Aka the End of Hollywood
Anne Baxter and Bette Davis know that only one of them will get out of the studio system alive.
Week One Questions
1. Why did Bazin declare that the classical period in Hollywood ended in 1939?
By 1939 Bazin declared that the cinema had reached a level of classical perfection, but was then verging on revolution. The studio system began to acknowledge directors such as Orson Welles and William Wyler who desired a synthesis between things occurring in 'real time' and the duration of an actor's action. In classical editing, these concepts are represented by 'mental and abstract time.'
2. What was Seldes' main critique of Hollywood in The Great Audience?
Selde's main critique of Hollywood in The Great Audience was that Hollywood catered only to a sizable minority which they 'pretended was the mass of the people.'
3. Why did Kael predict that Hollywood would lose favor with audiences?
Kael predicted that Hollywood would lose favor with audiences because 'spectacles would cease to be events, and audiences can be more comfortably bored at home.' She surmised that the constant over stimulation of epics and event films saturating the public would lower the mystique of film-going and encourage burned-out audiences to find their entertainment elsewhere.
4. Why did Goodman declare that Hollywood ended in 1961?
Goodman declared the end of Hollywood in 1961 due to the burgeoning use of television as the primary source of audiovisual entertainment.
5. Why was Richard Dyer McCann optimistic about the future of American cinema in 1962?
McCann was optimistic about the future of American cinema because he said that theatrically released films had been liberated from the studio production of the past.
Week Two will arrive shortly.
Annie
