The birth of Hollywood
Originally a small farming community, Hollywood was granted city status in 1903, before merging with Los Angeles a few years later. Seduced by California's wide-open spaces and sunshine, 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 forerunner 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). These films quickly became a national success. 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 dubbed "The Big Five" dominated the scene: Warner Bros., RKO, Fox, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) and Paramount Studios. If the system benefits them, they won't be able to escape propaganda films after W. Wilson officially declares war on the German Empire in April 1917. On the other hand, smaller studios emerged, such as Columbia Pictures, Universal and United Artists. Founded by pioneers Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin, the latter reflected a desire to break away from the big names. Initially dedicated to distributing and producing the works of its founders, United Artists diversified into the work of other independents.
Thanks to the introduction of sound in the mid-1920s, an interesting variety of genres opened up to producers, including westerns, musicals, horror, romance and documentaries. Rewarded with Oscars as early as 1929, the stars were even more idealized; Hollywood established itself as the land of opulence and glory.
The Golden Age
Nevertheless, Hollywood's consecration as the world's film capital really began in the mid-1930s. For when we think of Hollywood's Golden Age, we think of the glitz and glamour popularized at the time, right up 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 blockbusters made history: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - Walt Disney's first animated feature film with sound and color - A Star is Born (1937), The Submissive (1938), Mr. Smith in the Senate (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939) - a box-office smash - The Wizard of Oz (1939), Fantastic Ride (1939) and Wuthering Heights (1939).
With the outbreak of the Second World War, Hollywood set itself the task 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, there was no escaping the international conflict: short documentaries brought the realities and violence of war to California. At the same time, studios had to comply with civil security regulations, requiring them to erect elaborate bomb shelters. Similarly, filming near the ocean or military installations was forbidden, 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 spending, 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 soon began investigating communism in films, calling over 40 people from the film industry to testify. More broadly, hundreds of artists - actors, musicians, writers, producers and directors - were blacklisted. These included Lena Horne, Charlie Chaplin, Lloyd Bridges, Burl Ives and Anne Revere.
Nevertheless, the dream factory will continue to produce icons. They were worshipped as goddesses and gods, from Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951 - to Marilyn Monroe - Men Prefer Blondes, 1953 - via Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961 - Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window, 1954 - and Orson Welles - Citizen Kane, 1941.
From "New Hollywood" to the advent of special effects
In the mid-1960s, shortly after Hollywood's golden age had come to an end, a wind of renewal began to blow across the country. The reign of the studios was quickly replaced by the advent of talented young directors: Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Mike Nichols and Francis Ford Coppola. Gone was the "family-friendly " censorship of the Hays Code - 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 1967's Summer of Love, the revolution in morals ushered cinema into a more modern era, where the focus was on less prudishly reproducing the reality of mentalities: this was "New Hollywood". A movement particularly well depicted in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), where we follow TV star Rick Dalton - Leonardo DiCaprio - and his understudy Cliff Booth - Brad Pitt - as they attempt to pursue their respective careers in 1969, in a film industry in the throes of change.
This counterculture was brought to the screen by such iconic films 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 hitherto little explored.
This trend was soon followed by the advent of special effects, first in Jaws (1975), then with Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope(1977). This was the birth of two of cinema's most celebrated monsters: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who also produced - respectively - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and the saga featuring the inimitable Indiana Jones - whose first installment, Raiders of the Lost Ark, was released in 1981. As an essential element of any new release, trickery and visual effects definitely set the Californian industry apart, as it multiplied its big-budget blockbusters... while sparing auteur cinema, notably represented by Woody Allen, John Cassavetes, the Coen brothers, David Lynch and Wes Anderson. At the same time, the 2000s saw a proliferation of Disney films and crude comedies.
Nevertheless, it was still the big-budget productions that topped the box-office charts, both in the USA and the rest of the world. The biggest box-office success of all time - including in France - remains Avatar (2009). With some 2.8 billion dollars, it has earned even more than the last record set by its director - James Cameron - Titanic (1997) and its 2.2 billion dollars... In the age of home-cinema and the Internet, the emphasis is more than ever on big shows to keep moviegoers coming back for more.
Dream... or American nightmare?
While Hollywood continues to attract talent from all over the world, this glittering world of glamour and glitter hides a darker side, the 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 their life savings inacting classes, agencies and photo shoots. Once ruined, these "wannabe " stars sometimes find themselves on the streets. Some turn to drugs, prostitution or pornography.
In the same way, many celebrities have suffered the torments of drugs and alcohol, commonplace in Hollywood, a kind of ransom for fame inherent in the stress of the business and the monumental sums of money involved. Hundreds of people have paid the price, including the iconic Judy Garland (1922-1969), the iconic William Holden (1918-1981) and the hilarious Whitney Houston (1963-2012).
Then, on October 5, 2017, the whole of Hollywood was shaken. A New York Times article accused multi-oscarized producer Harvey Weinstein(Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, Gangs of New York...) of career-long abuse of power and sexual harassment. Five days later, it was Ronan Farrow, 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 fifteen allegations of sexual assault and rape. From Rose McGowan and Gwyneth Paltrow to Léa Seydoux, Angelina Jolie and Asia Argento, the testimonies are piling up on social networks as the days go by. In all, over a hundred women have accused the "fallen king of Hollywood" of sexual harassment and assault.
In just one week, one thing led to another. Harvey Weinstein was fired from the production company he had co-founded, the New York police opened an investigation into allegations 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, French journalist Sandra Muller called on Internet users to denounce harassment in the workplace under the hashtag #BalanceTonPorc, followed by Alyssa Milano, who launched #MeToo two days later. Within 24 hours, the hashtag was used millions of times on Twitter and Facebook. After Weinstein, other film icons came under attack: John Travolta, Charlie Sheen, Dustin Hoffman, Steven Seagal and, above all, Kevin Spacey, charged in May 2022 with 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.
