Entertainment (History)

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Entertainment in the 1930’s

Describe popular entertainment in Britain at the beginning of the 1930s

Within this essay it describes the popular and most common entertainment in Britain, from radio to the movies, in the beginning of the 1930’s. It reveals key feature of entertainment in the early 1930’s, for instance how it started, what were their intentions and what they involved.

The radio plays a huge amount in our lives that’s why when it first began it was a phenomenon for the public and became a big success for the nation. It was formed on 18th October 1922, by a group of leading wireless manufactures. Its founder, John Reith, believed that the BBC should educate, inform and entertain the public, he states this when he says ‘Broadcasting should bring … all that is best in every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement’. Reith enforced many regulations for instance; rude jokes were not allowed; he banned light entertainment on Sundays; and presenters had to speak properly so accents or dialects were not allowed. He felt that the BBC should provide popular programmes, however he also wanted BBC to be educational and enlightening experience. Which the BBC accomplished, it broadcast all over the U.K and was able to entertain and inform those in their own home, which brought families together. Though the radio had its rivals such as newspapers, and magazines it managed to overcome this by reaching out to all types of the public for example male, female, all classes, the educated and the illiterate. It became even more popular when the new wireless sets were invented; this was a great delight to all homes in Britain, it was very accessible in letting families enjoy listening to the radio. As well as putting across the news around the world the BBC also aired other kinds of interest such as dance music and comedy. This was a great improvement for singers and band leaders because it made them a vast amount of recognitions by the public because it caused their sales of their records to increase hugely. Band leaders such as Jack Payne and Henry Hall were very popular also common programs for example ‘Bandwagon’ went unmissed. As a result, radio was a family orientated source of entertainment and became a way of spending the night in, whilst enjoying yourself, rather than spending your night out.

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Another big source of entertainment was the cinema. Just as the radio allowed families coming together the so did the cinema, though it was more a family outing. The film industry grew rapidly, however at first the British film industry couldn’t compete with the American film industry. It wasn’t as technically advanced as the American films and the British public preferred to watch more films from America which didn’t created a bigger obstacle for the British film industry. Consequently in 1927 the government passed an act ensuring that at least 5% of the total number of films should be ...

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