The Hollywood Studio System 1930-1949, part 2

1. The Hollywood Studio System1930-1949, part 2 Lecture 19

2. Studio System: Historical Outline • b/t 1900-1925: 64 studios • After 1930: 8 studios, collecting 95% of revenues • “Big Five” • Paramount (Adolph Zukor), formerly Famous-Players-Lasky • Loew’s MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) • Twentieth Century Fox • Warner Brothers • Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO)—25% smaller • “Little Three • Universal (only production and distribution) • Columbia (only production and distribution) • United Artists (distribution for independents)

3. Vertical Integration, early years • Begins with Adolph Zukor of Famous-Players-Lasky (later Paramount) • Fallout from the MPPC • 3-part strategy: • 1) Differentiate Product • “the star” and “contractual servitude” • 2) Distribute nationally and internationally • 3) Dominate exhibition through first-run theaters

4. Vertical Integration, cont. • By 1920, studio system faces three obstacles: • Government litigation • International Distribution • Threat of labor unrest

5. Vertical Integration, cont. • Solutions: • Self-Regulation • Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) established in 1922 with Will Hays as president • Prevent strict enforcement of anti-trust laws • Regulate movie content • “Hays Code” 1934-1968 • Worked with Federal government to get films into foreign markets • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1927)

6. Vertical Integration • FDR’s National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) went into effect in 1933 • Sanctioned collusion • Allowed for collective bargaining

7. How did the studios maximize profits? • Theater ownership • Block booking • Practice of forcing exhibitors to take a studios entire annual production • Blind bidding • Practice of forcing exhibitors to take films sight unseen • Price discrimination • Price depended on the “run” • Run-zone-clearance system • First “run”: first time shown

8. Demise of the Studio System • U.S. vs. Paramount case and the Paramount decree of 1948 • Rise of television • Suburbanization and baby boom

9. Screwball Comedy Cycle(mid-1930s-early 1940s) • Gained prominence with It happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934) • Slapstick, wisecracks, comedy of manners, sexual innuendo • Ridiculous situations • Fast-paced repartee • Mistaken identities • Preston Sturges: • The Great McGinty(1939) • Christmas in July (1940) • The Lady Eve (1941)

10. The Social Problem Film (30s, 40s, 50s) • Dramatizes topical social issues like prison life, capital punishment, poverty, capital punishment • Conflict centers around the relation between an individual and social institutions • Reflected left-liberal political views in line with FDR’s New Deal • Populism (“men of good will) • Conflict b/t the forces of good and evil • Traditional form • Linear narratives • Characters to identify with • Happy ending • Frank Capra: • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) • Meet John Doe (1941)

11. The Social Problem Film (cont.) • Roffman and Purdy (1981): • “[Social problem films] arouse indignation over some facet of contemporary life, carefully qualifying any criticism so that it can in the end be reduced to simple causes, to a villain whose removal rectified the situation. Allusions to the genuine concerns of the audience play up antisocial feelings only to exorcise them on safe targets contained within a dramatic rather than a social context.”

12. Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941)

13. How would you categorize Sullivan’s Travels generically? Screwball comedy or social problem film or…?