Category "cinema-history"

Why did Michael Richards refuse to portray himself?

In the 1999 film "Man on the Moon" starring Jim Carrey as the infamous comic Andy Kaufman, the movie takes great pains to recreate specific po

What is the first instance of a disaster movie coming true?

Think movies like Twister, Dante's Peak and Hard Rain as general examples, but feel free to expand on them. Avoid movies like The Day After Tomorrow because the

What was the first film shot completely with a subjective point of view?

What was the first full-length feature film shot completely with a subjective point of view, that is, with a subjective camera where shots simulates what a char

What was the first full-length feature film shot completely with digital cameras?

Nowadays almost every movie is shot with digital cameras. I would like to know what was the first full-length feature film shot completely with digital technolo

Era of profanity in movie scripts?

The quote "Frankly, my dear I don't give a damn" from Gone with the Wind was famous largely because of the early use of profanity in the script. In films from

What was the first crossover movie like The Avengers, using only movie franchises?

The Avengers is taking 4 separate movie franchises (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America) and combining them all into one huge movie with all the main char

Annual revenue for film industry by year adjusted for inflation

Have a theory about my question about the reasoning behind the average length of feature length films, but that theory is based on finding the annual revenue fo

Why was Kurosawa the first director to shoot the sun?

Akira Kurosawa is often credited as the first director to point his camera towards the sun in his film Rashomon (1950). Was this an artistic first, or was there

What technology did each Pixar movie introduce?

I recall reading years ago that each Pixar film included some new technology or capability to their internal rendering software that they they'd developed as pa

What is the first movie to show slicing through a candle to show sword prowess

The nearest I can find is The Mark of Zorro. It shows the villain (played by the wonderful Basil Rathbone) slicing through a candle with rage and then the hero

When/Why did American television change from primarily episodic to primarily serialized?

My recollection of the prime-time television I watched growing up -- the 70s and 80s plus whatever were on at the time -- are almost invariabl

The first human robot?

Can anyone find an example of the first robot that was human in appearance? The earliest I can think of is in the 1973 film Westworld. I'm looking for the fir

What was the first film to have a fight on top of a moving train?

The earliest I could locate was a Mexican film El Tren fantasma as described here. The General (1926) starring Buster Keaton was known for its action in a trai

What was the first case of a celebrity playing a fictionalized version of her/himself?

James Van Der Beek in Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 is one of the more recent examples of celebrities playing a fictionalized version of themselves

When did theaters first start showing matinees or giving matinee discounts?

I'm trying to figure out if matinees (and the subsequent matinee prices) have always been a part of movie history or if they were adopted later on. I know matin

Did George Lucas try to acquire the rights to 'The Lord Of The Rings' / 'The Hobbit'?

  [Source] This review of the movie Willow, which was produced by George Lucas, claims: George Lucas was desperately attempting to secure the rights t

Which film or TV-Show was the first to use a '555-' phone number?

[Image from Toy Story 3] Using a fictional '555-' phone number is not uncommon in American films and television shows. Which film or television show was the

First appearance of a weapon with the power of a nuclear bomb?

Atomic Bomb Predicted Before It's Time Written literature that predated the atomic bomb made references to man creating a weapon that could set the sky on fire

How were zombies first depicted in film?

I would like to know in what ways and why the concept, appearance, and manner of the zombie has changed from its original conception (early 20th century) to tod

Was Dr. Strangelove originally intended to be serious?

The legendary Kubrick comedy Dr. Strangelove is based on the book Red Alert which is in no way comedic. At the time of release, not long after the Cuban Missile