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| 1914: Birth of a Nation; Chaplin. |
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| Charlie Chaplin debuts in 1914. |
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D.W. Griffith's controversial
Birth of a Nation is released. With Birth of A Nation, Griffith
expands the previous boundaries of feature films in terms of length, narrative
structure, editing, and camera technique. Although chastised for its lack
of historical accuracy and racial overtones, Birth of a Nation is universally
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recognized as a milestone which serves as the template for Hollywood years
after its release. Charlie Chaplin makes his debut in 1914 and becomes the
icon of cinematic comedy.
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| 1927: The Jazz Singer, Metropolis, The General, Sunrise. |
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| Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer" |
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1927 marks a year of transition
in film history. As this year produces some of the landmarks of the silent
era, it also signals the death of film without sound. Two classics from German-born
directors are produced in 1927: Fritz Lang's sci-fi classic, Metropolis
and F.W. Murnau's Sunrise. Buster Keaton's The General is the
crowning achievement of this comic genius.
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The Jazz Singer is the first
film to feature sound and marks the single greatest technological innovation
in cinema history since the creation of the motion picture itself.
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| 1941: Citizen Kane; Casablanca;
Maltese Falcon; Ingmar Bergman. |
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| AFI's top film, Citizen Kane |
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Considered by many to
be the single greatest achievement in film history, Citizen Kane is
released in May, 1941. Orson Welles's masterpiece is a brilliant synthesis
of all aspects of film: narrative structure, editing, cinematography, direction,
acting, music. The release and production
of The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca not only catapult little-known
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Humphrey Bogart into super-stardom but also mark two classic creations of
Hollywood. A Swedish theater director named Ingmar Bergman enters his country's
film industry and will direct some of the greatest and most profound films
of the twentieth century.
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