The Studios after the Studios: Neoclassical Hollywood (1970-2010)

377 Pages·2015·6.98 MB·English

by  J. D. Connor

The Studios after the Studios
Florence Dore and Michael Szalay, Editors
Post•45 Group, Editorial Committee
The Studios after the Studios
Neoclassical Holly wood (1970–2010)
J. D. Connor
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2015 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
This book has been published with the assistance of the Frederick W. Hilles Publication Fund of
Yale University.
MAKE THE WEATHER
Written by CHRIS BUTLER, WILLIAM FICCA, DANIEL KLAYMAN,
MARC WILLIAMS and TRACY WORMWORTH
© 1983 FUTURE FOSSIL MUSIC
All rights for FUTURE FOSSIL MUSIC
Controlled and Administered by SPIRIT ONE MUSIC (BMI)
International Copyright Secured.
All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
My Rights Versus Yours
Words and Music by Carl Allan Newman
Copyright © 2007 BMG Gold Songs
All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Connor, J. D., author.
The studios after the studios : neoclassical Hollywood (1970-2010) / J.D. Connor.
pages cm -- (Post 45)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-9077-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Motion picture studios--California--Los Angeles--History. 2. Motion picture industry--
California--Los Angeles--History. 3. Motion pictures--California--Los Angeles--History.
4. Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)--History. I. Title. II. Series: Post 45.
pn1993.5.u65c626 2015
384'.80979494--dc23
2014045954
isbn 978-0-8047-9474-9 (electronic)
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10/15 Minion
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Logorrhea, or, How to Watch a Holly wood Movie 19
Part I. Last of the Independents: Paranoid Auteurs
and the Invention of Neoclassical Holly wood 49
2 The Literal and the Littoral: Jaws 51
3 Paramount I: From the Directors Company to High Concept 69
4 Our Man in Armani: The Ovitz Interregnum 125
Part II. The Projections: Neoclassicism in Action 155
5 Paramount II: The Residue of Design 159
6 Let’s Make the Weather: Chaos Comes to Holly wood 215
Part III. Holly wood the Day after Tomorrow:
Neoclassical Endings? 243
7 That Oceanic Feeling: One Merger Too Many 247
8 The Anxious Epic and the Qualms of Empire:
Conglomerate Overstretch 283
Conclusion 321
Notes 325
Index 351

Acknowledgments
A book this long in the works incurs debts far too numerous to be repaid, but
some of them are long-standing enough to have been forgiven. The first is owed
to Stanley Cavell, who taught me how to watch movies and encouraged me to
go to Johns Hopkins. The second is to Michael Rogin, who told me to go to
Hopkins and who edited my first important piece of film writing. At Hopkins,
my reading, writing, and teaching were shaped by Neil Hertz, Walter Benn Mi-
chaels, Kirstie McClure, Michael Fried, and Richard Macksey. This book in par-
ticular originated as an argument for and with Jerry Christensen’s remarkable
account of Holly wood filmmaking. His counsel has been invaluable.
My colleagues at Harvard, notably David Rodowick and Despina Kakoudaki,
kept me afloat. Marjorie Garber gave me my shot. Tom Conley was a constant
prod to read more deeply. Jim Engell provided crucial encouragement at an
early stage of the project. Louis Menand was a model of humane mentoring and
crystalline writing. My time there was leavened by visiting colleagues Haidee
Wasson, Charles Acland, and Jim Hoberman, and Super TFs Dan Reynolds and
Ally Field. Robb Moss was a perpetual reminder of the importance of our work,
particularly our teaching. He also introduced me to production designer Rick
Carter. Rick is as fascinated by the interplay of art and industry in Hollyw ood as
I am and has been an essential interlocutor over the years.
At Yale my chairs, Alex Nemerov, David Joselit, and Ned Cooke in history of
art, and Dudley Andrew and John MacKay in film studies, have been unflagging
supporters. The collegiality in both programs has been a boon, and I want to
thank in particular Carol Armstrong, Tim Barringer, Craig Buckley, Francesco
Casetti, Milette Gaifman, Aaron Gerow, Ron Gregg, Erica James, Jackie Jung,
Joost Keizer, Youn-mi Kim, Diana Kleiner, Kobena Mercer, Charles Musser,
Rob Nelson, Brigitte Peucker, Kishwar Rizvi, Tamara Sears, Chris Wood, Mimi
Yiengpruskawan, and Sebastian Zeidler.
vii
viii Acknowledgments
I first encountered real editing in the work of Josh Glenn, Tom Frank, and
Meghan O’Rourke. They believed that if I would only get out of the way of my
prose, I actually had something to say. I hope I have, and I hope they are right.
As large as this book is, it stands upon an archive of hundreds of other read-
ings done by absolutely superb undergraduates at Harvard and Yale and upon
a monumental archive of financial data compiled in part by Carrie Andersen.
I have also benefited from librarians in the special collections at the Margaret
Herrick Library and the Baker Business Library at Harvard.
The Post•45 Series editors, Florence Dore and Michael Szalay, are the most
dedicated commenters I have ever known. They and the other members of the
Post•45 Steering Committee—Mary Esteve, Andy Hoberek, Amy Hungerford,
Sean McCann, Deak Nabers, and Debbie Nelson—have suffered with this book
almost as much as I have; they are true friends. Debbie also provided a com-
prehensive reading of the manuscript at a late stage. Over the years, Post•45
conferences have brought dozens of scholars together to discuss their work
and, occasionally, mine. Those intimate, intense gatherings are the best warrant
for the profession’s continued productivity I know. Thomas Elsaesser, Richard
Godden, Cathy Jurca, and Mark McGurl are great readers. They have posed
questions that never stop nagging, and at various times I have attempted to
ventriloquize and then answer them.
Emily-Jane Cohen went to bat for this first book, and for Post•45, and I can-
not thank her enough. She and her team at Stanford University Press have been
patient and accommodating as I figured out what the book was and what it
wasn’t. Friederike Sundaram was a sure hand through the production process.
Cynthia Lindlof provided stellar copyediting. I would also like to thank the
anonymous reader for the press, who offered essential late comments.
Part of Chapter 1 appeared in different form in “The Projections: Allegories
of Industrial Crisis in Neoclassical Hollyw ood,” Representations 71 (Summer
2000). Part of Chapter 7 appeared as “U-571: Breaking a Studio’s Code,” The
Baffler 15 (February 2003). And part of Chapter 8 appeared as “The Anxious
Epic,” Boston Globe, November 28, 2004. I thank them for permission to reprint.
Finally, none of this would have been possible without the love and support
of my wife, Lisa. She and our children, Henry and Margaret, make even the worst
movies a treat.
The Studios after the Studios