The last few years have been a good time to be a movie fan. Comic book adaptations have gone from a doomed niche market to dominating the box office due to the success of movies like Avengers and The Dark Knight, and science fiction continues to take risks, as seen in Prometheus. The contenders for the Best Picture Oscar in recent years have shown that there is no shortage of dramas that range from the heartening to the heartrending. However, many of the aspects of modern film that we take for granted have long roots in the movies of decades past.
过去几年是电影迷的美好时光。因为诸如《复仇者联盟》（Avengers）和《黑暗骑士》（The Dark Knight）这类电影十分成功，改编幽默连环画已经从在夹缝中生存的状况发展到控制票房市场的程度。科幻电影就像《普罗米修斯》（Prometheus）里所呈现那样，继续冒险。从近几年奥斯卡最佳影片的候选影片来看，从振奋人心到心酸悲哀，各类影片应有尽有。然而，我们认为现代电影界理所当然的事，许多都深深植根于过去几十年出现的电影。

10.Promises! Promises!
10.《誓！誓！》

Even the most reserved individual can vividly remember the sexiest scenes they have seen in the cinema. From Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan, sex has spiced up film forever.
即使是最矜持的成年人也能生动地记起在电影院看见的性感十足的镜头。从《开放的美国学府》（Fast Times at Ridgemont High）里的菲比·凯茨（Phoebe Cates）到《黑蛇呻吟》（Black Snake Moan）里的克里斯蒂娜·里奇（Christina Ricci），性开始成为电影必不可少的元素。
Of course, it had to start somewhere. Nudity has been a part of cinema since its inception, but for a long time, filmmakers had to wrestle with restrictive morality-based policies such as the Hays Code. In the 1960s, however, movies were beginning to challenge those restrictions on sex and nudity.Sex comedy Promises! Promises! was the first major motion picture to feature a major star—in this case, Jayne Mansfield—appearing nude. While there had been nudity in smaller (and often silent) movies before, this movie helped legitimize the use of sex to sell a film and fuel the fame of the naked star. Without this movie, there would have been no raunchy sex comedies like American Pie or Knocked Up, nor a generation who mastered the art of hitting the pause button at strategic moments of their favorite scenes.
当然，凡事都有起点。自从赤身裸体在电影里出现之后，就成为了电影院的一部分；但是有很长一段时间，由于像《海斯法案》（Hays Code）这样基于道德的政策十分严苛，电影制片人不得不与之频繁较量。但在20世纪60年代，电影开始挑战这些对性和裸露身体的束缚。性喜剧《誓！誓！》是以一位明星裸体出镜——本片中是杰恩·曼斯菲尔德（Jayne Mansfield）——的第一部重要电影。尽管此前小型影片（常常无声）也有裸体镜头，但这部片子使利用性让电影更卖座的做法合法化，也使这位裸体明星名声大噪。没有这部电影，可能就没有《美国派》（American Pie）和《一夜大肚》（Knocked Up）这样低俗的性喜剧了，也不会产生这一代掌握敲击暂停键艺术的人——看见他们喜欢的镜头就按暂停。

9.Ocean's 11
9.《十一罗汉》

When the credits start rolling, one thing becomes abundantly clear: Audiences have been trained to stay seated. For modern audiences, that is largely due to Iron Man's post-credits "stinger," which is an extra scene that rewards fans for sticking around. All of Marvel's subsequent releases and many other unrelated films have followed suit.
当影片演职表滚屏时，有一件事变得一清二楚：观众已经习惯保持坐姿了。对现代观众而言，这很大程度上是因为《钢铁侠》（Iron Man）职员名单后面的"思丁格"——回报观众留恋徘徊的额外镜头。随后漫威（Marvel）旗下所有电影，还有其他不相关的电影都采用了这个办法。
However, Marvel hardly pioneered this idea. It goes all the way back to James Bond's second film, From Russia With Love, which promised audiences after the credits that "James Bond would return," a practice that continues to this day.The first film stinger, however, came from the original Ocean's 11, which showed Sinatra, Davis, and the rest of the crew sauntering down a street in Las Vegas. Compared to the modern-day "stingers" that seek to surprise to viewers, this was pretty mild, but without Ol' Blue Eyes roaming down the boulevard, we might have never seen Samuel L. Jackson telling Robert Downey Jr. about The Avengers Initiative.
但是，漫威并非这个创意的开创者。这可以追溯到詹姆斯·邦德（James Bond）的第二部影片：《俄罗斯之恋》（From Russia With Love）——这部电影向观众保证在演职员表后面"詹姆斯·邦德会回来"——这种做法持续到了现在。实际上，电影末尾的第一个"思丁格"在最初版本的《十一罗汉》中呈现了西纳特拉（Sinatra）、戴维斯（Davis）和其余船员在拉斯维加斯街上漫步的画面。与今日的寻求送给观众惊喜的"思丁格"相比，这相当温和。但是如果他不在林荫大道上闲逛，我们可能永远看不见塞缪尔·L·杰克逊（Samuel L. Jackson）告诉小罗伯特·唐尼（Robert Downey Jr.）"复仇者行动"（The Avengers Initiative）的事。

8.Star Wars
8.《星球大战》

Star Wars revolutionized filmmaking in uncountable ways, raising the bar for special effects, creative use of practical sets, and sci-fi storytelling. In the midst of all of this, one its chief contributions to cinema is often overlooked: the simple act of playing the credits at the end of the movie instead of the beginning.
《星球大战》引起了电影制作各个方面的革命，提高了特效要求、创造性地使用场景，还有科幻式的叙述方法。其中，它对电影的主要贡献之一却常被忽略：在影片末尾而不是开头播放职员名单的简单做法。
Everyone recognizes the movie's famous opening "crawl," the yellow letters that catch viewers up to the space drama they are about to watch before scrolling into the vastness of space. Though it would later become an icon, the Director's Guild did not like this idea at all at the time. They ordered George Lucas to display the credits of the cast and crew appear before the film instead, as had been the tradition for decades. Lucas refused to budge and simply paid the required fine to the Guild before resigning.Time gave Lucas the last laugh. The runaway success of Star Wars meant that filmmakers all over the world would be borrowing its formulas forever, including the elimination of credits at the beginning of the movie. Ultimately, Luke Skywalker didn't just blow up the Death Star: He blew up the chances that you'll ever have to sit through five minutes of credits before your movie begins.
大家都知道《星球大战》开头出名的"爬行字幕"——黄色字母吸引了观众，把观众带入他们将观看的太空大戏，然后卷起来，消失在茫茫宇宙中。尽管这后来成为了商业标志，"导演协会"（Director's Guild）当时一点儿也不喜欢这个想法。相反，他们命令乔治·卢卡斯在片头呈现演职员表，因为这是几十年来的传统。卢卡斯拒绝妥协，辞职前直接向"导演协会"缴了规定的罚款。时间让卢卡斯笑到了最后。《星球大战》轻而易举获得成功，这意味着全球的电影制作人以后都会借用它的模式，包括移掉电影开头的职员名单。最终，卢克·天行者不仅摧毁了"死亡之星"：他还让你以后在电影开始前坐上5分钟看演职员表的几率降为零。

7.Deep Throat
7.《深喉》

Deep Throat was, of course, not the first pornographic movie, but it did define what the modern consumer would consider one. Before this film, most pornos consisted of only about 10 minutes of footage, which was looped repeatedly to create the impression of a longer film. Moreover, such films were mostly viewed in stores selling adults books or adult clubs.
《深喉》当然不是第一部色情电影，但是它定义了现代观众心里的色情电影是什么样子的。在这部电影之前，绝大多数色情片胶卷大约只有10分钟长度，通过重复播放留下电影较长的印象。此外，这样的片子主要在出售成人书籍的商店或成人俱乐部播放。
With its campy plot and nearly hour-long running time, Deep Throat made pornography more mainstream. Going out to see the movie was considered a fashionable date activity, and the sight of normal-looking couples heading into normal-looking theaters to see a pornographic movie made pornography more acceptable. If porn didn't already seem hip to young people, the sight of the federal authorities trying to confiscate reels of film and shut down theaters showing it appealed to rebellious young people, solidifying pornography's place as another spoke in the wheels of the sexual revolution.
情节粗俗、时间近1小时，《深喉》让色情片趋于主流。外出看电影被当作时尚的约会活动，而看上去平常的两个人去一家平常的影院看色情电影，这样的景象让色情更容易被接受。如果色情作品在年轻人中间还不流行，联邦当局试图没收电影胶卷、关闭影院的现象表明，色情作品能吸引叛逆的年轻人，结果便会固化色情作品的地位，让它成为性革命车轮里的另一条轮辐。

6.Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
6.《白雪公主和七个小矮人》

Contrary to persistent rumors, Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was not the first animated feature, major or otherwise. However, it was the first animated feature film produced in both English and Technicolor, and it represented an intense level of risk for Walt Disney. At the time, many people, including his wife, assumed that audiences had neither the time nor the patience to sit through a cartoon movie.
与一直不断的谣言相反，迪斯尼的《白雪公主和七个小矮人》不是第一部动画影片，无论规模大小。但是，它的确是第一部英语的、使用彩色印片法制作的动画片；对沃尔特·迪斯尼而言，它代表极度危险。那时，许多人，包括他的妻子，都认为观众既没有时间，也没有耐心坐着看卡通电影。
Undeterred, Disney borrowed most of the $1.5 million necessary to finance his vision. As we know now, the gamble paid off: The movie made $8 million during the height of the Great Depression and heralded a revolution in animation. Not only did it provide the foundation for later animation companies (such as Hannah-Barbera, Pixar, and Don Bluth Productions), it launched CGI animation, the empire that would eventually dominate theme parks, and mega-hit franchises like Star Wars and Marvel.
迪斯尼没有灰心丧气，通过借贷凑齐了支持他的理想所必须的150万美元资金。正如我们现在知道的那样，这场赌局产生了回报：在困难的大萧条时期，这部电影创造了800万美元票房，还引发了动画领域里的一场革命。它不仅为以后的动画公司（比如汉纳-巴贝拉（Hannah-Barbera）、皮克斯（Pixar）和唐·布鲁兹出品（Don Bluth Productions））提供了基础，它还开创了CGI动画事业——这个帝国最后将控制主题公园——和如《星球大战》那样的重磅级的授权作品，还有漫威。

翻译:罗惠月 来源：前十网