The History of Cinema

Do you know when the first film was invented? Do you know which country invented film? Do you know what the first films looked like?

Read the article below to find out. Then do the activities 😊

Cinema is much younger than theatre. It was born at the end of the 19th century. The first people who showed the first movies to a paying public were the Lumiere Brothers of France. They did this on the 20th February 1896 at the Grand Cafe, Boulevard des Capucines, Paris. This was the first cinema show and it was quickly followed by many others in all parts of the world. 

The first films showed moving people, transport and short comedies. In 1901, France was the first country to produce a dramatic film, The Story of a Crime, which was followed by The Great Train Robbery in the United States in 1903.

At first, films were shown anywhere: in music halls, clubs and shops. By 1908, special film theatres were built to give regular programmes. At this time, cinema rapidly developed in both the New and the Old World. Charlie Chaplin made his first film, Making a Living, in 1914 in the USA. At that time, the world was crazy about Charlie, who was small and clumsy, yet kind-hearted, generous and brave. Sometimes people stood in long queues to see a film with their favourite actor. 

Then, in 1927, Warner Brothers in Hollywood made the first film in which an actor sang and spoke. The film was called Jazz Singer. It opened a new era in films - the era of the “talkies”. The film mostly told it's story with titles, but it had three songs and a short dialogue. There were long lines of people in front of the Warner Theatre in New York. The silent film was dead within a year. The first one hundred percent sound film, Lights of New York, appeared in 1928.

The first colour films were made in the 1930s, but the black-and-white films are made even today.

Activity 1: Match the words with their meanings:

1.   paying public	a) special date on which an event occurred in some previous year
2. to follow	b) people who pay for some activity
3. anniversary	c) to go or come after in the same direction
4. to appear	d) quickly
5. robbery	e) to like something very much
6. rapidly	f) to become available, be published
7. to be crazy about	g) a line of people waiting for something
8. clumsy	h) without noise and sounds
9. queue	i) act of stealing something
10. silent	j) lacking in skill or physical coordination, who falls very often

Activity 2: Answer the questions:

1.   When was the cinema born?

2.   Who showed the first movie?

3.   Where and when was the first movie shown?

4.   What were the first films about?

5.   Which country produced the first dramatic film?

6.   When was the first cinema built?

7.   Who is Charley Chaplin?

8.   Who made the first “talkie” film?

9.   When did the first 100% sound film appear?

10.When did the first colour film appear?