Hollywood’s Studio System: Golden Age and Decline

The Transition to Synchronized Sound

• Early sound innovations:– Edison’s phonograph– Problem of synchronization– Lee DeForest: “Sound on Film” (1923)

• 1927 breakthroughs: – The Jazz Singer (w/ Al Jolson)– “Big Five Agreement”– First “talkies” appear in 1928

• 1930s: U.S. Sound transition complete:– Increased industry profits– Sound creates new genres (i.e., the musical

& the screwball comedy)– Silent stars—like Buster Keaton and Greta

Garbo—forced to adapt

Hollywood Studio System• The “Big Five” and “Little Three”

– Vertical Integration = Big $$$– Big five studios owned the means of:

• Production: studios, equipment, sets . . . as well as major stars and directors

• Distribution: Shipping and sales of films; Promotion (relationships with press)

• Exhibition: i.e., Movie theater chains (“Little three” did not own theaters)

– “Block booking” and double features (“A” and “B” movies)

• MPAA and the Hays Code (see LaM, page 452)• 1930s: Restrictions on sex, violence, “immoral”

conduct in movies• Good rewarded; Evil punished• Replaced with “MPAA ratings system” in 1968

1950s: Decline of the Hollywood Studio System

• Reasons for the Decline:– Social: Suburbanization, TV, Other

Leisure Opportunities (i.e., sports)– Economic: International Protectionism,

Paramount Decision (1948), Independent Producers

– Political: WWII, HUAC

• Strategies to Slow the Decline: – New Technology: TechniColor,

Widescreen, 3-D (1952), AromaRama– New Markets: Young People,

“Exploitation” Markets, Art House

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

• Think about narrative: – How do the musical numbers fit into the

plot?– What are the major “events” in the story? – How are people characterized? – Where does the conflict come from?

• What does this film (or its central characters) suggest that movies should do or be?

• What does the film tell you about the Hollywood studio system and the transition to sound?

• What does it tell you about U.S. culture in the 1950s?