The Rise of Hollywood’s “Extra Girls”
They didn't have to do anything besides stand around and look pretty. At least, that was the myth the studios wanted the public to believe.
The Shark-Fighting Brothers behind 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
In 1916, the Williamson brothers used their father's underwater photography device to film a fight with a shark, piquing Universal Pictures' interest.
The Bizarre Marvels of Segundo de Chomón, Father of Spanish Cinema
Segundo de Chomón made “trick films” that experimented with color and temporality, influencing the surrealist work of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.
How Hollywood Sold Glamour
The complicated notion of glamour in classic Hollywood, suggesting that stars were aloof and unknowable, was also a means to sell products.
The Paris Morgue Provided Ghoulish Entertainment
With its huge windows framing the corpses on display, the morgue bore an uncomfortable resemblance to a department store.
The Satanic Foreign Film That Was Banned in the U.S.
Benjamin Christensen's Häxan was part documentary and part fantasy—and considered too disturbing for public viewing.
The Detroit Rebellion
From 1964 to 1972, at least 300 U.S. cities faced violent upheavals, the biggest led by the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, in Detroit.
The Exploding Women of Early Twentieth-Century “Trick Films”
In “trick films,” women were shown literally exploding over kitchen accidents—the early 1900s way of mining humor out of human tragedies.
White Hollywood’s Romance with the N-Word
It would have been easy for censors to just ban the racist epithet during the classical era of film. Here's why it didn't happen.
The Great Animation Strike
Animation workers took to the streets, carrying signs with bleakly humorous slogans. One read: “I make millions laugh but the real joke is our salaries.”