Silent Movie Genres

      In the early twentieth century, close to twenty-six million people attended nickelodeons weekly.  Gross receipts totaled close to 100 million dollars yearly. The frequent movie watchers were immigrants, the working class, or the unemployed. The silent films could be understood by all; however, the middle and upper class did not attend the early film showing as they would not have been caught dead in the disreputable nickelodeons. During the silent picture era, movie studios produced three main categories of films. The western, slapstick comedy, and romance genres were used repeatedly during the early motion picture production.

      Western films were very popular due to a number of factors. First, directors of western films, such as John Ford and W.D. Griffith, went to great lengths to include footage of the surrounding land and its beauty when editing their films. The public was not as well traveled in the early years of this century, and it enjoyed watching films of places they had not been. A central theme of the western film was good versus evil. Frequently, the climax included a villain who had terrorized a town in a fight or shootout involving the sheriff or the "good guys." Men enjoyed westerns, as the stars in the movies were men they could identify with or emulate.

      Another category of the film story line was the slapstick comedy. Early on, film producers saw that poking fun at people involved in everyday life circumstances could be profitable. In the movie, The Kiss, the actor takes great care in smoothing out his voluminous mustache before planting his lips on his costar's cheek. Many times, the star of the comedy was involved in a man versus nature scenario. He might be seen running from an animal or trying to get out of the way of an avalanche. The harder he tried to overcome the situation, the worse the situation became. Other comedies revolved around chase scenes and people fighting over a particular object. Comics were quite physical and acrobatic and took great pride in trying to amuse the audience with their facial expressions.

      Romance films by far were the most popular due to several factors. Early women stars were perfect for bringing femininity to the big screen. Clara Bow, silent movie actress, portrayed much more than the girl next door. Bow's character liked men a lot, did not mind being kissed, and often exposed various parts of her anatomy in order to get the man. Before the moral codes of today's films, the director could specialize in eroticism and visual beauty to heighten the emotions of the audience. Romance films always had happy endings that left their viewers with feelings of optimism. Other films called cliffhangers ended before the boy-gets-girl scenario, asking the audience to return the following week to see its conclusion. This left the viewers contemplating the happy ending for its favorite stars. Romance films were and still are very popular on the wide screens.

      Silent films, unfortunately, are no longer made. Their success ended with the development of the radio. Viewers wanted to hear what the actors were saying; therefore, the film industry started production of talkies, though voiceless films were understood everywhere and were intelligible in all languages. Their themes were universal and common to all populations. Today's audience still just as easily understands the westerns, romances, and comedies of the past.