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Hollywood and The Great Depression

Hollywood was having a wonderful time and doing terrific business when the stock market crashed in October, 1929. A place like Hollywood, with huge sums of capital were on the line in projects such as subdivisions, new stores, and studio expansion, was his especially hard by the collapse of the big-money superstructure.  Banks failed; the President of the Guaranty Building and Loan Association confessed to the embezzlement of $8 million of the bank’s assets. Hundreds of bank depositors, large and small, were wiped out.  Foreclosures were common, and many people lost their homes and businesses.

At the time of the crash, the motion picture was still reeling from the advent of “sound.”  Large studios, led by warner Bros., rushed to develop sound stages, recording equipment, and other technology for the...