Transcript Hollywood Firsts

CRITICAL
VIEWING
OTABLE HOLLYWOOD FIRSTS
1890
the first “multiple image”
camera is patented
Kinetoscope (Viewer)
Kinetograph (Camera)
1893
BLACK MARIA (WEST ORANGE,
NJ)
the first motion
picture studio, coined
the “Black Maria” is
built by Thomas
Edison
1894
FRED OTT’S SNEEZE
the first short film,
entitled “Fred Ott’s
Sneeze” is produced
at the Black Maria
1896
the first public
protest is voiced
concerning the
content of the
short film “The
Kiss”
THE KISS
1902
» THE MAN ON THE MOON AKA A TRIP
TO THE MOON (SFX)
the first special
effects are employed
by French director
George Méliès in A
Trip to the Moon
1904
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY
the first
narrative movie
The Great Train
Robbery is
filmed
1915
BIRTH OF A NATION
the first film to earn a onemillion-dollar profit, D.W.
Griffith’s The Birth of a
Nation makes over two
million dollars although it
cost only $100,000 to
make; it is subsequently
banned by the U.S.
Supreme Court for racist
content
1916
the first movie flop,
D.W. Griffith poured
his entire two-milliondollar earnings from
The Birth of a Nation
into Intolerance, a
bloated production
from which he loses
all his previous
earnings
INTOLERANCE
1916
the first high-paid actor,
Charlie Chaplin earns
$10,000 per week plus
a $150,000 yearly
bonus for his
productions and
portrayal of the
beloved “little tramp”
CHARLIE
CHAPLIN
1919
the first horror film,
the German-made
The Cabinet of Dr.
Caligari, features
expressionistic sets, a
mad scientist, and a
zombie murderer
CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
1922
the first animal
star, German
shepherd Rin Tin
Tin, barks his
way onto the
silver screen
RIN TIN TIN
1927
the first “talkie,” The Jazz
Singer delights filmgoers
with its musical numbers
THE JAZZ SINGER
1928
animated star Mickey
Mouse finds his voice
in his first talking role,
Steamboat Willie
STEAMBOAT
WILLIE
1930
U.S. movie attendance
tops 70 million viewers
per week, of a 123
million national
population
1939 GONE WITH THE
the first box office
smashes, Gone with
the Wind, ten-time
Oscar winner, and
The Wizard of Oz, the
most-watched film in
history, hit theaters
WIND
1941
the most critically
acclaimed American
film of all time,
Citizen Kane,
directed by Orson
Welles, makes its
theater debut
CITIZEN KANE