Historical context of 1920s

Question 1

What happened in the 1920s?

Answer 1

• Women won the right to vote (1920)
• Charleston swept the nation (1923)
• Flapper dresses w ere the latest fashion trend (1925)
• Adolf Hitler Mein Kampf published (1925)
• Great Gatsby published (1925)
• Introduction of ‘The Talkies’ (1926-1930)
• Academy Awards made their debut (1929)
• Stock market crashed starting the Great Depression (1929)

Question 2

Impact of Women’s Right to Vote

Answer 2

1840s – The demand for womens suffrage in the US began rather than simply womens rights
1948 – The womens suffrage movement was sparked by the First Womens Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, which was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott
1869 – The first national suffrage organisations were established in 1869 when two cometing organizations were formed. They merged in 1890 as the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
1900 – Women gained a right to keep their earnings and hold property in every state

Question 3

How women’s rights links to SITR?

Answer 3

> Lina complains about how she doesn’t do as much as Don
Kathy gives Don just as much as he gives her

Question 4

Impact of Charleston

Answer 4

> named after the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina
the rhythm was popularised in mainstream dance music in the USA by a 1923 tune called “The Charleston” by composer/pianist James P.Johnson, which originated in the Broadway show ‘Runnin’ Wild’
the movement stemmed from the musical ‘Running Wild’ with twisting

Question 5

Impact of Flapper Era

Answer 5

> where a subculture of young Western women prominent after the First War and through the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for prevailing codes of decent behaviour
flappers were seen as brash fro wearing excessive makeup, drinking alcohol, smocking cigarettes

Question 6

Impact of Talkies

Answer 6

• the first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before sound motion pictures became commercially practical
• the first feature film originally presented as a talkie (although it had only limited sounds sequences) was The Jazz Singer, which premiered on Oct 6, 1927

Question 7

What 3 problems occurred from the sound sequences?

Answer 7

1. the primary issue was synchronisation: pictures and sound were recorded and played back by separate devices, which were difficult to start and maintain tandem
2. sufficient playback volume was also hard to achieve
3. there was a challenge of recording fidelity. The primitive systems of the era produced sound of very low quality unless the performers were stationed directly infant of the cumbersome recording devices.

Question 8

Impact of Academy Awards

Answer 8

• they are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the USA in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy’s voting membership
• the first Academy Awards were held in May 16 1929, at a private dinner function at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, with an audience of 270 people
• in 1953, the first tleveised awards, which was the ceremony which SITR would have been nominated.

Question 9

What awards did SITR win at the Academy Awards

Answer 9

> best supporting actress; jean hagen
best scoring of a Musical Picture; Lennie Hayton

Question 10

How flapper and Charleston link to SITR?

Answer 10

R.F.s Party, “Broadway Melody”