When did movies stop putting "The End" up on the screen when the movie ended?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Did all of a sudden someone realize that when the movie stopped, the audience would naturally realize that the movie was over?

[onehandle]

1. These days 'The End' is added ironically. Usually in fairytale type fiction or comedy.

There was no 'The End' at the end of Star Wars in 1977. That's for sure.

[jakeXT]

4. And no opening credits

George Lucas is credited with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which display only the film's title at the start.[1] His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America after being fined $250,000 for not crediting the director during the opening title sequence.[2] However, Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane, West Side Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Godfather.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening_credits

[ret5hd]

2. It became a safety issue for the actors:

[magical thyme]

3. when they got so long that they never really ended...

You're just on a long popcorn break. You do realize that, don't you?

[DeSwiss]

6. They don't make movies anymore.

- Just sequels of old ones.

[frogmarch]

5. I suppose around the same time

opening credits started appearing one or two at a time throughout the first 15 minutes or so of the movie instead all at once at the beginning.