Credit Where Credit Is Due
Few have heard of Florence Lawrence and yet she is widely regarded as the first film star, active in the early 1900s. She was simply referred to as the Biograph Girl as she thrilled audiences in dozens of pictures for the Biograph Company without her name ever appearing on screen. Indeed, no actors were acknowledged in that era. She was subsequently lured to Independent Moving Pictures (later to become Universal Studios) when she was promised she’d have her name appear above the title. Carl Laemmle, the studio President, understood the draw of star power.
And so, credits started to expand although by 1922, the German horror classic, Nosferatu, still only mentioned 16 people. Typically, credits appeared at the beginning with “THE END” crashing in at the finish.
Two of the first major films with extensive end credits were Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and West Side Story (1961). The former had no opening credits at all and the latter, simply the title.
‘Credit creep’, as Hollywood calls it, really took off in the modern era. Star Wars (1977) named 151 people and Matrix Revolution (2003) had 701. 2004’s Return of the King had credits lasting 9 minutes 33 seconds, mentioning hundreds of cast and crew. No doubt that record has been surpassed. So, when choosing a movie, remember to knock a few minutes off the quoted running time. And, when at the cinema, please remain in your seat until after the credits. How else will you know that the assistant to the 9th Orc was called Derek?
