Friday 26 June 2009

Free Movies 66: It's All Online

By Prince Castillo

Americans love movies and rightly so. The passion we are share in slipping in a DVD or watching a movie online seems to be one of the most enjoyable and relaxing times of our entire day. It is not only a great form of entertainment but a time to enter different worlds of fantasy played out in movie plots.

How deep is this passion? Each year, we spend millions of dollars buying and renting movies, DVD's and entertaining films. However, having access to so many movies has not always been so easy.

A quick look at history will reveal a time when access to a movie was considered almost a luxury, especially during the Great Depression and in times when the nation was at war. There were only a few sources for movie entertainment during those times and people sought to movie watching experience with great interest.

It was in the 1920's when sound technology was introduced to movies for the first time. These movies were smashing hits during that time and people seemed to enjoy comedies and classics such as "Gone With The Wind" and movies starring Shirley Temple.

The 1920's saw the release of some of the greatest movie hits during that time. Producers saw how sound affected the movie watching experience and started releasing movies that paralleled real world social experiences such as gangster movies, love and romance and musicals.

Even though movies were the best form of entertainment during those times, it did cost money for a ticket and that was a scarcity, especially during the Great Depression. As an alternative to going to the local theater, people resorted to listening to their favorite radio stories such as and very often the entire family would huddle around the radio in dead silence as stories were told.

Some of the greatest box office hits during that time included movies by Gloria Swanson, Colleen Moore, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Norma Talmadge, Harold Lloyd and others, all idolized stars.

As radio became the preferred source for entertainment, producers began to air widely publicized musical performances so people could be entertained without the ticket costs of admission.

This went over extremely well. People across the country loved it. It was a way for them to briefly escape the hardships they had to endure and enter a fantasy world where they could live out their fantasies through the roles of their favorite movie stars. It kept them entertained and took their minds of the difficulties of life.

Today, even though the country is going through an economic recession, at large we are not encountering the plight they had to endure. With a mouse click or a short drive to a DVD rental store, we have access to tens of thousands of movies and high quality DVD's such as western movies, science fiction, comedy or scary movies. It is amazing how far we have come.

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