8 Timeline of


Movie Making By Sarah Zimmerman, Features Editor


1878


The Horse In Motion, the first motion picture


-Features- A Perspect 1891


Edison filed a patent for his first motion picture viewer


1. Gone with the Wind (1939)


2. Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope(1977)


R, X, NC-17: these are the panel t c e 1906


Australia enjoyed an early start in movie making, producing the world’s first feature-length film The Story of the Kelly Gang.


of ratings that control the movie watching experi- ence. As this panel celebrates its 43 anniversary, it is time to


stop and look at how these ratings have evolved. Ratings were once sporadic, inconsistent, and hard to understand, as mov- ies were sent to 45 different panels before put into theatres. Now this standard set of


ratings is what people live and die by when they go to see a movie. This rating system was established back when the original True Grit, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Sound of Music were some of the most popular films. Today’s culture makes films such as Inception, Easy A, and Saw. To-


day’s movies have increasing amounts of explicit violence and sex, and if the rating panel for them is the same as that in the late sixties, the panel must have evolved to fit an audience hungry to push the limits. In an interview with Time Magazine, Joan Graves, Chairman of the Classification and Ratings Administra- tion, said, “Take the drug issue. It was much more leniently rated some decades ago than it is now, because par-


ents realize that drugs have a much more serious place in their children’s lives. In the 60s and 70s, drugs appeared to be more of a fun, temporary thing. So drugs are rated harsher now.” Here Graves embodied the Rating Administration’s principle that ratings are supposed to reflect the standards


1914


When war broke out in 1914, movie- making in Holmfirth came to an end. The material used to make film was needed to make explo- sives. After the war, they never resumed film produc- tion. By then, Hollywood had the movie world in its grip and small Brit- ish producers struggled to compete.


set by society, instead of setting the standards themselves. Ratings have evolved to tolerate more scenes with sex, violence, and language, but they say that it is simply a reflection of what society has evolved to allow. This is true. Even just looking at the types of movies that the panel once rated compared to those they face today, it’s clear that society is more tolerant. Time Magazine also interviewed Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America; he said, “You have some movies today that get ‘PG-13’ or ‘R’ ratings that, forty years ago, prob- ably wouldn’t have even been made. Movies like Wedding Crashers or Knocked Up, or these other hard ‘R’ comedies that are out there. They reflect how society has changed, what standards it accepts.” There is no denying that fifty years ago people wouldn’t have dreamed of making these types of movies, which are now commonplace in today’s society. The conclusion must be drawn that rating standards have not only changed, but also done so in tandem with society’s actions. This makes the more tolerant ratings simply a reflection of the deteriorating state of society and the things people now accept as “okay” and “appropriate.”


3. Sound of Music (1965) 4. E.T. (1983)


5. The Ten Commandmen (1956)


G, PG, PG-13,


Hollywoo


Audrey Hepburn: (Actress) She received five Oscar nominations, including three during the 50s for The Nun’s Story in 1959, Sabrina in 1954, and won the award for her performance in Roman Holiday in 1953. Hepburn is also known for roles in My Fair Lady (1964) and Breakfast at Tif- fany’s (1961).


Doris Day: (Actress) Nominated


for six Golden Globes and an Oscar in the course of her career, Day was recognized as the talented comedic actress of her time. She had her own TV show, The Doris Day Show, from 1968 to 1973. Her most famous roles consisted of Jan Morrow in Pillow Talk (1959) and Josephine Conway McKenna in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956).


Grace Kelly: (Actress) Grace Kelly 1926


Don Juan, first success- ful synchro- nous film that featured composed music with it.


1927


The Jazz Singer opened as the first synchronous film with dia- logue


1928


An irresistible little mouse ushered in an era of magical movie- making that would change the landscape of animation forever.


earned a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her acting in Mogambo. In 1954, Grace Kelly won her first and only Oscar for Best Actress in The Country Girl, because after filming eleven movies in the 50s, she retired from acting at 26 to become the Princess of Monaco.


T H E N


1935


The first full length color movie was Becky Sharpe.


Frank Sinatra: (Singer, Actor) Sina- tra’s first film role was in 1953, when he played the leading role in From Here to Eternity, for which he won an Academy Award. He was nominated for four Emmy awards, and won three Golden Globes. He was nominated for a Grammy, and is cred- ited with creating and leading the infamous “Rat Pack.”


Cary Grant: (Actor) Nominated for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Golden Globes for the 1958 movie Indiscreet and his 1959 movie Operation Petticoat. He was in thirteen movies in the 50s, including two directed by Alfred Hitchcock titled, To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest.


Elvis Presley: (Singer, Actor) The King of Rock n’ Roll, Presley starred in 31 films and had 149 songs appear on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Charts in America during his career. Presley sold over one billion records worldwide, more then anyone else in re- corded history. In America, he has had over 150 different albums and singles released that have been certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum.


Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first full length animated film.


1937 1939


Gone with the Wind uses the first cuss word on screen. Also, Hattie McDaniel the first African American to win an Oscar for her role in Gone with the Wind.


Rebecca dramati Hitchco Americ


194 &


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Top grossing films (with inflation adjustment)


by Sarah Zimmerman


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