Back to Golden Days

Do you ever wonder when a certain event happened for the first time in recorded history? Well, if you do, you are in for a treat (hopefully), because today I am sharing with you 10 firsts in film history. From the first motion picture to premiere in Hollywood, to the first «talkie» and the first Technicolor film, these events not only represented advances in cinema technology, but also paved the way for future filmmakers. 1. The first ever motion picture to be made in Hollywood was In Old California (1910). Directed by D. W. Griffith for Biograph Company, then based in New York City, the film was a 17-minute melodrama set in the early 19th century, when California was under Spanish and Mexican rule. It starred Frank Powell, Arthur V. Johnson, Marion Leonard and Henry B. Walthall. The short was considered lost for many decades, until a copy was found in 2004 and screened at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. LEFT: Marion Leonard, Henry B. Walthall and Arthur Johnson in In Old Californ...

Did you know that...  The Gulf Between (1917) was the first ever motion picture made in Technicolor and first feature-length colour film produced in the United States.   Two of the few surviving frames from The Gulf Between , showing Grace Darmond (left) and Charles Brandt, Grace Darmond and Niles Welch (right). In 1912, Herbert Kalmus and Daniel Comstock, two graduates and professors of the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), teamed up with mechanic W. Burton Westcott to form an industrial research and development firm. Three years later, when the company was hired to analyze an inventor's flicker-free motion picture system, they became intrigued by the art and science of filmmaking, particularly the cutting-edge colour processes that were being developed in England. The trio then decided to set up a film laboratory in Boston inside a charcoal black railroad car, which was outfitted with an electrical generator, a darkroom, a fireproof safe, a photochemical lab and ...

Did you know that... The first sequel in motion picture history was The Fall of a Nation (1916), which is a follow-up to D. W. Griffith's epic drama The Birth of a Nation (1915). Based on Thomas Dixon Jr.'s novel and play The Clansman , The Birth of a Nation changed the history of American cinema. With a cast that included Lillian Gish and future Oscar winner Donald Crisp, the three-hour film chronicled the relationship of two families during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era over the course of several years. The film was a great financial success, although it created a wave of controversy for its portrayal of black men as unintelligent and aggressive towards white women and the portrayal of the Klu Klux Klan as a heroic force.   (from left to right) Josephine Crowell, Henry B. Walthall and Lilian Gish in The Birth of a Nation ; Raoul Walsh and Lillian Gish in the same film. Hoping to capitalize on the massive success of The Birth of a Nation , Dixon decided to ...

Recognized as one of the founding fathers of the American film industry, David Wark Griffith, known as D. W. Griffith, was born in Crestwood, Kentucky on January 22, 1875. He was the fourth son of Mary Perkins Oglesby, a devout Methodist who came from a prominent Southern family, and Jacob Wark Griffith, a Confederate States Army colonel who had fought in the American Civil War. When Jacob died suddenly in 1885, the Griffith family was left in debt-ridden poverty. Four years later, David moved with his mother and siblings to nearby Louisville, where they were forced to take in boarders to make ends meet. After school, David would help the family by working as a newspaper boy and selling vinegar on commission to local grocers.    D. W. Griffith (1875-1948), one of the most influential directors in motion picture history.   In 1890, he abandoned high school to seek full-employment. He briefly worked as a cash boy at the J. C. Lewis Dry Goods store, before his boss promoted...