By the mid-1920s, the seemingly omnipotent Hollywood film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a now-recognized period of film history as “classic Hollywood”. Characterized by a practical, workmanlike, and "stealth" method of filmmaking, the aim of which was to require as little attention as possible from the camera, classical Hollywood cinema advocated constant plots (with the occasional flashback as the exception), an observance of the three visibly identified action structure, frontality and goals towards which the "hero" must work and a well-defined resolution of the conflict/story, most commonly illustrated by the employment of the "happy ending". Studios understood exactly what audiences wanted and catered to their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, with similar (sometimes the same) actors, made in a similar way. It became the primary style throughout the Western world against which all other styles were judged. Although there have been some deviations and experiments with the format over the last 50+ years...