Pop Culture in the 20th Century (Part 3)

[tv star collector]

Hollywood's Golden Age

The Golden Age of Hollywood continued into the 1940's, as more stars who would prove to have
staying power began to emerge.

The year 1939 was, of course, a hard act to follow. Universal continued its cycle of famous
monsters with "The Wolfman" (1940), starring Lon Chaney, Jr. (who followed in the footsteps of
his famous father, best remembered for "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Hunchback of
Notre Dame," in the silent era).

Westerns, too, continued to be popular with audiences.

The most popular comedy team of the 1940's was, undoubtedly, Bud Abbott & Lou Costello, who
starred in such classic films as "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948; with Bela Lugosi as
Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman, and Glenn Strange as the Frankenstein monster). Other
significant comedy films from that period include those wonderful "Road" pictures with Bob Hope,
Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour.

The Great Movie Cartoon Parade

Many of our greatest cartoon stars were "born" in the 1940's, including Bugs Bunny (1940; "A
Wild Hare," directed by Tex Avery), Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker (1940; "Knock Knock!"
starring Andy Panda), and Mighty Mouse (1942; "The Mouse of Tomorrow"). Curiously, the
celebrated duo of Tweety and Sylvester did not make a simultaneous debut. Tweety came first,
in "A Tale of Two Kitties" (1942), while Sylvester the cat followed three years later in "Life with
Feathers" (1945). Friz Freleng directed most of their films. Joe Oriolo created Casper, who made
his bow in Paramount's "The Friendly Ghost" (1946), narrated by Frank Gallop (later the wry
announcer on TV's The Perry Como Show).

The '40s also saw the Walt Disney studio continue to churn out more feature-length masterpieces,
incl. "Pinocchio" (1940), "Fantasia" (1940), "Dumbo" (1941), "Bambi" (1942), and "Song of the
South" (1946; combining live-action and animation). The Disney feature films raised the bar for
theatrical animation. No question about it. However, it was the other studios' animated short
subjects that were winning Academy Awards (Warner Bros. and M-G-M, in particular). Disney
may have had the best artists. But it was Warner Bros. and M-G-M who had the best writers
and directors: Mike Maltese, Warren Foster, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Bill Hanna &
Joe Barbera, the list goes on and on. Warner Bros. also benefitted greatly from the terrific voice
work of actor Mel Blanc and the memorable music of Carl Stalling. For the first time, Walt Disney
had some serious competition in the field of animation.

Popular Music

Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Dec. 12, 1915. He was, in fact, the
very first "teen idol." Bobby soxers swooned the way girls would over Elvis Presley a decade
later. Sinatra's influence on future singers cannot be overstated. There are elements of his vocal
style in renditions by everyone from Bobby Darin to Neil Diamond to Harry Connick, Jr. Of course,
there were other pop singers of the period: Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Eddie Fisher, and Perry
Como (to name a few).

Country Music

Country music, too, continued to be popular with my parents and other WWII era listeners and
record collectors. In 1942, Elton Britt's patriotic song "There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving
"Somewhere" became the first crossover hit. In 1948, Louisiana Hayride (one of the first programs
to present Elvis Presley) first aired on KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 1949, Hank Williams
appeared for the first time on the Grand Ole Opry radio program.

******************

Looming on the horizon were the fifties, the last "era of innocence" some would call it. We were
ill-prepared for the turbulent sixties, the decade that would follow. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
More to come next time, as we continue our retrospective on Pop Culture with the Cold War era:
the fabulous fifties.

[Chocoholic]

I'm really enjoying these posts of yours, TV Star Collector I hope you don't mind me printing them out to share with a friend who is interested in this kind of history.

[tv star collector]

Not at all. I'm flattered and just glad to know someone is reading them!