The Golden Age Flashcards
Historical context during the Golden Age
-stock market crash brought Great Depression
-imperialistic Japan
-rise of Nazi Party
-Pearl Harbor
How did the historical context influence film viewing
- escapist films helped people make it through hard times (more musicals and comedies)
-patriotic films during WWII
-serious films during social issues
Other new genres of film
-rise of gangsters in US led to films that portrayed this (e.g. the move Public Enemy sent the message to not join a gang)
-rise of documentaries
Four events that heralded the end of the Golden Age (the Post-WWII Decline)
- Rise of TV
- Red Scare
- Paramount Court Case
- Foreign Film
Rise of TV
-diverted Americans away from theaters
-people began buying televisions in the 50s
-1950: 21,000 theaters; 1960: 14,000 theaters
-many theaters closed
Red Scare
-fear of communism in the US
-Iron Curtain: Eastern Europe under control of Communist Russia
-1949: Chinese communists rising
-House of American Activities Committee; many in the film industry were questioned because many were left wing; would ask questions related to involvement in communism and people were blacklisted (if your name was on the list you could not find work); many artists lost their jobs because they were labeled as communists
Paramount Court Case
-was a restraint of trade court case
-combated the oligopoly of the film industry: the prominent studios were in total control
-claimed studios had vertical integration
-tried to end the oligopoly
-forced film studios to divest themselves from 1 of the 3 film aspects (many divested in exhibition and sold their theaters)
Vertical Integration
studios controlled all three aspects of the film industry
1. Production: making the film
2. Distribution: getting film out to the market
3. Exhibition: showing film in theaters
Foreign Film
-foreign film industries becoming more successful
-more competition with the US (e.g. from France, Italy and Japan)
