The Impact Of The Great Depression On The Hollywood Industry

In the fall of 1929, the economic downturn of the Depression was triggered by a rapid decline in values of stock at the New York Stock Exchange in the fall of 1929. During this time, the national income had been cut in half, over nine million savings accounts evaporated, and five thousand banks had collapsed. Such a terrible economic climate inevitably impacted the entertainment industry, specifically Hollywood. In response to these times, the film industry created a studio system in which only the most important of films were produced by one of five studios. Typically, each of these studios was also the owners of prominent theatre chains that spanned both domestically and internationally. Warner Bros, one of the five studios in Hollywood’s pioneered system, was chosen to sit at the forefront of the entertainment industry and produce the most remarkable films and musicals. During this time, Warner Bros was noted for its innovative nature of creating realistic films that were in strong correlation with the lifestyle of the suffering people living during the time of the Great Depression. During the Depression, it would cost about $0.27 to see a film. Films and musicals were inexpensive …show more content…
It altered the ways people viewed themselves in relation to not only their country, but also to the rest of the world. Beyond the initial crash, people suffered because of the lack of employment and sources of income. Shortly after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in 1933, he promised New Deal. Unlike Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt believed that it was the federal government’s duty to help the people during hard times, not the other way around. The expansion of the New Deal essentially meant that the government would intervene more in people’s daily lives. This meant the government would have the ability to provide its people with aid, as well as providing new forms of social