Important people:

• Charlie Chaplin
• Fritz Lang
• Harold Lloyd
• F.W. Murnau
• Sergei Eisenstein

Biography:

True story of rags-to-riches, Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in London, England, Chaplin's home life was not the best having a father that drank himself to death and a mother that had mental issues and was sent away. Chaplin and his half-brother Sydney were put in an orphanage until their mother was somewhat better and were released into her care. Sydney entered show business first but promoted Chaplin since he was more talented then himself and got a headlining position in 1913. His character "The Tramp" relied on expressive and quirky movements to become an iconic figure of the silent-film era. Chaplin down the line became a director and also co-founded the United Artists Corporation. He died on December 25, 1977.

Biography:

Fritz Lang was born on December 5, 1890, Lang was among the most earnest of filmmakers. He was an Austrian born American film director that made films that dealt with larger than life criminal masterminds who occupy disorganized environments and rough, expressionist sets. His movies were easy to tell apart from the discomforting mood and the unyielding sense of conviction, which was a main feature in his work. Lang already had constructed an impressive portfolio in German films even before he came to America in 1934. Fritz Lang died on August 2, 1976.

Important Films:

Metropolis

Nosferatu

The Jazz Singer

Important Film Movements:

• Surrealism - An avant-garde movement in the arts, unconscious elements and the symbolic association of ideas. Dreamlike and bizarre, surrealist movies were produced roughly from 1924 to 1931 primarily in France through there are still surrealistic elements in the works of many directors.
• Expressionism - A style of filmmaking that distorts time and space as ordinarily perceived in reality. Emphasis is placed on the essential characteristics of objects and people, not necessarily on their superficial appearances.
• Realism - A style of film making that attempts to duplicate the look of reality as it's ordinarily perceived, with emphasis on authentic locations and details, an unobtrusive camera style, and a minimum of editing and special effects.

The 1930's - The Talkie Era

Important People:

• Frank Capra
• David O Selznick
• Howard Hawks
• John Ford
• Clark Gable
• Jean Renoir

Biography:

Frank Capra was born on May 15, 1897. Capra came to America when he was six years old, and learned to love his new home with the passion that every immigrant at that time understood when pursuing a better life in America. After World War I, Capra traveled the country seeing all it has to offer, but after that he worked as a gag man for Mark Sennett. Later he got to work with Harry Langdon, this help him become a writer then a director. He died on September 3, 1992.

Biography:

John Ford was born on February 1, 1895. Ford was a hot-tempered Irishman that had writer George Sadoul call him “a titan of the American cinema”. He was able to understate the struggle between pragmatism and idealism and with 50 years under his belt he was able to create such unique American oeuvre. Meaning films with a rough simplicity and intimately observed characters. He died on August 31, 1973.

Important Films:

Stagecoach

Mr. Smith Goes to WASHINGTON

Important Film Movements:

• Talkies - The 1939 was not the best year to be someone who important in the film industry since 8,700 theaters were being wired for sound and that is no cheap at all. The big shots in the industry were also worried about the effects of the stock market crash and the rising tide of demands for censorship on their wallets.
• Production Code - The American film industry censorship was put into place in 1930, but not enforced until 1934. This code was later revised in 1950’s and then scrapped for the Rating System in 1968.
• New Genres: Gangster Pictures, Musicals, and Screwball Comedy

1940's - World War II Era

Important People:

• John Huston
• Billy Wilder
• Orson Welles
• Preston Sturges
• Roberto Rossellini

Biography:

John Huston was born on August 5, 1906. His father was a well-known actor Walter Huston, and he spent most of his younger years he traveling with his family. When Huston was 15 years old, he dropped out of school to pursue a boxing career. Unfortunately, he had gotten his nose broken which made him decided to quit boxing and go back to school. Huston was one of the new generation of filmmakers who were rising from writing ranks and would exert a noticeably constructive influence. Huston died on August 28, 1987.

Biography:

Orson Welles was born on May 6, 1915 and he was famous long before making any kind of film. Welles was a child prodigy since he could read at the age of three and was giving performances of King Lear at seven. By 1934, he had developed his well-known breathy bass tone of a voice and made a good living in radio. This lead to the birth of his famous adaptation of H. G. Welles’s War of the World broadcast that send the nation into a complete panic. As for his filming years, Welles made Citizen Kane, which is such an iconic film today, and surprisingly this was his first approved project ever. Welles died on October 10, 1985.

Important Films:

Casablanca

Citizen Kane

Important Film Movements:

• Film Noir – A French term that means “black cinema” which is a kind of urban American genre that sprang up after World War II. Typical film noir revolves around an existentially despairing universe where there is no escape from mean city streets, loneliness, and death. The genre of film was used mostly in American crime dramas.
• Neorealism – An Italian film movement that produced its best work between 1945 and 1955. Strongly realistic on its technical biases and the movement emphasized documentary aspect of film art. This movement also had stressing loose episodic plots, natural lighting, actual location settings, nonprofessional actors, and a preoccupation with poverty and social problems.

1950's - Post-War Era

Important People:

• Fred Zinnemann
• Elia Kazan
• Akira Kurosawa
• Alfred Hitchcock

Biography:

Alfred Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899. Hitchcock arrived in American in 1939 and was already a successful fiction filmmaker in England. With his first ever American project, Rebecca (1940), the film was a huge hit and won an Oscar for Best Picture. Hitchcock did have his ups and down, mostly downs, but he was still able to make the finest work in film in all his years. He died on April 29, 1980.