Hollywood in Transition

1939-1941
Vertical Integration fully entrenched Writers and directors give and take within the Studio System resulted in some of the greatest and most influential films ever produced

The 1940s
1939
Stagecoach Gone with the Wind The Wizard of Oz Mr. Smith Goes to Washington The Hunchback of Notre Dame Wuthering Heights Ninotchka Gunga Din Beau Geste Dark Victory

The 1940s
Gone with the Wind
Definitely a David O. Selznick Production A list stars, high production values, extensive & creative publicity - like a modern blockbuster

The 1940s
Margaret Mitchells only novel Paid $50,000 for the rights to the novel - most ever at the time Cost $4 million ($50 million today) 3 1/2 hour run time with an intermission The Search for Scarlett garnered huge amounts of publicity
Vivien Leigh & Clark Gable

The 1940s
Began shooting without the lead being cast supposedly Selznick constantly leaked stories about the production to the press

The 1940s
PCA wanted to change the final line Frankly my dear, I dont give a damn to I dont care. Selznick paid $5000 & the line stayed in

The 1940s
Eight Oscars
Best Picture, Actress, Director, and Best Supporting Actress Hattie McDaniel as the first African-American to win an Oscar "Why should I complain about making $700 a week playing a maid? If I didn't, I'd be making $7 a week being one."

The 1940s
1940
The Great Dictator The Grapes of Wrath His Girl Friday The Shop Around the Corner Rebecca The Philadelphia Story My Favorite Wife Fantasia

The 1940s
U.S. enters the war in 1941
2/3 of America went to the movies every week Hard times = more money for the studios Television was available but materials were used for the war so movies remained dominant

Casablanca, 1941

The 1940s
1941
Citizen Kane The Maltese Falcon Meet John Doe Suspicion Dumbo The Little Foxes Sullivans Travels Sergeant York High Sierra Ball of Fire

The 1940s
Citizen Kane, 1941
Orson Welles, director, star & producer 25 years old & first film War of the Worlds radio broadcast panicked audience Critically praised but financial flop because of limited release in US because of controversial biographic elements - i.e. an unflattering portrait of William Randolph Hearst who owned most U.S. newspapers

The 1940s
Sparse use of revealing facial close-ups Elaborate camera movements Over-lapping, talk-over dialogue and layered sound A cast of characters that ages throughout the film Flashbacks and non-linear story-telling Long, uninterrupted shots or lengthy takes of sequences

The 1940s
Deep focus - shots with incredible depth-of field and focus from extreme foreground to extreme background that emphasize mise en scene (French for placing on the stage or everything in the frame)

The 1940s
Considered one of the most influential films of all time Welles never again had such freedom and financing

The 1940s
Citizen Kane a financial disappointment Magnificent Ambersons chopped and dumped to fit the second feature timeslot Contract w/RKO was cancelled and career never recovered Spent the next 30 years in Europe

The 1940s
America entering WWII changed everything
America had been divided about entering the war While the government did not nationalize the industry, there were some new standards to adhere to

The 1940s
Controversies over such films as The Great Dictator and other antifascist films were moot after Pearl Harbor

The 1940s
Topical Features
Alfred Hitchcocks Saboteur and Foreign Correspondent

The 1940s
William Wylers Mrs. Miniver Ernst Lubitschs To Be or Not to Be Mervyn LeRoys 30 Seconds Over Tokyo

The 1940s
Walt Disney First full-length animated feature: Snow White, 1937

The 1940s

Bambi, 1942

Fantasia, 1940

Pinocchio, 1940

Dumbo, 1941

The 1940s
Everyone pitched in
Betty Grable

Marlene Dietrich entertaining the troops

The 1940s
Selling the War Office of War Information (OWI) sponsored features Directors such as John Huston, John Ford (who became a Rear Admiral) and especially Frank Capra made films for the military Capras Why We Fight series

The 1940s
Many stars and directors enlisted Made propaganda films as well as fought

John Hustons The BattleWylers Pietro William of San The Memphis Belle

Clark Gable & Combat America

The 1940s
Even Walt Disney pitched in with hundreds of training and propaganda films

Der Fuehrer's Face

The 1940s
Changes in Genre
The Womens Picture Films such as Now Voyager and My Foolish Heart targeted the changing role of women Women had to learn to live without a man and/or children

The 1940s
Patriotic to Post-war Realism and Film Noir
Shift in psyche Austere, deglamorized & ambivalent Social realism The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946

The 1940s
William Wylers Best Years of Our Lives, 1946

The 1940s
Cast non-actor Harold Russell
Won both the Academy Award as the year's Best Supporting Actor and a second, honorary Oscar "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans." He is the only actor ever to win two Oscars for the same role

The 1940s
House Un-American Activities Committee and Hollywood established in 1937 to investigate un-American and subversive activities
Investigated Hollywood in 1947

The 1940s
Prove that the Screen Writers Guild had Communist members Show that these writers were able to insert subversive propaganda into Hollywood films J. Parnell Thomas, head of the committee, argued that President Roosevelt had encouraged pro-Soviet films during the war.
J. Parnell Thomas & Jack Warner of Warner Brothers

The 1940s
1948 - the beginning of the end for the Studio System
MGM, Warner Brothers, Fox, Paramount and RKO had to divest of their theatres Theatres could play any movie from any studio Box office fell as studios were forced to compete with each other
and with

The 1940s
Television

The 1940s
Began a decline in box office that was not reversed until Jaws, 1975

The 1940s
Director, screenwriter & actor Boxer, officer in the Mexican Cavalry & expert horseman

John Huston

The 1940s

The Asphalt Jungle Key Largo

The Killers

The 1940s
Wrote & directed The Maltese Falcon, 1941 Widely considered to usher in Film Noir Worked against HUAC Became an Irish citizen Resurgence of career in the 1970s with Fat City, The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean & The Man Who Would be King

The Maltese Falcon

The 1940s
Father - Walter Huston Three generations of Oscars Only one to direct two family members to an Oscar

Rain, 1932

The 1940s
Walter Huston - Treasure of the Sierra Madre John Huston - Treasure of the Sierra Madre Anjelica Huston - Prizzis Honor

Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, John Huston and Anjelica Huston for Prizzis Honor

The 1940s

Anjelica, John & Danny Huston

The 1940s
Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948 John Hustons theme of human frailty Resonated with postwar audience

The 1940s
Humphrey Bogart Tim Holt Walter Huston