1920 - Buster Keaton begins starring in shorts and his first feature, "The Saphead" at Metro. Erich Von Stroheim's "The Devil's Passkey" stars Mae Busch at Goldwyn.
1921 - Laurel and Hardy's first film together is "A Lucky Dog".
1922 - Nosferatu, first ever vampire film released. Also, "Our Gang" series begins at Hal Roach studios.
1926 - First Vitaphone feature, "Don Juan" starring John Barrymore, released by Warner Brothers. Posthumously released, "The Son Of the Shiek" is Rudolph Valentino's biggest grossing film.
1927 - Al Jolson movie The Jazz Singer popularizes sound motion pictures. First talkie newsreel,"Fox Movietone News".
1928 - First talkie cartoon,"Dinner Time" is produced by VanBuren Studios, the second talkie cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" by Walt Disney is released a month later.
1929 - The first Academy Awards, or Oscars, are distributed. Also, Laurel & Hardy make their talkie debut in "Unaccustomed As we are" co-starring Thelma Todd at Hal Roach Studios. Rko-Radio studio is established.
1933 - The film Ecstacy, which shows simulated sex, shocks audiences. Also, First Popeye cartoon, "Popeye the Sailor" debuts.
1934 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wizard of Oz from Frank J. Baum. The first Columbia Three Stooges short is released. Shirley Temple becomes a star. The so-called 'pre-code' era ends when the Production Code is amended to require all films to obtain a certificate of approval. The code is effectively enforced for the first time with the removal of nude scenes from the movie Tarzan and his Mate.
