Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 102

"I want to be alone...(I want to be alone)"

On the big screen of the theater, the hysterical ballerina spoke her inner monologue.

And this sentence became the symbol of Greta Garbo in the future.

1932 was the worst year in all of American show business.And Hollywood is the first to bear the brunt. In this year, the number of movie audiences dropped to a minimum of 1500 million. You must know that two years ago, in 1930, when the Great Depression occurred, the number of movie audiences at that time was still 8000 million. Reached an all-time high of [-] million per week.

The movie ticket has been reduced from 30 cents the previous year to 20 cents. To make matters worse, with the popularity of sound movies, production costs have also begun to soar, while overseas markets have shown an inverse decline.During this period, the box office revenue of a blockbuster film was around [-] to [-], but the production cost ranged from [-] to [-]. Calculated in this way, the profit was close to zero. Such a situation made Los Angeles American studios are complaining.

The decline in the audience has caused two-thirds of Broadway theaters to close.

Circuses and vaudeville theaters are on the verge of dying, and theaters are forced to close down every day.

Under such circumstances, "Variety" magazine issued a comment saying: "The maxim that cheap entertainment is invulnerable at all times has become a joke. Nothing is invulnerable, not even government debt. No exception!"

In order to survive the cold winter in the market, Hollywood also seems to reverse its strategy.

MGM was one of the few studios that remained marginally profitable during this period.

And "famous works" is also a movie trend born in this period, that is, big-budget films based on pre-sale rights of other literary forms, starring the top stars of various studios.

"Grand Hotel" is such a work.

The plot of the film is based on the best-selling novel by Wiki Baum. It takes a luxury hotel in Berlin as the stage of life, and shows the bizarre encounters of the five main characters in a day.

This special story structure was the first in Hollywood during this period.

Of course, what is more striking is that all five protagonists of the film are played by big stars from MGM Studios. This kind of all-star film lineup has attracted the expectations of a large number of movie fans once it was released.

Especially "Grand Hotel", as Greta Garbo, the queen of silent films, participated in the first sound film, which aroused the audience's expectations.

After all, come to Hollywood.

Naturally, Colin would not miss watching such a classic movie.

Therefore, at Disney Studios, after discussing the content of the linkage plot, he took the initiative to propose the idea of ​​​​watching this movie.

In this regard, Walt and others also readily agreed.

In the cinema, the audience is quietly watching the content on the big screen.

Their moods change with Greta Garbo's ballerina.

With dreamy eyes, feverish voice, and slender body, Jiabao created a woman who was under the prestige, extremely lonely and insecure inside.

Classics don't fade with time, and "Grand Hotel" is obviously such a classic.

This all-star Oscar-best film masterpiece confines the scene of the story in the hotel, but through the bizarre encounters of five groups of characters on the same day, various scenes of joys and sorrows are staged in a three-line interlaced manner.

What is even more commendable is that it is such a big production that brings together many stars, but it ends with a rather dark ending.

When the film ends, those who die, those who catch, those who leave leave, when all the actors leave the stage.

The restaurant as the background is still there quietly, welcoming new guests, people coming and going, giving people a sense of time passing by in a hurry.

This was obviously an unimaginable ending in Hollywood later.

Perhaps, it is precisely because of this that the story of "Grand Hotel" is so popular, and "Berlin Hotel" as the prototype of the story has been adapted into a classic Broadway opera and continues to be passed down.

The movie is over.

"Excellent movie."

With the appearance of scrolling subtitles on the big screen, Colin breathed a sigh of relief and said with a sigh.

"A brutal movie."

Beside him, Walt Disney offered a different perspective.

"Very realistic movie."

Pressing his hat, Roy Disney whispered.

In "Grand Hotel", there is no clear main line but all are main lines, just like life.

"Poor John..."

This is the feeling of Walter's wife Lillian. The John she mentioned is the actor Baron von Geigen in the film, a thief who likes to gamble and degenerates into a thief but still has an aristocratic posture. The ending is very miserable.

Of course, regardless of their reviews, "Grand Hotel" is considered to be an excellent work.

"It has been a long time since such a good work has appeared in Hollywood. The last movie that moved me was Chaplin's "City Lights."

Coming out of the movie theater, Walt glanced back at the huge poster of "Grand Hotel" on the wall, and couldn't help but say.

Although Disney Studios is also developing in Hollywood, it is not obvious because of the problem of movie types and the competition of these studios.

"That's because the studios are losing money. In order to save money, many studios have laid off more than 20% of their employees. Among them, Paramount even directly closed the studio on Long Island, resulting in more than 5000 employees losing their jobs. News of penniless extras left in Los Angeles is on the verge of becoming a national scandal..."

Compared to Walt, Roy Disney, who leads the Disney business department, seems to understand the current situation of Hollywood better.

It costs money to go out to see a movie, which is obviously a very luxurious enjoyment for people in the Great Depression, so they would rather stay at home and listen to free radio programs than go out and pay for a copy. movie ticket.

In the first shock, the eight major studios in Hollywood lost money one after another.

"Hollywood today has long lost its past glory. It is said that in less than half a year this year alone, Paramount has lost more than 1000 million yuan, and it is still losing money. If this situation continues, I think Next year, the eight studios may be left with seven..."

Hollywood's downturn is also the reason why Disney frequently authorizes the production of peripherals. Compared with live-action movies, animated movies have a longer production cycle, but they have avoided the problem of actors' remuneration. The only Disney movies that require The trouble is how to make the story interesting.

　Thank you for being my 1000 starting point coin reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)