Hollywood in the 1920s - A Snapshot

The 1920s was somewhat of a Golden Age for cinema. More than 800 films were made in a year on average at that time. A remarkable statistic given that in these times if the movie industry made even half that amount of films, it would be a cause for celebration. Part of this success however was down to the vertical integration of some of the leading film corporations, or the Big Five as they are known. Those five in question are Warner Brothers, Paramount, RKO, Metro Goldwyn Mayer/MGM and Fox. What that meant was that the film companies owned vast film studios, they owned their own theatres, had their own production and distribution facilities and had the means to get their films shown wherever possible.

Of course there were more than just these Big Five film companies that made films of course, they were referred to as the Little Three, these being Universal, United Artists and Columbia Pictures. What seperated the Big Five from the Little Three was the little detail of owning their own theatres.

Picture palaces were also in place at the time. For major film companies this would mean that everything was in-house. The film would be shot in the studio using the actors, directors, film crew technicians etc. whereas in another part of the palace, there would be an orchestra composing and conducting the soundtrack for the film itself.