Reeling In The Years. Cinema style. 1930.

1930 was the start of a tumultuous decade for Hollywood. Movies with sound were being adopted across the board and silent Hollywood was dying leaving actors and directors struggling with the future. The studio system was taking off and a handful of major film studio's were making virtually every film and a series of scandals in the 1920's issued in a puritanical stance that would tame films for the next 4 decades.

Here's a few film related facts and figures from 1930 with a wee treat lobbed in at the end for your viewing pleasure.

John Wayne and Jean Harlow both make their breakthrough this year. Wayne in a western called 'The Big Trail' and Harlow in none other than Howard Hughes 'Hell's Angels'. Sadly Jean would be dead within 7 years while Wayne became an embodiment of America for the next 50 years. Other noticeable debuts this year were James Cagney and Maureen O'Sullivan.

Tom Sawyer is the biggest earning film of the year with $11 million.

All Quiet On The Western Front wins best picture. One of the greatest anti war films ever. The below clip says it all. Probably best not to watch it if you haven't seen the film though.

Clint Eastwood, Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery & Gena Rowlands are born this year. All four are still going strong. They built them tough back then.

Howard Hughes war film Hell's Angels pushes the boundaries of just what a film can do. 88 years later it's still amazing and far more impressive than any CGI. Watch the below clip with the sound off.



The Hays code is introduced. A series of scandals including the Fatty Arkbuckle trial scandalised Hollywood during the 20's and forced studios to come up with a plan to bring back a family friendly image. William H. Hays was brought in to draw up a list of do's and dont's for film. It doesn't fully come into effect until 1934 but it straight away curtails the use of sex & overt violence in films. This code was the reason married couples in black and white films slept in separate beds and we didn't hear the F-word in an American film until 1970. The film was M.A.S.H. btw.

Clara Bow, one of the first movie "It" girls became embroiled in a Hollywoodland sex scandal and had her career ruined as a result. An early example of a woman being destroyed by the celebrity machine.



Greta Garbo was the star of the year and one of the very few actors who successfully made the transition from silent to talking picture.

Now for your treat, a true 1930 classic for ye to watch. The type of film that if you bring it up in conversation you'll look like a full on cineaste. Luis Bunuel's L'Age D'Or. A massively controversial movie back in the day and still a pretty full on watch.

Enjoy.



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