Classical Hollywood cinema is divided into the silent period and the sound period. The silent period stretches roughly from 1917 to 1927, and Hollywood came of age during this time with three major historical developments: the standardization of film production, the establishment of the feature film, and the cultural and economic expansion of movies throughout society. The most pronounced and important aesthetic changes during this period included (1) the development of narrative realism, and (2) the integration of the viewer’s perspective into the actions of editing and narration.

The second part of the classical cinema period was brought about by the introduction of synchronized sound in 1927 and lasted until the end of World War II in 1945. Major accomplishments during the second period include the introduction of sound in 1927, the founding of the Production Code Administration in 1934, the elaboration of movie dialogue, and the prominence of generic formulas (genres) in constructing film narratives.

German expressionist cinema (1918–1929) veered away from the movies’ realist drive, focusing instead on the dark fringes of human experience representing irrational forces through lighting, set, and costume design. Films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) used artificial, distorted set designs and dark shadows to reflect the twisted psychological state of the film’s characters.

From 1917 to 1931, Soviet silent films broke away from the entertainment history of the movies, distancing themselves from the assumptions and aims of the capitalist economics of Hollywood. This resulted in (1) an emphasis on documentary and historical subjects, and (2) a political concept of cinema centered on audience response. The social documentaries of Dziga Vertov and the montage aesthetic of Sergei Eisenstein were two major products of this period.

French cinema from 1920 through 1939 saw two influential movements: French impressionist cinema and poetic realism. French impressionist cinema aimed to destabilize familiar ways of seeing and revitalize human perception through experimentation with film form. Poetic realism incorporated poetic innovations into traditional realist narratives to unsettle perceptions in a socially conscious manner.