1930
Monogram
Picture Corporation founded in US
Europa
Film founded in Sweden
William
Fox ousted from Fox by federal law suite
Gaumont-Franco-Films-Aubert
(GFFA) established in France as integrated production, distribution
and exhibition group
Dietrich
leaves for Hollywood, stars in Morocco
experimental
30-line TV transmissions in the UK
photo
flashbulbs replace flash powder
first
use of TV for advertising via closed circuit in UK and US
Lowell
Thomas begins first regular US network newscast
AT&T
trials picture telephone
London
to Melbourne telephone service
Punjab
Cinema Art Society, India's first film society, founded in Lahore
Pathé-Cinéma
gains non-exclusive licence for RCA patents for France and its North
African colonies
Sidney
& Cecil Bernstein open Granada Cinema in Dover
Motion
Picture Production Code in US
Paramount
becomes Paramount Publix Corporation through merger with Publix
first
Mickey Mouse comic strip published in New York Mirror
Walt
Disney buys Iwerks' 20% share of Disney company by force for $2,920
1931
commercial
teletype service
electronic
TV broadcasts in Los Angeles and Moscow
exposure
meters first available to photographers
EMI
formed in UK
Warner
Bros opens Leicester Square cinema in London
Crossley
system for rating size of radio program audiences
incorporation
of Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion (CLR)
first
Chinese sound feature films released
Ardeshir
Irani's Imperial Film releases Alam Ara, India's first full-length
talkie
Kreuger
& Toll goes into receivership
Association
of Film Distributors in Denmark (FAFID) founded
1932
General
Electric divests of RCA
first
color photo in a British newspaper, The Times
Kodak
introduces 8 mm film for home movies
stereophonic
sound in a motion picture, Gance's Napoleon
zoom
lens invented
NBC
and CBS allow prices to be mentioned in radio commercials
International Telecommunications Union founded
Dansk
Kulturfilm established
Alexander
Korda forms London Films
1933
Adolf
Hitler becomes German Chancellor
US
Screen Writers Guild founded
Josef
Goebbels informs film industry that "Art is free. However,
it must conform to certain norms" and bans Fritz Lang's Das
Testament des Dr Mabuse as a danger to public order and safety
Danish
Film Law allows production companies allowed to get an exhibition
licence
first
Mars bar
Edwin
Armstrong invents FM
first drive-in theater opens in Riverton, New Jersey on June 6th
first
singing telegrams used
Homer
Capehart sells Simplex record changer to Wurlitzer Co as basis for
jukebox
Dreft,
first household detergent
stereo
phonograph records
Mack
Sennett Studios goes bankrupt
RKO
goes bankrupt
Associated
British Picture Corporation (ABPC) consolidates BIP, BIF, Pathe,
Wardour Films and Associated British Cinemas
1934
end
of Prohibition in US
US
Communications Act of 1934 creates Federal Communications Commission
GFFA
in France goes into receivership
Maurice
Petsch's report proposes government support for French film production
Associated
Press (AP) starts wirephoto service
first
mobile television truck captures Nazi rally
3-colour
Technicolor used in live action film
half
US homes have radios
Granada
incorporated in UK to acquire theatre and cinema operations of Bernstein
Theatres
UK
theatre owner William Hinds forms Hammer Productions
Hammer
and Carreras family found Exclusive production/distribution partnership,
US
Motion Picture Production Code strengthened
US
Motion Pictures Producers & Distributors Association appoints
Joseph Breen to enforce Code
Fédération
Nationale des Cinémas Français (FNCF) founded in France
1935
audio
tape recorders on sale in Germany
VHF
television created
Eastman-Kodak
develops Kodachrome colour film
Himansu
Rai forms Bombay Talkies
International
Film Chamber launched in Europe to counterbalance MPPDA
first
Indian trade journal launched by Motion Picture Society of India
Granada
floated on London Stock Exchange
Paramount
Publix goes bankrupt; reorganised as Paramount Pictures under Adolph
Zukor.
Laemmle
family sells interest in Universal.
Republic
Pictures launched through merger of Mascot Pictures, Monogram Pictures
and Consolidated Film Industries
Charles
Boot and J Arthur Rank establish Pinewood Studios in UK
20th Century Fox established
Minerva
Film established in Denmark
1936
Leni
Riefenstahl films XI Olympic games in Berlin
Berlin Olympics are televised closed circuit
Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) founded
coaxial cable connects New York to Philadelphia
Alan
Turing describes a general purpose computer
Life Magazine launched
ASA
Film Production founded by Lau Lauritzen
Goebbels forbids independent film criticism in print or radio
Union
des Directeurs de Théâtre Cinématographique
established in France
Warner
successful sues Bette Davis for breach of contract
Ardeshir
Irani sets up cinecolor process laboratory in India
Adolph
Zukor replaced by Barney Balaban
Korda
opens studios at Denham
1937
Turing's
On Computable Numbers introduces Turing machine (early computer)
NBC
sends mobile TV truck onto New York streets
Hindenburg
crash broadcast coast to coast in US
photocopier
invented by Carlson
Snow
White is first feature-length cartoon
German
government stake in UFA increased to 72%
Union
Theatres in Australia renamed Greater Union Theatres (GU)
J.
Arthur Rank buys Amalgamated Studios
first
McDonalds opens in Pasadena
Cinecitta
studio complex initiated in Italy
Disney's
first full-length animated feature film Snow White & the Seven
Dwarfs premieres at cost of $1.5 million
1938
Baird
demonstrates live TV in color
Biro
brothers invent ballpoint pen
CBS
World News Roundup ushers in modern newscasting
radio
surpasses magazines as a source of ad revenue in US
War
of the Worlds broadcast frightens chattering classes
Hulton
Picture Library founded as archive for Picture Post magazine
South
Indian Film Chamber of Commerce formed in Chennai
Danish
Film Act establishes Film Council, Film Fund and National Film Board
Palladium
launches exhibition arm in Denmark
UK
Films Act implements quota scheme recommended in 1936 Moyne Committee
report
Indian
Motion Picture Distributors' Association formed in Mumbai
Korda
sells Denham studios to Rank
US
Department of Justice starts antitrust suit (US V Paramount Pictures
et al) against major studios, claiming illegal restraint of trade
through ownership of first-run theaters and block booking schemes
US
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) accuses Shirley Temple
of aiding forces of subversion
Rank
Screen Advertising founded as subsidiary of Odeon Theatres
Bavaria
Filmkunst GmbH founded in Germany
1939
Cox
buys The Atlanta Journal
Atanasoff-Berry
computer, first electronic digital computer
300,000
jukeboxes in US
New
York World's Fair shows television to US public
first
regular TV ads in US
radio
in 75% of German households
15,115
cinemas in US is now more cinemas than US banks(14,952)
Hewlett-Packard
founded
Rank
buys 25% of Universal
Selznick's
Gone With The Wind stars Clark Gable
Victor
Fleming's The Wizard of Oz
<- 1920's + 1940's ->
