In the 1930s, radio was the primary
means of electronic communication around the world. It had yet to be fully replaced by
telephone networks, and television was far in the future. Radio was both a news source
and an entertainment source. Dozens of entertainment programs aired during the 1930s,
including the first soap operas, melodramatic stories sponsored by
soap and other goods.
In contrast, film was still in its
infancy, but rapidly gaining ground. Silent film had just died off, replaced by
talkies, films with synchronized sound and music. The musical film
became an enormous moneymaker, as did cartoons, which had previously been relegated to
pre-feature status.
In comparing the two, one must be aware
of the Serial Film, a form that has since been replaced entirely by
television. Before TV, studios would film long movies and cut them up into chapters,
which would play at the local theater every week, keeping public interest with
cliffhangers and guest stars. These serials with their special effects and overblown
stories competed directly with radio, which had the financial edge; anything you could
imagine could be provided with sound effects.
Until the
development of television, radio was the cheapest and easiest way to broadcast a
continuing story. Serials died out as feature films became longer and more expensive,
and radio was an easy alternative for families on a budget. Another big draw of radio
was the Fireside Chats of President Franklin Roosevelt, which
started in 1933; he addressed specific concerns over the radio without the usual big
production of a speech and thus connected directly with the voter. Although he could
appear in newsreels before feature films, these lacked the personal
touch of fireside chats.
Essentially, in the 1930s radio
and film were in an uneasy truce, one that would soon be broken entirely by the rise of
television. Radio programming has never been more important than in the 1930s, while
film continues to be a big draw to this day.
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