American manga: I drew Superman in the Great Depression

"iwanttobealone...I want to be alone"

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

And this sentence later became Greta Garbo's trademark.

1932 was the worst year for all entertainment industries in the United States. Hollywood was the first to bear the brunt. In this year, the number of movie audiences dropped to a minimum of 15 million. You must know that two years ago, that is, the Great Depression

In 1930, when the depression hit, movie attendance reached a record high of 80 million per week.

Movie tickets dropped from 30 cents the previous year to 20 cents. To make matters worse, with the popularity of sound movies, production costs also began to soar, while overseas markets showed an inverse decline. During this period, a movie

The box office revenue of a blockbuster blockbuster is about 400,000 to 500,000 yuan, but the production cost ranges from 300,000 to 800,000 yuan. Calculated in this way, the profit is close to zero. This situation has caused American studios in Los Angeles to

Complaints are endless.

The decline in audiences has forced two-thirds of Broadway theaters to close.

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

Under this situation, "Variety Magazine" published a statement saying: "The motto that the cheap entertainment industry is invulnerable at all times has become a joke. Nothing is invulnerable, not even the government's public debt.

exception!"

In order to survive the cold market winter, Hollywood also seems to be changing its strategy.

MGM was one of the few studios that still maintained weak profitability during this period.

"Masterpiece" was also a film trend born during this period, that is, big-budget films adapted from other literary and artistic forms with pre-sold copyrights, starring top stars from various studios.

"Grand Hotel" is such a work.

The plot of the movie is adapted from Vicky Baum's best-selling novel. It uses a luxury hotel in Berlin as the stage of life and shows the bizarre encounters of the five main characters in one day.

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

Of course, what is even more eye-catching is that all five protagonists in the film are played by big stars from MGM Studios. This all-star cast has aroused the expectations of a large number of movie fans as soon as it was released.

In particular, "Grand Hotel", as the first talkie film starring Greta Garbo, the queen of silent films, has aroused the audience's expectations.

It’s not easy, come to Hollywood.

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

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

To this, Walter and others readily agreed.

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

Their emotions change with the ballerina played by Greta Garbo.

Garbo used her dreamy eyes, enthusiastic and urgent voice, and slender figure to create a woman who is extremely lonely and insecure under the influence of fame.

Classics will not fade with time, and "Grand Hotel" is obviously such a classic.

This all-star Oscar-winning best picture masterpiece limits the setting of the story to a large hotel, but through the bizarre encounters of five groups of characters on the same day, various scenes of joy and sorrow are staged in a three-dimensional interlaced manner.

What is even more commendable is that for such a big production that brought together many stars, the movie ended with a rather dark ending.

At the end of the film, the dead died, the caught caught, the left left, when all the actors left the scene.

The hotel in the background is still there quietly, welcoming new guests, with people coming and going, giving people a sense of passing time.

This was an ending that was obviously unimaginable 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 was adapted into a classic Broadway opera and continues to be passed down.

The movie ends.

“Excellent movie.”

As the scrolling subtitles appeared on the big screen, Colin breathed a sigh of relief and sighed.

"A very cruel movie."

Beside him, Walt Disney offered a different view.

"A very realistic movie."

Pressing his hat, Luo Yin Disney whispered.

In "Grand Hotel", there is no clear main line but everything is the main line, just like life.

"John is so pitiful..."

This is the feeling of Walt's wife Lillian. The John she talks about is exactly the actor who plays the male protagonist Baron von Gegen in the movie. A thief who likes gambling and degenerates into a thief but still maintains an aristocratic attitude. The male protagonist in the movie

The ending is very tragic.

Of course, no matter what their comments are, they all think that "Grand Hotel" is an excellent work.

"Hollywood has not seen such a good work for a long time. The last movie that moved me was Chaplin's "City Lights."

After coming out of the cinema, Walt looked 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, the competition with these studios is not obvious due to the type of movies.

"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 directly closed its Long Island studio, resulting in more than 5,000 employees losing their jobs.

The news that penniless extras were left in Los Angeles almost became a national scandal..."

Compared to Walt, Royce Disney, who leads Disney's business department, seems to have a better understanding of the current situation in Hollywood.

Going out to watch theaters and movies requires money. This was obviously a very luxurious enjoyment for people during the Great Depression. Therefore, they would rather stay at home and listen to free radio programs than go out and spend money to buy a movie.

movie ticket.

In the first impact, Hollywood's eight major studios suffered losses one after another.

"Today's Hollywood has long lost its glory. It is said that in less than half a year this year alone, Paramount has lost more than 10 million, and is still losing money. If this situation continues,

I think next year there may be only seven of the eight major studios left..."

The downturn in Hollywood 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 can well avoid the problem of actors' remuneration. In Disney's movies

The only thing you need to worry about is how to make the story interesting.

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