The Classical Hollywood Reader

483 Pages·2012·6.47 MB·English

by  Steve Neale

The Classical Hollywood Reader
The Classical Hollywood Reader brings together essential readings to provide a history of
Hollywood from the 1910s to the mid-1960s.
Following on from a Prologue that discusses the aesthetic characteristics of Classical
Hollywood fi lms, Part I covers the period between the 1910s and the mid- to late 1920s. It
deals with the advent of feature-length fi lms in the US and the growing national and international
dominance of the companies responsible for their production, distribution and exhibition. In
doing so, it also deals with fi lm making practices, aspects of style, the changing roles played by
women in an increasingly business-oriented environment, and the different audiences in the US
for which Hollywood sought to cater.
Part II covers the period between the coming of sound in the mid-1920s and the beginnings
of the demise of the ‘studio system’ in the late 1940s. In doing so it deals with the impact of
sound on fi lms and fi lm production in the US and Europe, the subsequent impact of the
Depression and World War II on the industry and its audiences, the growth of unions, and
the roles played by production managers and fi lm stars at the height of the studio era.
Part III deals with aspects of style, censorship, technology and fi lm production. It includes
articles on the Production Code, music and sound, cinematography and the often neglected
topic of animation.
Part IV covers the period between 1946 and 1966. It deals with the demise of the studio
system and the advent of independent production. In an era of demographic and social change,
it looks at the growth of drive-in theatres, the impact of television, the advent of new technologies,
the increasing importance of international markets, the Hollywood blacklist, the rise in art
house imports and in overseas production, and the eventual demise of the Production Code.
Designed especially for courses on Hollywood Cinema, the Reader includes a number of
newly researched and written chapters and a series of introductions to each of its parts. It
concludes with an epilogue, a list of resources for further research and an extensive bibliography.
Steve Neale is Professor and Chair in Film Studies in the School of English at Exeter University,
where he teaches Introduction to Film, Hollywood and Europe, Comedy, Comedians and
Romance, and Film Noir. He is an internationally renowned fi lm studies scholar. His research
focuses principally on history and theory of Hollywood cinema and he has published several
publications in these areas. Since 2004, Professor Neale has been the Academic Director for
the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture.
The
Classical Hollywood
Reader
Edited by
Steve Neale
First published 2012
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2012 editorial and selection matter Steve Neale; individual
chapters the contributors
The right of Steve Neale to be identifi ed as editor of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The classical Hollywood reader / edited by Steve Neale.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Motion pictures—California—Los Angeles—History—20th century. I. Neale, Stephen,
1950-
PN1993.5.U65C565 2012
384’.80979494—dc23
2011038750
ISBN: 978-0-415-57672-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-57674-1 (pbk)
Typeset in Perpetua and Bell Gothic
by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
For Karen
Contents
List of illustrations xi
Notes on contributors xiii
Acknowledgements xix
Permissions xxi
Steve Neale
INTRODUCTION 1
1 Patrick Keating
PROLOGUE: EMOTIONAL CURVES AND LINEAR NARRATIVES 6
PART I
Feature fi lms, Hollywood and the advent of the studio system, 1912–26 21
2 Gerben Bakker
THE QUALITY RACE: FEATURE FILMS AND MARKET DOMINANCE IN
THE US AND EUROPE IN THE 1910s 31
3 Richard Koszarski
MAKING MOVIES, 1915–28 43
4 Kristin Thompson
THE LIMITS OF EXPERIMENTATION IN HOLLYWOOD 61
5 Karen Ward Mahar
“DOING A ‘MAN’S WORK’”: THE RISE OF THE STUDIO SYSTEM AND THE
REMASCULINIZATION OF FILMMAKING 79
6 Lea Jacobs and Andrea Comiskey
HOLLYWOOD’S CONCEPTION OF ITS AUDIENCE IN THE 1920s 94
viii CONTENTS
PART II
Sound and the studio system, 1926–46 111
7 Douglas Gomery
THE COMING OF SOUND: TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE AMERICAN FILM INDUSTRY 123
8 Ginette Vincendeau
HOLLYWOOD BABEL: THE COMING OF SOUND AND THE MULTIPLE LANGUAGE VERSION 137
9 Howard T. Lewis
ORGANIZATION 147
10 Thomas Schatz
HOLLYWOOD: THE TRIUMPH OF THE STUDIO SYSTEM 167
11 Mark Glancy and John Sedgwick
CINEMAGOING IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE MID-1930s:
A STUDY BASED ON THE VARIETY DATASET 179
12 Tino Balio
SELLING STARS: THE ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE 209
PART III
Representation, technology, production and style, 1926–46 227
13 Richard Maltby
THE PRODUCTION CODE AND THE MYTHOLOGIES OF ‘PRE-CODE’ HOLLYWOOD 237
14 Helen Hanson and Steve Neale
COMMANDING THE SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE: CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD SOUND
IN THE 1930s AND EARLY 1940s 249
15 Kathryn Kalinak
THE CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD FILM SCORE 262
16 Patrick Keating
SHOOTING FOR SELZNICK: CRAFT AND COLLABORATION IN
HOLLYWOOD CINEMATOGRAPHY 280
17 Scott Higgins
ORDER AND PLENITUDE: TECHNICOLOR AESTHETICS IN THE CLASSICAL ERA 296
18 Mark Langer
THE DISNEY–FLEISCHER DILEMMA: PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION
AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 310
PART IV
Postwar Hollywood and the end of the studio system, 1946–66 321
19 Janet Staiger
INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM: THE SHIFT TO INDEPENDENT
PRODUCTION IN THE US FILM INDUSTRY 331
20 Sheldon Hall
OZONERS, ROADSHOWS AND BLITZ EXHIBITIONISM: POSTWAR DEVELOPMENTS IN
DISTRIBUTION AND EXHIBITION 343
CONTENTS ix
21 John Belton
GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOR, BREATHTAKING CINEMASCOPE AND STEREOPHONIC SOUND 355
22 Janet Wasko
HOLLYWOOD AND TELEVISION IN THE 1950s: THE ROOTS OF DIVERSIFICATION 370
23 Brian Neve
HOLLYWOOD AND POLITICS IN THE 1940S AND 1950s 389
24 Steve Neale
ARTIES AND IMPORTS, EXPORTS AND RUNAWAYS, ADULT FILMS AND EXPLOITATION 399
Steve Neale
EPILOGUE 412
Bibliography 415
Index 441
Illustrations
Figures
4.1 Frame enlargement from The Yellow Girl (1915), directed by
Edgar M. Keller, with Corinne Griffi th and Florence Vidor 64
4.2 Frame enlargement from The Blue Bird (1918), directed by Maurice Tourneur 65
4.3 Frame enlargement from Camille (1921), directed by Ray C. Smallwood 67
4.4 Frame enlargement from The Old Swimmin’ Hole (1921), directed by
Joseph De Grasse 69
4.5 Frame enlargement from Greed (1925), directed by Erich von Stroheim 71
4.6 Frame enlargement from Beggar on Horseback (1925), directed by
James Cruze 74
16.1 S ince You Went Away (1944), directed by John Cromwell 286
16.2 T he Prisoner of Zenda (1937), directed by John Cromwell 288
16.3 T he Prisoner of Zenda (1937), directed by John Cromwell 290
16.4 I ntermezzo (1939), directed by Gregory Ratoff 290
16.5 P ortrait of Jennie (1948), directed by William Dieterle 293
Tables
2.1 P rofi ts of Pathé Frères, in dollars, 1911–19 39
3.1 “ Average cost” estimates, 1917 48
3.2 U niversal Film Manufacturing Co., Pacifi c Coast Studios. Statement
of production costs for week ending 2–1–22 49
3.3 Universal Film Manufacturing Co., Pacifi c Coast Studios, daily
memorandum picture costs 50
11.1 The fi fty top earning fi lms in the data sample 183
11.2 The leading production companies 188
11.3 The top attractions in Pittsburgh 194
11.4 The top attractions in Detroit 195
xii ILLUSTRATIONS
11.5 The top attractions in Minneapolis 196
11.6 Appendix: the sample cinema set for the period October 1934 to October 1936 200
Exhibits
9.1 Production Department, Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, 1929 148
9.2 Production program of Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation for
1929–30, as classifi ed for distribution 152
9.3 Organization of Sales Department of Pathé Exchange, Incorporated 156
9.4 Exchange Organization of Pathé Exchange, Incorporated 157
9.5 Theater organization chart 163