Audience tastes were fairly eclectic during the 20th century, but several trends did emerge. During the silent era, films with war themes were popular with audiences, with "The Birth of a Nation" (American Civil War), "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse", "The Big Parade" and "Wings" (all World War I) becoming the most successful films in their respective years of release, with the trend coming to an end with "All Quiet on the Western Front" in 1930. With the advent of sound in 1927, the musical—the genre best placed to showcase the new technology—took over as the most popular type of film with audiences, with 1928 and 1929 both being topped by musical films. The genre continued to perform strongly in the 1930s, but the outbreak of World War II saw war-themed films dominate again during this period, starting with "Gone with the Wind" (American Civil War) in 1939, and finishing with "The Best Years of Our Lives" (World War II) in 1946. "Samson and Delilah" (1949) saw the beginning of a trend of increasingly expensive historical dramas set during Ancient Rome/biblical times throughout the 1950s as cinema competed with television for audiences, with "Quo Vadis", "The Robe", "The Ten Commandments", "Ben-Hur" and "Spartacus" all becoming the highest-grossing film of the year during initial release, before the genre started to wane after several high-profile failures. The success of "White Christmas" and "South Pacific" in the 1950s foreshadowed the comeback of the musical in the 1960s with "West Side Story", "Mary Poppins", "My Fair Lady", "The Sound of Music" and "Funny Girl" all among the top films of the decade. The 1970s saw a shift in audience tastes to high concept films, with six such films made by either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg topping the chart during the 1980s. The 21st century has seen an increasing dependence on franchises and adaptations, with the box-office dominance of films based on pre-existing intellectual property at record levels.