Old Hollywood/Film In General

The 'Old Hollywood' era as been a recurring thing I've been curious about but now I might finally go down that rabbit hole. I've seen some things over the years with my mom but that was years ago and our tastes are usually a bit different, so I've been sort of at a loss for where to start. Blame the Queen's Gambit for my re-emerging fascination with the 60's style. Anya Taylor-Joy carries herself in a very Audrey Hepburn/old Hollywood starlet sort of way (most likely because she's a trained dancer) and there's just something about the style of the different eras that's really interesting. I've seen a few videos where people will reference Old Hollywood movies, actors/actresses, their continued relevance, etc. I just don't usually know who any of them are, or if I do, I don't know anything about them.

I know that monster movies, Alfred Hitchcock movies, Audrey Hepburn (and all the rest of the different actors/actresses. Although I have seen a couple Audrey Hepburn movies), exist I just wouldn't know where to start. Vincent Price's name has come up several times in different videos but the only I think I've seen him in was Edward Scissorhands. Sometimes I will watch a movie from the era, but I won't understand why the movie is such a big deal. I find it interesting why some things like Clueless become classics and, for the most part, stand the test of time and why it's different to the ones that didn't hold up well. Alfred Hitchcock for example, I've heard his name everywhere and I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one of his movies but I don't actually know anything about him really.

There's old movies/shows that impacted so much and either I don't know anything about them, or I haven't seen them. I usually don't know they had an impact when I do see them. Lindsay Ellis mentions different tropes a lot and I'm always interested to see where things came from. For example (not from Lindsay Ellis) Scream is a satire on the Horror movie genre and the 'Final Girls Trope' (I adore the final girl trope, you have no idea. From the few horror movies I've seen anyways. I'm not generally a horror movie fan but there's been some exceptions) being a flip on the old trope of damsels in distress.

There's weird details about actresses like Audrey Hepburn who literally starved at one point which is why she ended up having the very slight build that everyone was obsessed with, she danced to raise money for the Resistance during WW2 even though her parents were Nazi sympathizers, etc.

I really don't know much but the way Marilyn Monroe was treated and portrayed to people was terrible. I know that she was badly treated and was forced to play up the dumb blonde stereotype but I don't actually know what happened. All my knowledge is incredibly surface level. And sadly it's not like we don't still do it to actors/actresses today.

I'm curious as to why different style changes happened whether that be in cinema or clothing. Why were the 'The Old West-type' movies essentially the 'super-hero genre' of the time? Why did the superhero genre take off when it did? Weird details like everyone's clothing being practical while on rations during the war. How there was a fashion boom after the war when everyone wanted to look feminine again without the constraint of the lack of resources they'd had during the war. 

 For someone that loves film (or at least watching lots of videos of other people talking about it and then not retaining much because my memory is crap), I really don't know anything. I'm just hoping that someone else knows something. 

If you do have recommendations, it doesn't have to strictly be Old Hollywood movies, it could be a Youtube video that talks about the importance of something, weird trivia you have, talking about a actor/actress you like, it could be anything really. I really like the concept of Film Studies but it's a big concept that covers a lot of things. It's too big off a concept to tackle all at once, so I'm hoping to take it one movie, person, whatever at a time and sort of vaguely understand who they were and why it was such a big deal. What made 'Old Hollywood'? There's also the dark underbelly of it.

Anyways, enormous (but casual in my own slightly obsessive way) research projects aside, I promise I have a more fun post coming soon. Sorry this post is kind of all over the place. To sum up, I don't know anything and if anyone has 'Old Hollywood' recommendations that stand out to you/ random information you know I'd be grateful.