Golden Age Article

 

SOME LIKE IT OLD: A HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD’S GOLDEN AGE

After Eadweard Muybridge discovered that he could make pictures move it didn’t take long for film to evolve. Starting with minute-long, silent videos of trains and leading to the 1920s where cinema could become a commodity for the masses. Instead of a scientific gimmick, the moving picture became one of the largest industries in America. The 1920s heralded the beginning of the commercial reigns of what were known as the big five; 20^th Century Fox, Universal, Paramount, MGM and Warner.
These five had, and still have, almost complete control over all mainstream films. In the 1920s, where mainstream films were just shy of being the only option, The Big Five began churning out films like clockwork, using Ford’s assembly line production methods to mass-produce films into their ‘studio system’.

The studio system was a way for The Big Five to keep all their profits, vertically integrating their companies by producing, distributing and exhibiting films. Studios usually focussed on only one genre each and made contracts with actors so they would have to stay with them. These films were formulaic and filled audience expectations.

The studio system went alongside the star system where stars became type-cast into specific genres made by specific studios. For example, John Wayne in Westerns. John Wayne would never star in a film-noir as his contract would prohibit him working with another studio.

Things began to change in 1948 where the Paramount laws put a stop to vertical integration meaning that companies would have to show their films in cinemas not owned by them. This is argued to be the end of “old Hollywood” although 1960 seems a more apt point with a new generation of directors (such as Kubrick and the disgusting Polanski) and the relaxation of the Hay’s code – essentially censorship of many themes such as sexual expression and anything that wasn’t religiously-approved.

In modern times, cinema is less dominated by big studios who, whilst still making huge blockbusters, have less sway over what the public want to watch, hence the rise in independent films (see A24 studios who make independent films that now win Oscars). The embrace of the film Parasite last year shows that the public aren’t interested in formulaic blockbusters anymore but want something unique and different. The future of cinema seems as exciting as ever before…