1. British and American Film

2. Silent films
Before the 1930s, all films were silent. They were just
short clips of slapstick, sporting events or everyday
activities of no more than 10 minutes.

3. Early pioneers of cinema include the Lumiere brothers, who directed short films
composed of different photographic images placed together to create a motion
picture. As the technology developed, other filmmakers like Georges Méliès and
Luis Buñuel began to experiment with different techniques involving light, setting
and camera angles.
Contemporary audiences were astonished by the new technology. On
the first screening of this early silent film, ‘Arrival of a Train..’, some
members of the audience left the cinema in fear because they thought
that the train would come right through the screen. Filmmakers
enjoyed shocking their audiences!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgLEDdFddk&f
eature=related

4. Charlie Chaplin
He was born in London, and then moved to USA, where he
became the first Hollywood star in the 1910s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufeMOIYUgBU

5. Other early classic films
The most famous early films include King Kong, Snow
White and The Seven Dwarfs and the Wizard of Oz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuRQH_hLcTw

6. Alfred Hitchcock
In the 1930s, films started to have sound. The first film to feature sound was
Alan Crosland’s ‘The Jazz Singer’.
One of the pioneers of film and the most famous British director of this time
was Alfred Hitchcock. He created many techniques used today in crime and
horror films. He famously appeared in a cameo in all his films.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4
His most famous films are ‘North by Northwest’, ‘Psycho’, and ‘The Man Who
Knew Too Much’.

7. James Dean
James Dean remains an icon of cinema to this day. The American
actor became famous for his acclaimed performances in hit films of
the 1950’s, including ‘Rebel Without A Cause’. Tragically, the young
actor died in a car crash in 1955, aged just 24.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stdG8JBuCfs

8. The 1960s
During this time, technology had improved and many films were being made
in both USA and Britain. In USA, the famous ones from this time are ‘The
Sound of Music’, ‘Dr Strangelove’ and ‘Bonnie and Clyde’. Whilst in the
UK, ‘Mary Poppins’ and the first James Bond were made. In 1967, the epic
‘Jungle Book’ was released. Brendon and James are both big fans!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JDzlhW3XTM

9. Marilyn Monroe
Despite her death at only 36 years old in the 1960s, Marilyn
Monroe has remained one of the most recognisable characters
in cinema history. She made her debut with the famous Marx
Brother´s in 1949 and continued to make over 30 films until her
death. Her most remembered film is ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’
and she has been portrayed in many programmes since.

10. Sir Michael Caine
An English actor ,who won 2 Academy Awards, made his success through his
roles in the popular 70s films ‘Alfie’ and ‘Get Carter’, but became a cult hero
for ‘The Italian Job’ - famous for the Mini Cooper cars. He went on to appear
in very successful films like the ‘Muppets Christmas Carol’, ‘Austin
Powers’, ‘Batman’, ‘Cars’, and ‘Inception’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0nXDOr1r6A

11. Clint Eastwood
A very famous filmstar of the 60s and 70s, Clint Eastwood starred
in Westerns like ‘A Fistful Dollars’, ‘The Man With No Name’, ‘The
Good, The Bad and The Ugly’, and ‘Dirty Harry’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0-oinyjsk0

12. Woody Allen
One of the most famous comic actors and directors of American cinema, the
New Yorker starred in popular 70s/80s films like ‘Annie Hall’, ‘Manhattan’, and
¡Hannah and Her Sisters¡, before later directing films like ‘Vicky Cristina
Barcelona’ and ‘Scoop’.

13. The start of Hollywood
The 1970s led to a launch of new films. In Britain, ‘A Clockwork
Orange’ is a cult classic. In the USA, ‘The Godfather’
films, ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘Star Wars’, and ‘Jaws’ began the start of
popular film series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPEHygqoKZU

14. Al Pacino
Al Pacino emerged as a huge Hollywood star. He is famous for playing
mobsters, including Michael Corleone in ‘The Godfather’ trilogy, Tony
Montana in ‘Scarface’, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in ‘Dick Tracy’ and
Carlito Brigante in ‘Carlito's Way’. These films focused on mafia-themed
storyline and were set in inner-city America. The storylines were
adapted have been adapted for use in the Grand Theft Auto videogame
series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I91DJZKRxs&feature=related

15. Famous films of 70s
‘The Exorcist’ was one of the best horror films of the 70s, and is still widely
considered as one of the most scary films.
The 70s also brought the rise of John Travolta with ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and
later on ‘Grease’.

16. The 1980s
In the 1980s, films like ‘Batman’ with Jack
Nicholson, ‘The Shining’, ‘Scarface’ and ‘Raging Bull’
were new films, but the most popular were the sequels
to the Godfather films, Star Wars and Jaws.

17. Popular films of 80s
‘Ghostbusters’ was one of the highest grossing films of the 1980s. It´s a
cult classic and starred the popular actor Bill Murray. It´s about a group
of people who catch ghosts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-sALU_hveA
‘Back to the Future’ is a film made in the 80s that is still shown today
around Christmas time. It´s about a boy who travels back in time in a
car, which has now become a famous icon.

18. Some popular comedies included ‘Naked Gun’ and ‘Airplane’ starring Leslie
Nelson, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ starring Eddie Murphy and ‘Honey I Shrunk The Kids’.
The 80s was the beginning of action films like ‘Rocky’, ‘Terminator’ and ‘Die Hard’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NubH5BDOaD8

19. The 1990s
The 1990s produced many famous films, some of which you may have seen. The highest grossing film was ‘Titanic’ but
films like ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘The Matrix’, ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Forest Gump’ were very popular as well. The 1990s also saw the
release of Danny Boyle´s cult classic ‘Trainspotting’, which signalled the emergence of British independent film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2-MCPa_3rU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xkq8-bQuB4&feature=related

20. ‘Home Alone’ is an iconic Christmas film. Starring Macaulay Culkin as a boy left at
home for Christmas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Tyy-gLMG4
It was also the big start for Disney Pixar with ‘Toy
Story’, ‘Aladdin’, ‘Lion King’ and ‘A Bugs Life’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9VLxlccx4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBldeX565xw

21. Three of the most popular genres of the 90s were romance, romantic
comedies and dramas like ‘Thelma and Louise’. Meg Ryan was the star of hit
films of this era like ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and ‘You´ve Got Mail’, whilst Julia
Roberts was in films like ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘Notting Hill’ with Hugh Grant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z88U915uq8
Sandra Bullock was a break away star of this era, with films like
‘While You Were Sleeping’ and ‘Miss Congeniality’ but she also
won awards for her performances in the action thrillers ‘Speed’
and ‘A Time To Kill’.

22. Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino is one of the most celebrated directors in cinema history. He began
to create independent films in the early 1990s, and went on to record popular
success with Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown
(1997), Kill Bill (2003, 2004), Death Proof (2007), and Inglourious Basterds
(2009). He has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA and
the Palme d'Or, as well as Emmy and Grammy nominations. He is famous for
experimenting with traditional filmmaking techniques, with films employing
nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence.

23. James Bond
James Bond is one of the best British film series, famous around the World. It spans 4
decades, making it the longest running film series ever, with 22 films and it has made
over $5billion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A99k_raQogg&feature=related
The most recent one is Quantum of Solace with Daniel Craig, but the other 5 James
Bond actors are Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and
Pierce Brosnan.

24. Guy Ritchie
British filmmaker Guy Ritchie´s gangster-inspired storylines and dark comedy won him
legions of admirers in the 1990s and 2000s. His most famous films are ‘Snatch’ and
‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG_Nwp0wZc0

25. 2000s
In the noughties, supernatural films like Lord of the Rings, Harry
Potter and Twilight have been very popular.

26. As technology improves, animations are becoming more and
more popular. The Shrek series, Toy Story, The Incredibles, Wall-E
and Monsters INC are some of the most popular films of this
decade. As well as the British Classic: Wallace and Gromit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6zbY8i4_8

27. Christopher Nolan
Director Christopher Nolan has produced some of the most popular and
money-spinning films of recent times. His successful productions include
‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Inception’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yshUmxuEjE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0

28. Hollywood comedy films like The Hangover, Superbad, American Pie, Wedding
Crashers, Meet the Parents and the British film Shaun of the Dead are some of
notable comedy films of the noughties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkNz9a8Wclg

29. Which of these films have you seen, do you like
or would like to see?
How is Spanish cinema different from British and
American?
Which actors/actresses do you like?