'Looking to its Laurels': Representations of Cinema in Theatre, 1915--1927

The invention of Hollywood between the first and second decade of the twentieth century generated a wide range of economic and cultural reactions in the United States. Perhaps no one area was more affected than the theatre industry, which was completely reorganized in the few short years after feature length movies became mass entertainment. The interplay between these two industries, and the counter-maneuvers made by theatre practitioners in reaction to the movies, created the circumstances that developed American theatre as we now know it: largely relegated to New York City and divided into commercial "uptown" and anti-commercial "downtown" theatre. Despite the fact that theatrical productivity and general viewership greatly decreased as a result of Hollywood, the theatre created during this era, around 1915-1927, is often considered to be the Golden Age of American theatre. I contend that this is not a coincidence, but rather that theatre practitioners and critics as well constructed a new, elevated social position for theatre in this era that served as an expression of cultural distinction for the people who made and enjoyed the theatre. Assessing the responses of theatre practitioners and critics to the movie industry serves as a useful way to understand the contemporary formation of the American theatre scene. These responses also provide a useful benchmark for perceiving and recognizing shifts in attitude toward, and in particular anxieties brought about by, the newly emergent cinema culture.