To what extent was the Catholic Church the leading establishment to alter production policies in Hollywood during the great depression
A. Plan of Investigation
The research question that will be evaluated is, to what extent was the Catholic Church the leading establishment to alter production policies in Hollywood during the great depression? While the Great Depression was a time of grief, it was additionally an era of new opportunities. The institution of Hollywood and the Catholic Church were two separate entities during the Great Depression. The two institutions disagreed on how society should conduct itself, through the means of entertainment. However, arguably, the Catholic Church wasn’t the only organization that altered the ethics of Hollywood. The time period that will be evaluated will be from the late 1920s to the late 1930s, seeing how Hollywood was reformed during that time period. The research question should be sufficiently answered by finding in depth information through articles and studies on the two separate entities, and other possible influences during this particular era. Also, by analyzing the effects of the institution’s individual contributions on society itself, there will be added evidence to the research question.
B. Summary of Evidence
In 1929, America experienced a stock market crash that led the country into what is historically known as the Great Depression. Many industries across America experienced alterations in order to fit the social and economic changes that America was undergoing as a nation. Specific industries included Hollywood and the film industry. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the movies that Americans enjoyed viewing were considered immoral at the time. This was f...
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...ny other groups tried to conduct boycotts or general protests, however the WTCU and the Legion of Decency conducted boycotts that caught the attention of William Hays, and forced him to alter the ways of cinema. The Production Code offers insight into the situation of society during the Great Depression and the values that Americans upheld, even in a time of crisis. Both establishments pushed for a change that they wanted to see in society, because the society that they saw was one of many immoral ideas and actions. Since films at this time were the main focus of entertainment, and entertainment was the main focus of society, they believed that the film industry was the place to start the alterations. As noted, both the Catholic Church and the WTCU were the leading influences in altering Hollywood, and therefore they altered society during the Great Depression era.
The overall appeal of the cinema to the masses was particularly evident during the interwar era. Audiences worldwide wanted to watch the variety of films, particularly American produced films, and they always went back. The visibly attractive and glamorous Hollywood movies often depicted the success of the underdog over unjust authority. Values of cash over culture were often a theme in the early American films and societies with restricted social mobility, such as those in Europe, could dream of such a triumph. The working class and unemployed could fantasise about wealth, fame and freedom which America as a country was portrayed as offering.
In the 1930s and 1940s many Hollywood writers, actors, producers, and directors were suspected for communist affiliations. During this time, communism was a popular political movement in the United States, especially among young liberals. There was a growing fear of communism invading American society. By the end of World War Two an event known as the Red Scare resulted in communism become increasingly feared and hated by many in the United States. The Hollywood blacklist caused the Hollywood industry a lot of harm in its business and reputation.
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
The Great Depression is when the film industry boomed with new types of movies like: gangster films and musicals. They were both born in the Great Depression. Most films show the hardships of the time period. Some of the films display this very well for example Modern Times staring Charlie Chaplin. One of the more well-known gangster films was The Public Enemy.. These films have very different views of the time period but still have things in common. This paper will compare Modern Times and The Public Enemy.
Clara’s experience with the motion picture industry gives us a picture of what it was like in the 1920’s. It was new and intriguing, enticing and corrupt. The motion picture industry underpaid Bow, which is almost inconceivable today. The environment of Hollywood now pays actors and actresses corpulent amounts of money...but that may be the only change. The “star-maker” environment is still as enticing and corrupt as yesterday’s.
During the late 1940’s and throughout the 1950’s, there was a great fear of Communism in America and abroad. The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was created in 1938 as a means to investigate and weed out Communists and Communist supporters from American society. Its first major attack was on the Hollywood film industry. Blacklisting of Hollywood writers, actors, producers, directors and others suspected of Communist affiliations began with the committee's hearings in October of 1947, and flourished throughout the 1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy conducted “witch hunts” in an attempt to find and eliminate suspected Communists. The Hollywood Ten, a group of distinguished writers and directors, were cited for contempt of Congress and jailed for failing to cooperate with the house committee.
The change in the U.S. can be said to be a social revolution. People were growing sick of the same old movies, they wanted a change and Hollywood needed to deliver or else they would lose their audience to the TV. In the early 60's, the studios were still afraid of the blacklisting so the films were still very safe. An example of this is the film Sound of Music (1965). This was a film about a musical family that needed to escape the Nazi presence. Although the movie is based on a true story, they still follow the same old idea of a nice family, who must escape from the clutches of evil. Basically, the movie is saying good guys win and bad guys always lose. Sure this how most films are made but there is no sense of change, no differences in the style or way it was made. Since there was no change, the public was not interested. The TV was much more convenient and kept the publics interested.
The cold war was a dark time in Hollywood’s history. The growing paranoia of communism and the increasing power of Senator McCarthy resulted in the Hollywood Blacklist. The Hollywood Blacklist occurred when the House on Un-American Activities began targeting Hollywood screenwriters, actor, directors, and musicians suspected of involvement in the American Communist Party. These victims would be blacklisted, “barred from work on the basis of their alleged membership in or sympathy to the American Communist party.” (Wikipedia.org) These individuals would be questioned in court and if they refused to testify or give names of other alleged communist they would be further punished. They could even be imprisoned, as in the case of the Hollywood ten. The Hollywood Blacklist lasted until 1960 and it permanently damaged hundreds of victim’s lives.
It was during this time that the Roman Catholics lead the charge in the creation of the Production Code, which would be reluctantly accepted in 1934, after seeing the outcry by the churches. Meanwhile, the Christian film industry had already had its humble start with the Harmon Foundation, beginning small productions for church and educational use. Though the foundation would not be able to make it through the depression, they established the categories of Christian films that would remain as the industry grew through the 1930s and onward. The five main categories attributed to the Harmon Foundation are: biblical, missionary, historical/biographical, pedagogical, and inspirational. At this point, many conservative Christians had given up any
This thought scared the Hollywood studios. A boycott of that size in the middle of a depression would crush them. The heads of all the major studios got together to solve this problem. They knew that they didn't want to lose the Catholics, and they didn't want government intervention. Their solution was to have a board to censor all the movies coming from the major studios (at that time it was legal for studios to own their own theaters so independent films weren't generally seen by the public at large). To head this committee was William Hays.
In Hollywood political conflict was also paving the way for what would later occur in Hollywood as the HUAC would attack the industry. Big business controlled the lucrative industry and the companies that controlled the market were eight major studios in Hollywood. The Metro-Goldw...
In 1915 the American film industry was forever changed as it took its first step toward modern filmmaking. It was the year D.W. Griffith’s A The Birth of a Nation was released, a racially insensitive film depicting life during the Civil War and Reconstruction in America. It is arguably first major success in American cinema as it was the highest grossing film of its time. It is no accident that the film destine to redefine the film industry in the United States would inevitable be a national historical epic, for the film was a response to the growing presents of foreign films dominating American cinema. Though ultimately The Birth of a Nation and D.W. Griffith were a product of circumstances created by corporate attempts to industrialize filmmaking.
Describe some ways in which business values and artistic values in Hollywood contend with one another.
The Second World War brought forth not only physical destruction to Germany, but also cultural destruction, particularly in its film industry. The film industry of West Germany, in particular, went under the inevitable control of the United States (US). American films became popular among the West German public, while prominent West German directors and actors chose to leave West Germany to pursue their careers in Hollywood, with many of them becoming highly successful. Yet, it did not take long for West Germany to become self-reliant in terms of reinvigorating its domestic film talents amidst the continued dominance of American films. The economic recovery, West Germany experienced in the mid-1950s, enabled its film industry to produce more domestic film outputs as it continuously featured American films, which enjoyed great commercial success during the period. The domineering control of the US over the distribution of American films in West Germany prompted the West German government to render support to domestic filmmakers – a move supported by the growing economy of the nation that time. Although West German films did not fare well commercially in the domestic market due to the continued dominance of American films in West Germany, international success did follow through the international acclaim of domestic filmmakers, many of them having gained working experience in Hollywood. The emergence of New German Cinema in 1962, through the Oberhausen Manifesto, was characterized by support coming from the West German government, the economic resurgence of the nation and the shift from nonpolitical and positive themes that somewhat denies the sordid political mishaps of Germany prior and during t...
Largely influenced by the French New Wave and other international film movements, many American filmmakers in the late 1960s to 1970s sought to revolutionize Hollywood cinema in a similar way. The New Hollywood movement, also referred to as the “American New Wave” and the “Hollywood Renaissance,” defied traditional Hollywood standards and practices in countless ways, creating a more innovative and artistic style of filmmaking. Due to the advent and popularity of television, significant decrease in movie theater attendance, rising production costs, and changing tastes of American audiences, particularly in the younger generation, Hollywood studios were in a state of financial disaster. Many studios thus hired a host of young filmmakers to revitalize the business, and let them experiment and have almost complete creative control over their films. In addition, the abandonment of the restrictive Motion Picture Production Code in 1967 and the subsequent adoption of the MPAA’s rating system in 1968 opened the door to an era of increased artistic freedom and expression.