Hollywood Studio System

 1) 1920s-30s

 2) MGM, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Paramount and RKO

 3) "The Big Five"had controlling stakes in their own theater chains, which were exempt from block booking. By 1945, the studios either owned partially or outright 17% of the theaters in America, accounting for 45% of the film-rental revenue. So the studios had a guarantee that their movies would be distributed. But it didn’t stop there: they also controlled the process of making the movies. They usually had the actors, producers, directors and writers under contract, owned the film processing and laboratories and created the prints.

 4) It allowed studios to make more films every year, putting more pressure on writers and directors but creating more revenue for the studios.

 5) The decline of The Studio System began in 1948 with the verdict in the antitrust case United States vs. Paramount Pictures, inc. This decision outlawed the practice of block booking and forced the studios to sell their theater chains. A lawsuit had already been filed in 1938 by the U.S Department of Justice, but it was settled with a consent decree in 1940, which allowed the government to reinstate the lawsuit if it had not seen a satisfactory level of compliance. The end of The Studio System also marked the beginning of the end of Classic Hollywood. A period of time from the late 20’s to the early 60’s, which is now known as The Golden Age of Hollywood.

 

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