The Hollywood of Yesteryear Versus Hollywood Today

Once upon a time there were stars in Hollywood. Not just a few sprinkled here and there, but buckets and buckets full of stars like: Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, Vivian Leigh, Grace Kelly, Bette Davis, and Greta Garbo. They were glamorous. They were classy. They were what many young girls and boys aspired to be.

Often referred to as "The Golden Age of Hollywood," this era also saw a lot of changes. Advances were made in the areas of sound and color. The death of silent films ushered in the much-ballyhooed "talkies." This period in time also saw the development of specific film genres like gangster films, musicals, historical biographies, screwball comedies, westerns, horror films and more. It was also the period when the effects of the Great Depression were strongly felt in Hollywood as fewer people could afford the luxury of going to the movies. It was the age of the blonde bombshells: Jean Harlow, Jane Mansfield, and eventually Marilyn Monroe. It was a time when not-so handsome actors ruled like Humphry Bogart, James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson. John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry filled the old west with heroes where good always triumphed over evil. Broadway actresses like Helen Hayes and Anne Miller found a new place to practice their craft. Katherine Hepburn made her screen debut and adorable moppet Shirley Temple tapped danced her permanent mark on the film industry. An Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuler brought to life the vine-swinging ape-man, Tarzan and Spencer Tracy won consecutive Best Actor Oscars for "Captains Courageous" and "Boys Town." The Motion Picture Production Code began setting guidelines for films with regard to sex, violence, religion, and crime and the first Hollywood newspaper emerged in the form of The Hollywood Reporter.