United States V. Paramount Pictures Inc.

The Paramount decision and the Hollywood blacklist took place during the time of the Golden Age of Hollywood and are often viewed as the fall of the studio system. During this time, studios had almost complete control over the entire film industry. They had total jurisdiction over all of the different aspects of filmmaking beginning with the development, all the way until the release of films. A great number of the biggest theaters were owned and run by the studios during this time. As for any theaters that weren’t being run by studios, their only good choice was unfortunately to submit to studios’ terms or else they would forfeit their opportunity at a first-run screening. Despite having such a successful run of controlling the film industry, there were several various external forces that were conspiring to put an end to the studio system. The moment in time that is widely regarded as the beginning of the end for the studio system was the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Paramount Pictures Inc. 1948. This decision created a restriction on the practice of block booking by the “Big Five” studios. This decision ultimately led to the Big Five studios being forced into selling their theater chains. …show more content…
Both events created circumstances that positively and negatively affected the filmmaking business in America. By the Hollywood blacklist taking away inland opportunity for many people in the film industry, it also created opportunity for foreign film growth. No matter whether people believe the Hollywood blacklist had positive or negative effects, there is no question it altered the filmmaking business. Likewise, the Paramount decision greatly altered the filmmaking business by changing the entire structure of the industry. Without a doubt, each of these events truly altered the filmmaking industry in