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Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman---these were the names, along with dozens more, that emblazoned the fronts of movie theatres from coast to coast throughout the nineteen thirties and forties. This time in Hollywood is known as the Golden age, and for good reason. The film industry during this time was extremely affluent and powerful, and was producing so many movies during this period that major additions could almost always be seen being constructed at the sites of RKO, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and MGM, the most successful studios of the era.
It was at said studios where the magic of the golden era was created, and where, also, dozens of major stars were born.
WAR-TIME FILMS
The late thirties and early forties saw first the threat and then the realization of World War II. Hollywood, and the heads of the major studios that set within its confines, saw this time as an opportunity to produce movies that would bond Americans together during this difficult and fearful era. It aided in the war efforts by creating and releasing not only patriotic films, starring such actors as Van Johnson, Betty Grable, and Alan Ladd, but also documentaries, shorts, news-reels, and extravagant fund-raisers for relief aid and the sale of war bonds.
Some of the most popular films released at this time in cinema history were “Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress,” in 1944, and “Sergeant York,” in 1941. The latter can be considered fairly typical of many of the war-time releases in Hollywood. A young man, somewhat shy and reserved, not accustomed to traveling more than a few miles from the farm-home much less to hostile nations, is called for duty. By film’s end, the quiet country boy has become a hero. Having fought adversities and cheated death, he has played a major role in claiming victory over the enemy. Almost all of these war pictures followed the above plotline, mandated by the studios; the feel-good endings and patriotic fervor left audiences happy, and ready for more---the hope of every producer and studio head in Hollywood.
BIGGEST STARS IN 1940s HOLLYWOOD
Before, during, and after WWII, many names in Hollywood were made famous through the almost overwhelming number of films released. Some became popular at the start of the war, while others found their place at its heels, but all became well-known and loved by many before the golden age had played out its time.
A list of some of the actors who shot to stardom during this era of movie magic:
Ingrid Bergman, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Judy Garland, James Cagney, Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Jones, and former President Ronald Reagan, who starred in his most popular film, “Kings Row,” in 1942. All of these names are known even today, more than sixty years since the beginning of the golden era.
FILM NOIR
Many films created during the 1940s are today classified as ‘film noir,’ which literally means “black film.” These films were very somber in mood, mostly pessimistic in plot, and all but shouted “shadow.” The major players featured in film noir movies would be perhaps a tough, cynical male lead, and a leading lady who would not have fit in at coffee klatches and PTA meetings---her role would better be described as femme fatale. The first, and perhaps best, example of film noir was released in 1941, “The Maltese Falcon,” directed by John Huston. This entry in film noir made a huge star out of its male lead, Humphrey Bogart, who portrayed private eye Sam Spade. As the forties were famous for the film noir style, there were many excellent movies released using this format. Among them, “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” in 1946; “Laura,” in 1944, “Double Indemnity,” also in 1944, and “Out of the Past,” in 1947.
COMEDIES
A most famous duo of stars, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, was born out of the golden age of Hollywood. Their “Road To” movies were well-received and quite popular with audiences. They took the “Road to Singapore” with Dorothy Lamour in 1940, (their first such road trip) and continued making these trips into the early 1960s.
Other comedic talents realized during this era were the teams of Abbott and Costello and Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. This latter duo was teamed nine times during their respective careers. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis also began their long careers in the golden era, making their first effort in “My Friend Irma” in 1949. They would continue on and create another fifteen films together until their split, the causes of which remain cloaked in mystery even today.
WESTERNS
It is perhaps John Ford who is most responsible for bringing to life the westerns of the 1940s. His gift for shooting scenery and attention to detail brought him fame in his most prolific endeavor—the role of producer of classic westerns. Among his credits---“Fort Apache,” 1948; “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon,” 1949; and “Rio Grande,” 1950.
It was Ford who handpicked the up and coming Marion Morrison for the lead in each of the aforementioned films. Morrison would excel in each of these roles and go on to perform in many more westerns and action films, also. Known as the all-American cowboy, (although in real-life he was quoted as saying he disliked the four-legged beasts,) Morrison is better known by his screen name---John Wayne.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END—BLACKLISTING
In 1947, ‘witch-hunt’ type investigations were being conducted by a House of Representatives committee in Hollywood, on the premise of finding and penalizing suspected communists in the Hollywood film community. The “Hollywood Ten,” a group of screenwriters, producers, and directors, were selected as a target. This group, who refused to testify and confess alleged un-American ways, was jailed for a year for contempt of Congress.
Actors, writers, and directors that were ‘blacklisted’ by unfriendly testimonies were banned from working in the industry; many careers were shortened or completely ended by this ‘witch-hunt.’ Nothing had to be proven; many times all that was necessary to be added to the list was an assumption of guilt, either directly or indirectly.
Many other factors played a role in the demise of the golden age of Hollywood besides the infamous blacklisting of talent. The nation was reeling from the effects of the war, a depression, and the arrival of the atomic bomb. Television, which was up and coming, also was a threat to the studios that had lived high on the hog for over a decade. A gradual decline in audiences was not the least of Hollywood’s problems as the fifties reared its head; all these troubles added to the slow demise of the great studio-owned monopolies that had controlled and were made rich by the Golden era of Hollywood.
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