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Juan Monroy
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History of Film
Media Criticism
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History of Cinema 2
Prewar Hollywood
Prewar Hollywood
Vertical Integration
Production
assembly-line production
feature films
star system
Distribution
monopolistic practices
block booking
blind bidding
run-zone-clearance system
Exhibition
movie theaters
box office
theater chains
Oligopoly
market dominated by a small number of competitors
high barriers of entry to potential competitors
Hollywood studio system
Coming of Sound
silent film developed into its own art form
advent of electrical sound
standardization of movie scores
Films Were Silent Becauseā¦
amplification
synchronization
no one thought movies should talk
Sound Technologies
sound-on-disk
Warner Brothers
Vitaphone
sound-on-film
Fox Movietone
RCA Photophone
Majors
vertically integrated
Paramount
hit hard by Depression
run by Barney Balaban
bankrupt in 1933
European style productions
Maurice Chevalier
Marx Brothers
Warner Brothers
entered Depression in bad shape but liquified assets and cut costs
run by Harry Warner
stable of stars
James Cagney
Bette Davis
Humphrey Bogart
Errol Flynn
20th Century Fox
Fox entered the Depression in poor shape
merged with Twentieth Century Fox
Daryl Zanuck became head of production
MGM-Loews
most profitable of American firms
run by Nicholas Schenck
Radio-Keith-Orpheum
established 1928 by RCA
bankrupt in 1933
inconsistent hits
King Kong
Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire musical
Citizen Kane
Minors
production
distribution
owned few or no theaters
Universal
largest of the Little Three
horror films
Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931)
Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931)
Invisible Man (James Whale, 1933)
Columbia
headed Harry Cohn
Frank Capra major director
dependent on B westerns
Three Stooges serials
United Artists
began decline after sound era
founders retired in the 1930s
Independents
A-Pictures
Samuel Goldwyn
David O. Selznick
B-Pictures
Poverty Row
Monogram
Republic
Great Depression
Changes in Movie Theater Exhibition
End of Uniformed Ushers
Double and Triple Features
Concessions for Sale
Giveaways
Motion Picture Producers Association of America
Established 1922
Trade organization
Avoid government regulation and censorship
Appointed Will Hays as first head of MPPDA
Fatty Arbuckle scandal
Production Code
1930
outline of moral standards
11 areas of concern
crime
sex
violence
controversy
studios sought sex and violence to boost attendance
Gangster films
glorified violence but protagonist killed at the end
Little Caesar (1930)
Public Enemy (1931)
Scarface (1932)
Sex Comedies
women who traded sexual favors for material gain
Baby Face (1933)
Red-Headed Woman (1932)
She Done with Wrong (1933)
Catholic Legion of Decency
rating system
A = Approved
C= Condemned
boycotts
Production Code Administration
Joseph Breen
Review scripts before production
Seals of Approval
MPPDA reviewed
fined if film was released without approval
curbed national censorship
summarized what movies could do according to local censors
Genres
Musical
Screwball Comedy
Horror
Social Problem Film
Gangster
Film Noir
War Film