967), Easy Rider (1969), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Secret Conversation (1974), Mean Streets (1973), The Godfather (1972) and The President's Men (1976). Social injustice, inequality, crime, violence, love stories... The directors represented a range of subjects that had not been exploited until then.
Quickly, this trend is followed by the advent of special effects, first in Jaws in 1975, then with Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, in 1977. It was the birth of two sacred monsters of the cinema: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, to whom we also owe - and respectively - E.T., the extraterrestrial (1982) and the saga featuring the hilarious Indiana Jones - whose first part, Adventurers of the Lost Ark, was released in 1981. Essential elements for any new release on the screens, the tricks and visual effects definitely distinguish the Californian industry, which multiplies the big budget blockbusters... While sparing the cinema d'auteur, notably represented by Woody Allen, John Cassavetes, the Coen brothers, David Lynch, or Wes Anderson. At the same time, the 2000s saw an increase in Disney films and crude comedies.
Nevertheless, it is always the big budget productions that are at the top of the box-office, both in the United States and in the rest of the world. The biggest hit of all time - including in France - is still Avatar (2009). With some 2.8 billion dollars, it earned even more than the last record of its director - James Cameron - Titanic (1997) and its 2.2 billion dollars... In the age of home theater and the Internet, the emphasis is more than ever on the big show to get viewers into theaters.
Dream... or American nightmare?
While Hollywood continues to attract talent from all over the world, this glittering world of glamour and glitter hides a dark side, a sad side of the"American Dream. Since the Golden Age, thousands of dreamers dazzled by the mystical aura of the film industry have come to Los Angeles to try their luck, investing all their savings inacting classes, agencies and photo shoots. Once ruined, these "wannabe " stars sometimes find themselves on the street. Some turn to drugs, prostitution or pornography.
In the same way, many celebrities have suffered from the throes of drugs and alcohol, commonplace in Hollywood, a kind of price of fame inherent to the stress generated by the environment and the monumental sums of money that circulate there. Hundreds have paid the price, like the iconic Judy Garland (1922-1969), the iconic William Holden (1918-1981), and the hilarious Whitney Houston (1963-2012).
Then, on October 5, 2017, all of Hollywood was shaken. A New York Times article accuses multi-oscarized producer Harvey Weinstein(Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, Gangs of New York...) of abuse of power and sexual harassment throughout his career. Five days later, it was Ronan Farrow, the son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, who published his investigation in the New York er - for which he will receive the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 - reporting nearly 15 allegations of sexual assault and rape. From Rose McGowan to Gwyneth Paltrow through Lea Seydoux, Angelina Jolie or even Asia Argento, the testimonies accumulate over the days on social networks. In total, they will be more than a hundred to accuse the "fallen king of Hollywood" of sexual harassment and assault.
In just one week, everything came to a head. Harvey Weinstein was fired from the production company he co-founded, the New York police opened an investigation for events dating back to 2004, and the producer was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars for American cinema. Then, on October 13, the French journalist Sandra Muller called on Internet users to denounce harassment at work under the hashtag #BalanceYourPorc, followed by Alyssa Milano, who launched #MeToo two days later. It's a massacre: in 24 hours, the hashtag is used millions of times on Twitter and Facebook. After Weinstein, other monuments of the cinema are attacked: John Travolta, Charlie Sheen, Dustin Hoffman, Steven Seagal, and, above all, Kevin Spacey, indicted in May 2022 for sexual assault against three men. The omerta is broken. Today, like society as a whole, Hollywood continues to evolve, step by step, towards a less violent, more egalitarian environment.
