Other kinds of pop have less water and do not pop. When you put a kernel of

corn on a fire, the water inside makes the corn explode. This makes a ‘pop’

noise. That is why we called it popcorn. The American Indians popped corn a

long time ago. The Indians knew there were three kinds of corn. There was

sweet corn for eating, corn for animals, and corn for popping. The Indians

introduced corn to the first settlers, or Pilgrims, when they come to

America in 1620. One year after they came, the Pilgrims had a Thanksgiving

dinner. They invited the Indians. The Indians brought food with them. One

Indian brought popcorn. Since that time Americans continued to pop corn at

home. But in 1945 there was a new machine that changed the history of

popcorn. This electric machine popped corn outside the home. Soon movie

theatres started to sell popcorn to make more money. Popcorn at the movies

became more and more popular. Many people like to put salt and melted

butter on their popcorn. Some people eat it without salt or butter. Either

way - Americans love their popcorn!

The Oscar.

The Oscars are awarded every year by the American Academy of Motion

Picture Arts and Science. These statuettes are awarded to actors, film

directors, screenwriters and so on for outstanding contributions to the

film industry. The Oscars were first awarded in 1927. The first winners

were chosen by five judges. Nowadays all of the members of the Academy

vote. The ceremony is attended by most Hollywood stars, although some

famous stars, such as Woody Allen, refuse to go, even if they win an award.

The oldest winner of an Oscar was 80-year- old Jessica Tandy for her

performance in the film “Driving Miss Daisy” in 1990. The youngest was

Shirley Temple when she was only five years old. The statuette is of

soldier standing on a reel of film. Nobody is really sure why it is called

an Oscar, although some people say that it is because when the first

statuette was made, a secretary said, “It reminds me of Uncle Oscar!”

Hollywood.

When people think about of Hollywood, they probably think of film stars

like Marilyn Monroe, Gary Grant and James Dean. Hollywood is the center of

the international movie industry and American movies are distributed all

over the world. They are made in English but often dubbed into other

languages. In some countries 90 percent of the movies that people see are

US production. Sometimes, a film is not very popular with Americans, but

people in other countries like it. The first films were made in Hollywood

in 1911. Between 1930-1945, the five largest Hollywood’s studios produced

most of the movies and owned most of the movie theatres in the United

States. Making films is expensive. On the average, it costs 36 million

dollars to produce a movie. Some of this goes to pay the salary of well-

known movie stars and large sums can be spent on special effects like

computer-generated imagery (CGI). Marketing the movie to the public may

cost another 17 million dollars or more. To cover these costs film

companies receive money for movie theatre tickets and the sale or rental of

videos. They also sell CDs of the soundtrack and toys, books, or clothes

associated with the movie. Indeed, there was a time when Hollywood was the

most famous place in the USA, if not the world.

The Hollywood story begins at the end of the last century.

1887. A man called Harvey Wilcox bought a large ranch in a district

north-west of Los Angeles in California. His wife called the land

‘Hollywood’.

1902-04. The first cinemas (‘nickelodeons’) opened in the USA.

1911. Two brothers from New Jersey built Hollywood’s first film studio.

1912. Film-makers from the east coast of the USA came to California,

first in small number and then in thousands.

1912. The Hollywood industry was born.

There were several reasons why film makers went to Hollywood. Firstly,

there was a lot of space, secondly, California’s warm sunny weather was

ideal for making films outside. Thirdly, there was a variety of locations

for filming: ocean, mountains, deserts, villages, woodland and rivers.

By 1939 the great dream factory studios made nearly 500 movies a year,

drew American audience of 50 million a week and earned over 700 million

dollars at the box office-all with the help of 30,000 employees who dealt

with everything from processing film to fan mail.

In the 1950s and 60s Hollywood became more international. Famous stars

like Maurice Chevalier from France, Marlene Dietrich from Germany and Sofia

Loren from Italy came to Hollywood. Even today many international stars

like Gerard Depardier and Arnold Schwarzeneger make films in Hollywood.

A big film studio, like MGM or Warner Brothers, brought to life a lot

of film stars. They could make or break a star.

The Hollywood film studio produced different types. There were the

silent Charlie Chaplin comedies of the 20s, gangster films, Frankenstein

horror films and Greta Garbo romantic melodramas of the 30s, the musicals

of the 40s and 50s, the westerns (cowboy films) of the 50s, the historical

epics of the 60s, the science fiction films of the 70s and the Steven

Spielberg action films and violent horror films of the 80s. Who knows what

the next century will be famous for?

Beverly Hills.

Most visitors to Los Angeles, California want to go and see Beverly

Hills. This is where you find the homes of the movie stars. But Beverly

Hills isn’t Los Angeles. It’s a small city next to Los Angeles. All kinds

of celebrities live in Beverly Hills. These celebrities may be movie stars,

television stars, sport stars, or other people in the news. Tourists can

buy special maps for the homes of the stars. These homes are very

beautiful. They usually have swimming pools and tennis courts. But

sometimes you cannot see very much. The homes have high walls or trees

around them. Beverly Hills is also famous for Rodeo Drive. This is one of

the most expensive shopping streets in the United States. Rodeo Drive

started to be an elegant street in the 1960s. Many famous stores are opened

on the street. People liked all the new styles and fashions they could buy.

Today you can find the most expensive and unusual clothing, jewelry and

furniture in the world on Rodeo Drive. Rodeo Drive is a very special

street. When you want to park your car in public parking, an attendant will

come and park your car for you. Beverly Hills is really a small city. Only

About 35,000 people live there. But during the day more than 200,000 people

come to Beverly Hills to work or to shop!

The major film genres.

The major film genres developed in the United States are the following:

Comedy. Charles Spencer Chaplin became the most widely recognized

comedy figure in the world. He emphasized the development of character and

plot structure, in contrast to the simple reliance on gags and gimmicks

that characterized the work of other comedy producers of the day.

Westerns. The Western (a film about life in the American West in the

past) was the first American genre to be developed and has remained a

staple of the American motion-picture art and industry. It has been

estimated that one quarter of US films have been Westerns. However, today

most American Westerns are made in Italy and are called '"spaghetti

Westerns".

Musicals. The musicals of the late 1920s and the early 1930s consisted

of a series of "numbers" by established stars of Broad-way, vaudeville and

radio. Later manifestations of the form were the biographical musicals,

often highly fictionalized, about great composers, musicians, singers,

providing an opportunity to string together some of their most popular

hits. The transferring of musicals intact from the Broad-way stage became

almost automatic beginning in the 1950s.

Gangster films. While the Western deals with a mythical American past

and the musical with a fantasy land, the gangster film is closely tied to a

real facet of American life. In earlier films, the gangster had risen to

the top to enjoy wealth, power, beautiful women, expensive homes and large

cars, but before the end of the film he was bound to be caught by law-

enforcement officers, overthrown by fellow gang members or killed. Such

punishment was considered obligatory. By 1971, however, "The Godfather"

showed how far the genre has evolved: Marion Brando, in the title role,

dies of old age. The gangster was another businessman.

War films. They have evolved into a major American genre, since wars

have occupied so much of contemporary American history. The Second World

War has been the subject of the greatest number of American films in this

genre.

Horror films (thrillers). In the 1920s the creation of a monster who

gets out of control or is coming to life from non-human beings who survive

by killing the living provided the basic story lines of countless horror

films. These films also have dealt with supernatural forces that manifest

themselves as an unseen power rather than in individual form. A third major

kind of horror films deals with people who are insane or in the grip of

psychological powers beyond their control.

Horror films as a genre is associated with the name of Alfred

Hitchcock. Like Walt Disney with animated cartoons, Alfred Hitchcock was

thought not just to have invented a film genre but to have patented it

(hence "Hitch", another name for a horror film).

Detective and spy films. These include first of all the James Bond

series. Hitchcock's films of this genre feature ordinary people who

accidentally become involved with spies or other evil doers.

Science fiction. After the Second World War science-fiction films

increasingly suggested that the dangers of the future stemmed from what

human beings were doing in the present.

Film Companies

Columbia Pictures (also Columbia)-American film company, which produces

films for cinema and television.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) — a film company based in Hollywood, which

has made many famous films and animated cartoons.

Paramount- a film company in Hollywood.

20th Century-Fox — an American film company.

United Artists — a film company (studio) in Hollywood.

Universal — n film company (studio) in Hollywood.

Warner Bros (Brothers) — an American film company.

Film Directors and Producers

Alien, Woody (1935—) — a comic actor and maker of humorous films. Since

the late 1960s, he has been directing films and acting in them, usually

playing a neurotic, bookish New Yorker. Some of his best-known films have

been "Annie Hall", "Manhattan" and "Hannah and Her Sisters".

Capra, Frank (1897-1991) - a film director, best known for the films

"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "It's a Wonderful Night".

Chaplin, Charlie (Charles Spencer) (1889-1977) — an English actor and

director who worked mainly in the United States in silent black-and-white

comedy films. He created the beloved character, the Little Tramp, who wore

a shabby black suit, derby hat and floppy shoes, and walked with the backs

of his feet together and the toes pointing outwards. He always walked with

a cane.

By 1918 Chaplin had forsaken short comedies for longer, independently

made films, including "Shoulder Arms" (1918) and "The Kid" (1921). His

major films, produced for United Artists (a film company which he helped to

found in 1923), included "The Gold Rush" (1925), "The Circus" (1928), "City

Lights" (1931) and "Modern Times" (1936), the latter two made as silent

films with synchronized sound effects. Chaplin spoke on the screen for the

first time in "The Great Dictator" (1940), which ridiculed Hitler and

Mussolini. In "Monsieur Verdoux" (1947), which draws an acid analogy

between warfare and business morality, the tramp disappeared entirely; the

film provided further ammunition for a growing anti-Chaplin group who

attacked his unconventional personal life and political views.

After 1952 Chaplin resided in Switzerland. He starred in his production

"A King in New York" (1957), a sharp satire on contemporary America, and

wrote and directed "A Countess from Hongkong" (1967). Chaplin made a

triumphant return to the United States in 1972. He was given an Academy

Award (an Oscar) for his part in "making motion pictures the art form of

the century".

Coppola, Francis Ford (1939)- a film director, best known for the films

"'The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now".

Ford, John (1895-1973) - a film director, especially known for his

Westerns including "Stagecoach", "How the West Was Won", etc.

Goldwin, Samuel (1882-1947) - a film producer, head of one of the

companies, which later became MGM. Goldwyn is famous for saying odd things

like "include me out".

Griffith, D. W. (1875-1948) - a film maker, known especially for his

use of new photographic methods and for his epic silent films, such as "The

Birth of the Nation" (1915) that required huge casts and enormous sets.

Griffith directed the first film, "The Adventures of Dollie", in 1908

and went on to make hundreds of pictures. With "The Birth of the Nation",

he created a landmark in film industry. Also influential on the future of

the film was "Intolerance" (1916). Griffith continued to make successful

films throughout the 1920s. However, the Victorian sentiment that pervades

his films was increasingly alien to the theme. He failed to make the

transition to sound pictures.

Russel, Ken (1926-) — a film director, best known for documentary films

and for the film "Women in Love".

Scorsese, Martin (1942—) — a film director whose works include "Taxi

Driver", "The Last Temptation of Christ", etc.

Spielberg, Steven (1946—) — a film director who has made many very

popular films, including "Jaws", "LT", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Star

Wars", "Empire of the Sun", etc. His films

are well known for being very fast moving and full of exciting action.

Zinneman, Frederick (1907- ) – an American film director, born in

Austria, famous for the films such as "High Noon" and "The Day of Jackal".

Wilder Billy (1906-) – a film director whose films include "Sunset

Boulevard" and "Some Like It Hot".

Films.

"The Birth of the Nation" — a dramatic silent film from 1915 about the

American Civil War. "The Birth of the Nation" was directed by D. W.

Griffith. The film, based on Thomas Dixon's novel "The Clansman", has been

condemned for historical distortion and racial bias, but it became a

landmark in the artistic development of motion pictures through its

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