Hollywood Decision

The Paramount decision and the Hollywood blacklist were two pivotal events that were a product of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Both of these episodes had the ability to redirect the course of film making within Hollywood and the United States. In many ways, both of these events are cornerstone contributions that changed the course of filmmaking. The Paramount decision, also known as United States v. Paramount Pictures, was a landmark decision made by the supreme court. The court came to the decision that “block booking” violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. “Under block booking, "independent ('unaffiliated') theater owners were forced to take large numbers of [a] studio's pictures sight unseen” (Block Booking 2014). “The result dictated that, …show more content…
“The result of this was that studios, no longer able to dump a whole year's worth of movies on theaters, now had to be far more selective in what they did produce.” (Fall of The Studio System 2015) Eventually, this lead to increased production values and budgets of Hollywood's films. It also lead to a decrease in their number since quality became its main focus. The Hollywood Blacklist also had a major impact on the direction of the filmmaking industry. Essentially, this was the practice of denying employment, to those in the movie industry due to accusations of communist sympathies. The first notable blacklist took place in 1947. Ten writers and directors cited with being in contempt of congress because they refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. These writers and directors would become known as the Hollywood Ten and are remembered for speaking out against the abuses of the Red Scare that took place during the time