and stuff
May 24, 2011 (Tuesday)
The man behind Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig had more movie actor credits to his name than anyone. Mel Blanc performed in 709 films, not including over 100 TV movies and video productions. He also had 81 uncredited voice parts in film. I wrote a blog about him last year.
John Wayne and Bette Davis seem to have made the most film appearances in America, although a few character actors may have made many more. I have had difficulty in finding reliable statistics on this, so you may know better.
Seven nations now make more full-length movies each year than the United States. Japan, France, Italy, the Philippines, the former Soviet Union, and Mexico each make more films each year than this country. But the leading movie-making nation on earth is now India (Some say Japan). In a recent year, when only 156 films were made in the United States, 475 full-length films were made in India. The famous name there is “Bollywood,” (contraction of “Bombay” and “Hollywood”) a nickname for the Hindi-language film industry.
A few interesting facts about the movie industry: The U.S.A. has 13,500 movie theaters, according to some sources. The first moving picture with a plot was, “The Great Train Robbery,” made in 1904. Before moving to California, the center of the film-making industry was in New Jersey.
I rarely go to a theater. Most of my movie-watching is on T.V., lately on DVD’s, and I can’t remember when I just sat at home in one spot to watch a movie from beginning to end without interruption. Besides, I am usually either writing, reading, or doing something else.
Nothing remains the same, does it?