Film in the 1900s

International

early 1900s - Europeans are the primary innovators
by 1914 Pathe (French) is the largest film company in the world

France is the #1 film supplier
 
World War I destroys much of the French film production capacity

American filmmakers fill the void
1914 - France released 50% of worldwide movies
1919 - France released 15% of worldwide movies
 
Domestic
New York City is the place to be in the early 1900s
Edison, Eastman and others form the Motion Pictures Patent Company (MPPC)

a vertically integrated monopoly
 
in the teens, many independent filmmakers want to get away from MPPC restrictions

where do they go?
 

The Silent Era
1927 - introduction of sound

this actually helps overseas film industries recover

English gradually becoming the language of film

Censorship boards
 
1930s - worldwide Depression

US market large enough for film to survive
1939 - color becomes popular
The Studio System and the Golden Age of Film
 
Hays Code

a contradiction?
 
1952 Court case - film deserves First Amendment protection

gradual decline of the power of the Hays Office
 
1968 - MPAA ratings system

impact on content?
 

World War II
European film production destroyed again
US moves in and hasn't left
today, US films command 50% or more of the annual box office in most countries
Hollywood studios now gross more in the overseas markets (combined) than the North American market
 
Overseas studios try to fight back

Easier to buy Hollywood studios! (ex. Sony, Matsushita, Fox)
 
1970s - videocassettes
1990s - DVDs

HD-DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 2.0, 4K

today - COVID impacts
 

Impact of Television
1948 - majors blacklist and boycott TV

won't let actors appear on TV

won't produce programming for TV

won't license post-1948 films for TV airings
 
1948-52 Freeze left gaps in TV coverage
in 1951, TV cities reported a 20-40% drop in movie attendance

(theaters close)
 
Hollywood tries "gimmicks"

Drive-ins

Cinemascope

3-D

Smell-o-rama!
 
1948 - 1953 on average, 90 million moviegoers per week
1954 - 1959 around 45 million
today - around 25 million
 
new "gimmicks"

digital film

the return to 3-D (and 4-D!)
 
Hollywood decides it's better to join TV than fight
1953 - United Paramount Theaters/ABC merger
1954 - Disney/ABC contract
1955 - Warner Bros. produces a weekly series for TV
1966 - Hollywood produces the first made-for-TV movies
1986 - 20th Century Fox starts a TV network
2017-2019 Disney - 21st Century Fox?
 
 

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