The Fifties: Transforming the Screen, 1950–1959 (Volume 7) (History of the American Cinema)

Completing the landmark, award-winning, ten-volume series on the first century of American film, The Fifties covers a particularly tumultuous period. Peter Lev explores the divorce of movie studios from their theater chains; the panic of the blacklist era; the explosive emergence of science fiction as the dominant genre ( The Thing, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, War of the Worlds ); the rise of television and Hollywood's response to the new medium, as seen in widescreen spectacles ( The Robe, The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur) and mature Westerns (High Noon, Shane, The Searchers ). The richly detailed text elucidates a number of emerging trends as Hollywood, with its familiar stars and genres, reached out as an industry to the newly acknowledged "teenage" generation with rock and roll films, and movies as diverse as Rebel Without a Cause and Gidget. "Completing the landmark, award-winning, ten-volume History of the American Cinema series on the first century of American film, The Fifties covers a particularly tumultuous period. Peter Lev explores the divorce of movie studios from their theater chains; the panic of the blacklist era; the explosive emergence of science fiction as the dominant genre (The Thing, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, War of the Worlds); and the rise of television and Hollywood's response to the new medium, as seen in widescreen spectacles (The Robe, The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur) and mature Westerns (High Noon, Shane, The Searchers). The richly detailed text elucidates a number of trends that emerged as Hollywood, with its familiar stars and genres, reached out as an industry to the newly acknowledged 'teenage' generation with rock-and-roll films and movies as diverse as Rebel Without a Cause and Gidget." -- Back cover Advisory Board......Page 7 Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Contributors......Page 13 Introduction......Page 14 1. The American Film Industry in the Early 1950s......Page 20 2. Genres and Production Trends, 1950-1954......Page 46 3. HUAC, the Blacklist, and the Decline of Social Cinema......Page 77 4. Censorship and Self-Regulation......Page 99 5. Technology and Spectacle......Page 118 6. Hollywood and Television in the 1950s: The Roots of Diversification......Page 137 7. Hollywood International......Page 157 8. Science Fiction Films and Cold War Anxiety......Page 179 9. The Film Industry in the Late 1950s......Page 207 10. Genres and Production Trends, 1955-1959......Page 227 11. American Documentary in the 1950s......Page 266 12. "Unquiet Years": Experimental Cinema in the 1950s......Page 287 Appendixes......Page 311 Notes......Page 323 Selected Bibliography......Page 349 The American film industry in the early 1950s Genres and production trends, 1950-1954 HUAC, the Blacklist, and the decline of social cinema / Brian Neve Censorship and self regulation Technology and spectacle Hollywood and television in the 1950s: the roots of diversification / Janet Wasko Hollywood international Science fiction films and Cold War anxiety / Victoria O'Donnell The film industry in the late 1950s Genres and production trends, 1955-1959 American documentary in the 1950s / Jack C. Ellis "Unquiet years": experimental cinema in the 1950s / Greg S. Fuller. Covering a tumultuous period of the 1950s, this work explores the divorce of movie studios from their theater chains, the panic of the blacklist era, the explosive emergence of science fiction as the dominant genre, and the rise of television and Hollywood's response with widescreen spectacles This volume examines the development of film and the film industry during the 1950s and the political and economic background that influenced it.