History of the American Cinema: Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930-1939 (History of the American Cinema)

An illustrated, scholarly investigation of the genesis and development of American film, prepared with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Grand Design, the fifth in the series, studies the advent of colour, big musicals, the studio system and the beginning of institutionalized censorship which made the thirties the defining decade for Hollywood, the decade that ended with The Greatest Year in Motion Pictures (1939) - the year of Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Mr Smith Goes to Washington and other classics. This reference series should become the standard source in every library. Celebrated As Hollywood's Greatest Year, 1939 Has Often Been Considered The Apex Of The Studio System And The Movies It Produced, Including Gone With The Wind, The Wizard Of Oz, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, And So Many Other Memorable Pictures. It Was A Time When The Studios Exercised Nearly Absolute Control Over Their Product And Won Government Sanction For The Informal Oligopoly That Had Sprung Up In Previous Decades. In Short, The Film Industry Became A Modern Business Enterprise - Rationalized From Planning Through Assembly-line Manufacture To Exhibition In Studio-owned Theater Chains. Even Community Reception And The Public Personas Of Such Great Stars As Bette Davis, Clark Gable, And Humphrey Bogart Were Subject To Studio Influence. In This Fifth Volume Of The Award-winning History Of The American Cinema, Tino Balio Examines Every Aspect Of The Filmmaking And Film Exhibition System As It Matured During The Depression Era. He Discusses The Hollywood Studios (major, Minor, And Poverty Row) In Relation To Their All-powerful (and Little Understood) Front Offices In New York; The Prevailing Exhibition And Advertising Practices; The Star System; And The Key Trends That Dominated Hollywood Production: Prestige Pictures, Musicals, Women's Films, Comedies, Social Problem Films, And Horror Pictures. A Number Of Distinguished Guest Contributors Fill Out The Picture With Analyses Of Censorship And The Emergence Of The Production Code (richard Maltby), Technology And The Classical Hollywood Style (david Bordwell And Kristin Thompson), The B Film (brian Taves), Documentary (charles Wolfe), And The Avant-garde (jan-christopher Horak). The Production Code And The Hays Office / Richard Maltby -- Technological Change And Classical Film Style / David Bordwell And Kristin Thompson -- The B Film : Hollywood's Other Half / Brian Taves -- The Poetics And Politics Of Nonfiction : Documentary Film / Charles Wolfe -- Avant-garde Film / Jan-christopher Horak. Tino Balio. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 414-448) And Indexes. "Celebrated as "Hollywood's greatest year," 1939 has often been considered the apex of the studio system and the movies it produced, including Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and so many other memorable pictures. It was a time when the studios exercised nearly absolute control over their product and won government sanction for the informal oligopoly that had sprung up in previous decades. In short, the film industry became a modern business enterprise - rationalized from planning through assembly-line manufacture to exhibition in studio-owned theater chains. Even community reception and the public personas of such great stars as Bette Davis, Clark Gable, and Humphrey Bogart were subject to studio influence." "In this fifth volume of the award-winning History of the American Cinema, Tino Balio examines every aspect of the filmmaking and film exhibition system as it matured during the Depression era. He discusses the Hollywood studios (major, minor, and "poverty row") in relation to their all-powerful (and little understood) front offices in New York; the prevailing exhibition and advertising practices; the star system; and the key trends that dominated Hollywood production: prestige pictures, musicals, women's films, comedies, social problem films, and horror pictures." "A number of distinguished guest contributors fill out the picture with analyses of censorship and the emergence of the Production Code (Richard Maltby), technology and the "classical" Hollywood style (David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson), the B Film (Brian Taves), documentary (Charles Wolfe), and the avant-garde (Jan-Christopher Horak)."--BOOK JACKET. Advisory Board......Page 7 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 9 Contributors......Page 10 1. Introduction......Page 12 2. Surviving the Great Depression......Page 24 3. The Production Code and the Hays Office......Page 48 4. Feeding the Maw of Exhibition......Page 84 5. Technological Change and Classical Film Style......Page 119 6. Selling Stars......Page 152 Prestige Pictures......Page 187 Musicals......Page 219 The Woman's Film......Page 243 Comedy......Page 264 Social Problem Films......Page 288 Horror Films......Page 306 8. The B Film: Hollywood's Other Half......Page 321 9. The Poetics and Politics of Nonfiction: Documentary Film......Page 359 10. Avant-Garde Film......Page 395 Appendix 1. Variety's Top-Grossing Films......Page 413 Appendix 2. Major Academy Awards......Page 415 Appendix 3. Film Daily's Ten Best Films......Page 419 List of Abbreviations......Page 421 Notes......Page 422 Bibliography......Page 449 V. 1. The emergence of cinema : the American screen to 1907 / Charles Musser -- v. 2. The transformation of cinema, 1907-1915 / Eileen Bowser -- v. 3. An evening's entertainment : the age of the silent feature picture, 1915-1928 / Richard Koszarski -- v. 4. The talkies : American cinema's transition to sound, 1926-1931 / Donald Crafton -- v. 5. Grand design : Hollywood as a modern business enterprise, 1930-1939 / Tino Balio -- v. 6. Boom and bust : the American cinema in the 1940s / Thomas Schatz -- v. 7. Transforming the screen, 1950-1959 / Peter Lev -- v. 8. The sixties, 1960-1969 / Paul Monaco -- v. 9. Lost illusions : American cinema in the shadow of Watergate and Vietnam, 1970-1979 / David A. Cook -- v. 10. A new pot of gold : Hollywood under the electronic rainbow, 1980-1989 / Stephen Prince This volume examines the development of film and the film industry from 1926 to 1931 and the political and economic background that influenced it. More than a year after the great Wall Street crash of 1929, conventional wisdom had it that the movies were immune to the Depression.