ABSTRACT
In less than half a century, moving pictures grew from an emerging, fragmented business into a concentrated, large-scale industry. In 1900, film viewing was an inexpensive, brief, and haphazard activity; viewers saw many short films in borrowed venues like fairground tents, music halls, and theaters. By the 1930s, cinema-going had become a regular pastime, with audiences viewing one or two ‘feature films’ per program in purposebuilt cinemas. In 1900, showmen and producers sold each other a supply of copies varying in quality and quantity through local or regional networks. By 1919, specialized distribution organizations rented films to cinemas and carefully coordinated logistical and promotional operations through international networks. In 1900, film production was low-cost and eclectic, involving many movies of different types and lengths. Forty years later, production concentrated on relatively few long, high-cost ‘feature films,’ which were carefully budgeted and heavily promoted.
