Virtual Exhibitions > Cinema as Institution

Films and stars of the 30s and 40s

The cinema was never quite such an integral part of western cultural life as in the 1930s and 1940s. Going to "the pictures" was a weekly necessity for many people, and the output of movies from the large industrialised studios, both in Hollywood and in its imitators around the world, was continuous and expanding. Like any popular medium, though, the influence of the cinema was not confined to the films themselves. The marketing of the cinema was an industry in itself, exploiting the images and myths of its stars to increase the popularity of the basic product. Products like games and toys, assorted publications like fan magazines, film and cinema programmes, sheet music, general throwaway souvenirs, and books by, about or featuring the stars, all formed integral parts of the institution of cinema.

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