One of the things that most interests me about the past is what life was actually like for ordinary people. In particular, I am very interested in media and popular culture. I think we can understand so much about a society from the things they read, the music they listened to, and especially the films they watched.
I’ve always been curious about cinema from the early 20th Century, the so-called ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’, but never really known where to start. It can be hard to know which films will serve as a good or accessible introduction when the language of cinema has changed so considerably over the last century or so. This is before even considering the fact that many early films are now lost, and many more have disappeared from public knowledge.
A few months ago, in an antique shop, I came across various sets of cigarette cards. One collection stood out to me in particular: ‘An Album of Film Stars: Second Series’, published by John Player and Sons in 1934. Each of the fifty cards features an illustration of a different actor or actress, and is accompanied by a brief biography, including some of the films they’ve starred in.
This seemed like a good way ‘in’ to films from this period. Rather than being a retrospective overview of 1930s cinema, the biographies list films that were known, and popular, in the moment, which I think is a far more effective way to understand what people in the 1930s were actually watching and enjoying.
My hope is that writing about my thoughts on these films, and any other rabbit holes I am inevitably led down, will help me to organise my thoughts better, and hopefully connect with other people interested in this period of cinema. I always welcome comments, messages, and discussions, so I hope anyone reading this will share their thoughts too.
Cigarette Card Cinema 