With the introduction of movies with sound, Hollywood producers churned out Westerns, musicals, romantic dramas, horror films and documentaries. Soon, movie stars such as Chaplin, the Marx Brothers and Tallulah Bankhead were adored everywhere. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) and comedies such as The Kid (1921) starring Charlie Chaplin were popular nationwide. The Golden Age of Hollywood began with the silent movie era (though some people say it started at the end of the silent movie age).

Smaller studios included Columbia, Universal and United Artists. Under the all-controlling studio system of the era, five movie studios known as the “Big Five” dominated: Warner Brothers, RKO, Fox, MGM and Paramount.

The Golden Age of Hollywood was a period of great growth, experimentation and change in the industry that brought international prestige to Hollywood and its movie stars. In the late 1970s, the sign was restored again and has been featured in countless movies, including Superman, Mighty Joe Young and The Day After Tomorrow. It was partially restored in 1949 and the last four letters removed. During the Great Depression, the sign deteriorated. The sign was supposed to last just one and a half years however, it became part of Hollywood’s culture and remained. It was originally a clever electric billboard advertising an upscale suburban neighborhood in what is now the Hollywood Hills. The Hollywood sign is a must-see tourist attraction, although it didn’t start out that way. It also had warm, predictably sunny weather and diverse terrain perfect for movie backdrops. Hollywood was an ideal place to produce movies since filmmakers couldn’t be sued there for infringing on motion picture film patents held by Thomas Edison and his Motion Picture Patents Company. By 1915, many major motion-picture companies had relocated to Hollywood from the East Coast. The first film made entirely in Hollywood was a short film in 1910 titled In Old California.īy 1911, the first movie studio appeared on Sunset Boulevard. The first film completed in Hollywood was 1908’s The Count of Monte Cristo, although production of the film began in Chicago. Whichever story is correct (if either), all three people played an important role in the famous city’s development.

List of classic movie stars