Popular Culture and American Influence in Canada in the 1920s

1. Popular CultureandAmerican Influencein Canadain the 1920s

2. Motion Pictures The moving or motion picture had been invented in the late 1800's, and movie houses had been built starting before World War I. Some great silent films had already been made, including D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation.

3. Motion Pictures • It was in the 1920's, however, that films really took off and dominated as an entertainment form. • Early movies were silent films. • The audience was treated to a written narrative that explained the action on screen.

4. Motion Pictures • These narratives were called “title cards.”

5. Motion Pictures • But the audience wouldn’t sit in silence. Rather, the theatre owners would hire musicians to perform music that accompanied the story line. • These musicians would most often be pianists or organists; but sometimes entire orchestras were hired. • Motion picture companies would send musical scores to the theatres, along with the films.

6. Motion Pictures • The public flocked to movie houses, simple ones in small towns, and large, ornate theatres in the larger cities, to see films of romance and adventure with stars such as Greta Garbo . . . • Greta Garbo. . .

7. Motion Pictures • . . . and Rudolph Valentino. . . , • Rudolph Valentino

8. Motion Pictures • . . .or comedies with stars such as Charlie Chaplin. • Charlie Chaplin

9. Motion Pictures • In the 1920s, new technology was developed which allowed filmmakers to attach a soundtrack of dialogue, music, and sound effects synchronized with the action on the film. • These were called “talking pictures” or “talkies.”

10. Motion Pictures • The first “talkie” appeared in 1928, with Al Jolson uttering the famous words, “You ain’t heard nothing yet!” in The Jazz Singer. • The Jazz Singer

11. Motion Pictures • Stars such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers popularized the musical in the 1930's. • Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers

12. Motion Pictures • The first colour film, Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn, was released in 1938. • Robin Hood with Errol Flynn - trailer

13. Motion Pictures • An afternoon or evening at the movies cost a dime, and for that the audience saw two feature films and a series of short items, often including a newsreel. • In the days before television, the newsreel was the only way that people would “see” the news, as opposed to hearing a radio report or reading the newspaper.

14. Motion Pictures • Here’s an example of what a newsreel looked like: • Newsreel

15. Motion Pictures • It is ironic that one of the greatest stars of the 1920s, Mary Pickford, who was known as “America’s Sweetheart,” had been born and raised in Toronto, and had left to go to the United States to pursue her career. • Mary Pickford

16. Motion Pictures • There was no Canadian film industry to compete with Hollywood in those days. So, even though Canadians such as Pickford and Boris Karloff (better known as Frankenstein) became big stars, they were telling American stories for American audiences. • Boris Karloff as Frankenstein

17. Motion Pictures • Canadians had no opportunity to see their country and their stories on the big screen. The closest that Hollywood got to Canadian subject matter was movies about heroic Mounties. • Nelson Eddy and the Mounties • Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald

18. Motion Pictures • To deal with this American domination of the film industry, and to give Canadians a better chance at making films, the National Film Board, or NFB, was founded by the government in 1938. • The Case of Charlie Gordon

19. Radio • The first radio transmission was made by Canadian inventor Reginald Fessenden, in 1900 near Washington D.C. • The next year, on December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi sent out a radio signal from Signal Hill in Saint John’s Newfoundland, using a kite as an antenna.

20. Radio • By 1919, Marconi had established an experimental radio station in Montreal to broadcast to “hams” or amateur radio operators. • By 1922, people were attending radio broadcasts at concert halls – listening to music over the radio.

21. Radio • The first commercial radio stations in Canada were set up by the Canadian National Railways. • Soon, radio broadcasts from the United States were dominating the Canadian airwaves.

22. Radio • Canadians were listening to American music, including the new craze, jazz. • They followed American soap operas (so called because the serial dramatic series were often sponsored by soap companies advertising their products), and laughed along with American comedians such as Amos and Andy.

23. Radio • In 1932, the Canadian Radio Broad-casting Commission (CRBC) went on the air, but not all the time. • At first, they only broadcast for two hours a week, and it was months before there was one hour of broadcasting a night.

24. Radio • Having a national radio network made it possible for Canadians to have greater access to Canadian news stories, such as the birth of the Dionne Quintuplets in 1934. • In 1936, the CRBC was replaced with the CBC, which still exists today as Canada’s national broadcaster. • It commenced operations with six hours a day on the air. • It was the start of a distinctly Canadian voice on the air.