Golden Age Of Hollywood Essay

During the Golden Age of Hollywood, studios controlled not only the resources of production but also how the films were released. The most prominent of these studios, known as “The Big Five,” consisted of Paramount Pictures, RKO, Warner Brothers, Fox, and Loew’s Incorporated. Again, during that time, they controlled the development, production, and distribution of films which lead to the studio system. The Paramount decision, stemming from the United States Supreme Court Hollywood Antitrust Case of 1948 (United States vs. Paramount Pictures), defined how studios could no longer hold financial interests or own theaters. Another historical event also saw its beginnings during the 1930’s and 1940’s where American entertainers were denied employment opportunities due to suspected Communist affiliation. As the United States government, specifically the office of HUAC, turned to the film industry for ties to the American Communist Party, eventually hundreds of entertainers became blacklisted from the industry. These two events caused catastrophic damage to the filmmaking industry which must be detailed as additional key factors ending the studio system. The Fall of Hollywood’s Power and Influence The Paramount Decision During the 1930’s and mid 1940’s, “The Big Five” film studios – Paramount Pictures, RKO, Warner Brothers, Fox, and Loew’s Incorporated – owned wholly or substantially many of the theaters where their productions were presented. According to Jon Lewis, “The Big Five held interest in 3,137 of the 18,076 theaters nationwide. And the 92 cities with a population exceeding one hundred thousand over 70 percent of the first-run theaters were affiliated with the Big Five.” Therefore, cinema halls across the United States were forced to rent films only produced by the major studios. As this power and money-hungry oligarchy thrived and overstepped many legal boundaries, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the organizations in 1938 limiting them to the following conditions: 1. Theaters were no longer required to block-book short films with feature films. 2. The Big Five were limited to block-booking only 5 feature films. 3. Blind buying (renting films without being able to watch them) was made illegal and replaced with “trade showing.” 4. An administration board was to be established to enforce these conditions. In conjunction with the studios not fully complying with the established conditions and the theater owners feeling unsatisfied with the recourse, the case went back to trial in 1945. As the reinstated case favored the studios, the U.S. government quickly appealed where it reached the Supreme Court in 1948. The verdict, 7-1 against “The Big 5” (primarily against Paramount), found the studios in violation of antitrust law and implemented robust industry practices that …show more content…
“The Big Five” power and money hungry studios implemented systems to control all aspects of production and release of films. After being found guilty of anti-trust laws, the studios lost significant powers they had been accustomed to. In an effort to regain their control, studios, the MPAA, and HUAC began to blacklist industry members. The combination of these two historical events redefined how studios and their employees created cinematic experiences. As studios lost control, they were forced to create substantially higher quality productions to earn revenues. Furthermore, they were also expected to create and promote films with acceptable social and political