Evolution of Genres: How Film Genres Have Changed and Evolved Over the Decades

Film genres have constantly changed and evolved over the decades, reflecting changes in society, technology and culture. In the early 20th century, when the film industry was just beginning, silent films, often comedies or dramas, dominated. With the introduction of sound in the 1920s, the genre palette expanded, giving rise to musical films and sound comedies.

The Golden Age of Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1950s was characterized by a flourishing variety of genres. Musicals, film noir, westerns and epic dramas attracted mass audiences. The Western, with its romanticization of the Wild West, was one of the leading genres of this period.