BIG POPULAR CULTURE N ENTERTAINMENT
1918-31
CINEMA
Most popular entertainment → Hollywood increased available variety +
popularised ‘westerns’
1927 Cinematograph Films Act → ensured 7.5% of films shown = British, (20% in
1935)
1929 Hitchcock’s ‘Blackmail’ = 1st ‘talkie’ produced in Britain
MUSIC
Most successful artist in 1920s = Ivor Novello
o Produced ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’ during war – paid £15,000 by
record
1922 BBC ESTABLISHED
Licensed by gov → radio programmes reflected their values
1927 → became a publicly owned state broadcaster
Mission = to ‘inform, educate, and entertain’
RADIO
Growth of mass radio audiences in 1920s – due to affordability
CINEMA + SOCIAL COMMENTARY
Most films = escapism (e.g., romances, thrillers, etc) – however, some reflected
social issues:
o E.g., Hitchcock’s ‘The Pleasure Garden’ (1925) → challenges hypocrisy +
‘male gaze’
o The Firstborn (1928) → tackles taboo issues of infidelity and ‘illegitimate’
children
o The Great Game (1930) → reflected centrality of football in WC lives
JAZZ + SWING
Introduction of American music popularised Jazz + Swing in Britain
o British dance bands influenced by Duke Ellington + Count Basie (20,000
bands by 1930)
1931-39
CINEMA
Ticket sales grew during Great Depression – 19mil tickets/ week
o Escapism for unemployed – 1931 study = those unemployed saw ~2.6
movies/ week (daytime tickets were cheaper)
o S. Wales valleys – improvised affordable cinemas in miners’ institutes
1937-39 = cinema provided 50% of tax revenue on entertainment
In 1938, >970 cinema admissions
1918-31
CINEMA
Most popular entertainment → Hollywood increased available variety +
popularised ‘westerns’
1927 Cinematograph Films Act → ensured 7.5% of films shown = British, (20% in
1935)
1929 Hitchcock’s ‘Blackmail’ = 1st ‘talkie’ produced in Britain
MUSIC
Most successful artist in 1920s = Ivor Novello
o Produced ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’ during war – paid £15,000 by
record
1922 BBC ESTABLISHED
Licensed by gov → radio programmes reflected their values
1927 → became a publicly owned state broadcaster
Mission = to ‘inform, educate, and entertain’
RADIO
Growth of mass radio audiences in 1920s – due to affordability
CINEMA + SOCIAL COMMENTARY
Most films = escapism (e.g., romances, thrillers, etc) – however, some reflected
social issues:
o E.g., Hitchcock’s ‘The Pleasure Garden’ (1925) → challenges hypocrisy +
‘male gaze’
o The Firstborn (1928) → tackles taboo issues of infidelity and ‘illegitimate’
children
o The Great Game (1930) → reflected centrality of football in WC lives
JAZZ + SWING
Introduction of American music popularised Jazz + Swing in Britain
o British dance bands influenced by Duke Ellington + Count Basie (20,000
bands by 1930)
1931-39
CINEMA
Ticket sales grew during Great Depression – 19mil tickets/ week
o Escapism for unemployed – 1931 study = those unemployed saw ~2.6
movies/ week (daytime tickets were cheaper)
o S. Wales valleys – improvised affordable cinemas in miners’ institutes
1937-39 = cinema provided 50% of tax revenue on entertainment
In 1938, >970 cinema admissions
