1929: Crash!

We've reached the end of our second decade. There is a lot going on in the world: Tintin and Popeye premiere, the Valentine's Day Massacre hits and the first car radio is installed (I'm pretty sure the first car radio theft occurred two hours later).

But the big news in the world is the big news in film as well. In September of 1929, we get the Stock Market Crash. That event kicks off the Great Depression leading right into World War II. The events of the following 20 years would inform our national character like no other. And when you go through that kind of national trauma, you get the invention of film noir (perhaps the only uniquely American film genre), the paranoia of Hitchcock films and the birth of Orson Welles unique vision of the world.

Of course, we are still years away from all of that, but the seeds are planted here. In more immediate film news, Hollywood holds the first Academy Award ceremony. Douglas Fairbanks hosted the 15 minute long ceremony. It was also the only time the Oscars were not broadcast on radio or television. Mary Pickford waged the first Oscar campaign, hosting the judges at her home.

In other firsts, 1929 sees the first Marx Brothers film, the first Hitchcock talkie and the first backstage musical. Silent stars attempt to make the leap to sound. Some, like Greta Garbo, are successful. Others, like John Gilbert? Not so much.

So what are we watching?  Fritz Lang has a film so that's automatic.  Hitchcock?  Definitely.  Salvador Dali's Un Chien Andalou?  Absolutely.  The first Broadway Melody, the Marx Brothers' Cocoanuts, and Man with the Movie Camera are all on tap as well.