VM100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Sound Film, Hal Roach, Roscoe Arbuckle
1 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
VM100
Semester #1 Lecture 8
Prof. Michael Selig
The Hollywood Studio System
-Concentration of ownership- big fish eat little fish, put little guys out of business
Vertical integration- The combining of manufacturing operations with source of materials and/or
channels of distribution under a single ownership or management, especially to maximize
profits.
IN FILM- A practice in which a single company engages in two or more of the activities of the
film industry- production, distribution and exhibition
THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM
“The Big Three”, early 1920s= Paramount-publix, Loew’s MGM, First National
-First companies to vertically integrate
“The Big Five”, late 1920s to early 1950s = MGM, Paramount, Warner bros, 20th century fox
and RKO
-Also vertically integrated, only ones integrated in the US
-“The Little Three”- Columbia, Universal, United Artists. Not vertically integrated THATS WHY
THEY WERE LITTLE!!
-Columbia put on map with “it happened one night”
-The depression and ‘double bill’ or ‘double feature’- Trailers, cartoon, short subject, B-picture
(short feature), A-feature, newsreels
-Get more for your money than before, audiences increasing with escapists
-B-picture is the shorter film presented- 70/80 minutes, lots from this genre were westerns.
Minor studios and poverty row- Hal Roach studios, Republic (produced John Wayne films),
Monogram, Grand national
1938- Justice dept sues “majors” for anti-trust violations case suspended during WWII
-Inspecting restraint of trade and lack of competition
-Sues big five and little three “US vs Paramount”
Controlling the market- First run theaters- not majority of theaters but where more money is
generated, in urban locations. Concern of the justice department.
-Costs lots of money to make opulent theaters and change them from non sync-sound to
sync-sound
Block booking and blind bidding were concerns for the justice department
-Big guys would control indie theaters- if you want to book one big film from our company, buy
3 or 4 of our little ones.
-Blind bidding- Exhibitors forced to bid on a film without seeing it themselves
Paramount Decrees (1948)- Consent decrees between major comps and justice department,
require divesture (selling) of theater chains, end of block booking and blind-bidding
Scandal and the Hays Office- MPPDA, Motion Pictures Producers and distributors of America
-Fatty Arbuckle charged with manslaughter, career in ruins
-Ince shot and killed by Hurst
-MPPDA established in 1922, postmaster general hired
-Public relations and censorship fights- lobbied successfully
The Production Code- Not censorship, self regulation, last of several “codes of content” issued
by MPPDA.
Document Summary
Concentration of ownership- big sh eat little sh, put little guys out of business. Vertical integration- the combining of manufacturing operations with source of materials and/or channels of distribution under a single ownership or management, especially to maximize pro ts. In film- a practice in which a single company engages in two or more of the activities of the. The big three , early 1920s= paramount-publix, loew"s mgm, first national. The big five , late 1920s to early 1950s = mgm, paramount, warner bros, 20th century fox and rko. Also vertically integrated, only ones integrated in the us. Columbia put on map with it happened one night . The depression and double bill" or double feature"- trailers, cartoon, short subject, b-picture (short feature), a-feature, newsreels. Get more for your money than before, audiences increasing with escapists. B-picture is the shorter lm presented- 70/80 minutes, lots from this genre were westerns.
