The 1950's
The 1950's were a rough time for film with the advent of television becoming an increasingly tough competitor against the film industry, code productions laws set in place in the 1930's starting to loosen, and film studios started to get less earnings from their shrinking audiences spending their leisure time doing other things. Although the 50's were a lucrative time in Hollywood both for studios and audiences, it still managed to produce some of the most memorable films to date, as well as started careers for some the famous directors for the rest of the century. The 1950's was a mediocre time for Hollywood however it would soon start new trends in film that would revolutionary at the time.
In the early days of 50's Hollywood was suffering from massive blows one after than another with television undertaking audiences from theaters, and dwindling budgets that would lead studios to focus on smaller projects. For instance, the major studios or the Big Five (MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, and RKO) used to make big productions that were fairly popular post war but by the time the 1950's hit big productions started to seem like theatrical poison as audience attendance dropped roughly 20%-30%. The reason why film attendance seemed to drop so much was to due to the fact that people had less money to spend after the war, during World War 2 everything was rations to steel was rationed to the army giving the American population some money to spend as they had leftover change from rationing, and often times used it to go to cinema chains to watch films created by the Big Five. However, when the war was over people decided to spend money on homes in the suburbs, start families, purchase television sets, often instating "watching movies at home" for free causing audiences to dwindle as a result. In fact by the early 1950's nearly 7.3 million tv set were sold in the United States and roughly 433 tv channels were established at this time period roughly causing theater attendance to drop from 20%-30%. A secondary factor that damaged hurt Hollywood's finances and support were the attacks on Studios by organizations like the American Legion and The House of Un-American Activities Committee sought for the purification of American Democracy by targeting random persons suspected of a communistic agenda. Committees like HUAC (The House of Un-American Activities Committee) and others also caused a wide mass scandal that had several screenplay writer accused of communist activities and had the group blacklisted from Hollywood. Thirdly, film studios begun to change management constantly causing fire between studio executives of what could be done with the studio many of them losing money as it continues on. In fact, RKO one the big five went under in 1950's as its companies leader Howard Hughes tried to sell the company in 1952 which was unsuccessful, and headed in a downward spiral as movie produced after were seen as boring and box office flops causing the company to liquidate in 1957 and became a small international sales operation. In conclusion, the 1950's were a rough time for Hollywood as television would become the new mainstream, Hollywood workers would be monitored for any suspicious communistic activities and possibly blacklisted, and Studios started to fall from grace as they lost huge amount of money due to people finding more interesting activities.
The 1950's were a rough time for the film industry as constant attacks from group activists caused strict censorship against movies, television becoming America's favorite leisure time, and financial losses and antitrust in the industry causing companies to become unstable. Despite, major flaws put into the system also some innovation that would be mainstay in theaters for the rest of Hollywood. For instance, to attract audiences to movie theaters 20th Century Fox began to experiment with the screen ratios and began working on color for films. In the 1950's tv and movies were seen in black and white however, it would quickly change for films as conversion to color started to become mainstay in the industry in this decade. In the past a three-strip Technicolor technique was used for filming by the Technicolor Corporation who run an monopoly on the technique and technology, however the company was forced to give up its rights to the process and allowed other companies to make colored film. In fact when Technicolor gave its right up, Kodak created a new multilayered film stock that could do what Technicolor film stock did but, more efficient and cheaper compared to its rival. This little achievement managed to get movies to be produced in color further extending themselves as unique or different than something you can watch at home. Another factor that helped the industry become a stronger competitor against television was movies beginning to use a higher aspect ratios than those of television. The technology of Cinemascope allowed camera's to record wide screen resolution from a 1.33 to 1 ratio to a 2.55 to 1 ratio and or in other words it could allow for more visual detail in films something that couldn't be done in Television for a little bit of time. The final part of the 1950's that was astounding was the rise of independents in the film industry as it would their shining moment. In the past independents didn't really exist in theaters as the Big Five had nearly total control of the industry and theatrical chains which could block independents, but since the "Paramount" decrees, liquidation of film companies, and surviving film companies struggling to survive, allowed independents to gain control and survive due to their films being reasonably cheaper than regular films. In fact several film companies actually specified in making ultra low budget films like The She Creature, or Sorority Girl as a was to make back money in a declining industry. Although some made more exploitative films, other like Stanley Kubrick, or Alfred Hitchcock created films that focused on the human psyche and the strangeness of human nature. In conclusion, the 1950's might have a been a hard time for Hollywood as studios began to suffer from pressure on Hollywood industries but it gave way to new technology and the rise of new independent filmmakers took advantage of and used to create films that set the bar of what films could be made and do.
In the early days of 50's Hollywood was suffering from massive blows one after than another with television undertaking audiences from theaters, and dwindling budgets that would lead studios to focus on smaller projects. For instance, the major studios or the Big Five (MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, and RKO) used to make big productions that were fairly popular post war but by the time the 1950's hit big productions started to seem like theatrical poison as audience attendance dropped roughly 20%-30%. The reason why film attendance seemed to drop so much was to due to the fact that people had less money to spend after the war, during World War 2 everything was rations to steel was rationed to the army giving the American population some money to spend as they had leftover change from rationing, and often times used it to go to cinema chains to watch films created by the Big Five. However, when the war was over people decided to spend money on homes in the suburbs, start families, purchase television sets, often instating "watching movies at home" for free causing audiences to dwindle as a result. In fact by the early 1950's nearly 7.3 million tv set were sold in the United States and roughly 433 tv channels were established at this time period roughly causing theater attendance to drop from 20%-30%. A secondary factor that damaged hurt Hollywood's finances and support were the attacks on Studios by organizations like the American Legion and The House of Un-American Activities Committee sought for the purification of American Democracy by targeting random persons suspected of a communistic agenda. Committees like HUAC (The House of Un-American Activities Committee) and others also caused a wide mass scandal that had several screenplay writer accused of communist activities and had the group blacklisted from Hollywood. Thirdly, film studios begun to change management constantly causing fire between studio executives of what could be done with the studio many of them losing money as it continues on. In fact, RKO one the big five went under in 1950's as its companies leader Howard Hughes tried to sell the company in 1952 which was unsuccessful, and headed in a downward spiral as movie produced after were seen as boring and box office flops causing the company to liquidate in 1957 and became a small international sales operation. In conclusion, the 1950's were a rough time for Hollywood as television would become the new mainstream, Hollywood workers would be monitored for any suspicious communistic activities and possibly blacklisted, and Studios started to fall from grace as they lost huge amount of money due to people finding more interesting activities.
The 1950's were a rough time for the film industry as constant attacks from group activists caused strict censorship against movies, television becoming America's favorite leisure time, and financial losses and antitrust in the industry causing companies to become unstable. Despite, major flaws put into the system also some innovation that would be mainstay in theaters for the rest of Hollywood. For instance, to attract audiences to movie theaters 20th Century Fox began to experiment with the screen ratios and began working on color for films. In the 1950's tv and movies were seen in black and white however, it would quickly change for films as conversion to color started to become mainstay in the industry in this decade. In the past a three-strip Technicolor technique was used for filming by the Technicolor Corporation who run an monopoly on the technique and technology, however the company was forced to give up its rights to the process and allowed other companies to make colored film. In fact when Technicolor gave its right up, Kodak created a new multilayered film stock that could do what Technicolor film stock did but, more efficient and cheaper compared to its rival. This little achievement managed to get movies to be produced in color further extending themselves as unique or different than something you can watch at home. Another factor that helped the industry become a stronger competitor against television was movies beginning to use a higher aspect ratios than those of television. The technology of Cinemascope allowed camera's to record wide screen resolution from a 1.33 to 1 ratio to a 2.55 to 1 ratio and or in other words it could allow for more visual detail in films something that couldn't be done in Television for a little bit of time. The final part of the 1950's that was astounding was the rise of independents in the film industry as it would their shining moment. In the past independents didn't really exist in theaters as the Big Five had nearly total control of the industry and theatrical chains which could block independents, but since the "Paramount" decrees, liquidation of film companies, and surviving film companies struggling to survive, allowed independents to gain control and survive due to their films being reasonably cheaper than regular films. In fact several film companies actually specified in making ultra low budget films like The She Creature, or Sorority Girl as a was to make back money in a declining industry. Although some made more exploitative films, other like Stanley Kubrick, or Alfred Hitchcock created films that focused on the human psyche and the strangeness of human nature. In conclusion, the 1950's might have a been a hard time for Hollywood as studios began to suffer from pressure on Hollywood industries but it gave way to new technology and the rise of new independent filmmakers took advantage of and used to create films that set the bar of what films could be made and do.
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