Hollywood Cinema Taking Movies Seriously

The Wizard of Oz as Hollywood Journey Familiar people and scenes transformed Journey into another world Colorful Dangerous Exciting But a recognizably American world Safe return home

The Wizard of Oz (1939) as Cultural Product Time: between depression and WWII Cultural Currents in Movie: Bleakness of everyday world (Kansas) Desire to escape to “world without trouble” Dangers loom in both Oz and Kansas Miss Gulch/Witch Tornado/apple trees and poppy field Safety lies in coming home and staying there

Gone with the Wind (1939) Subject very different Striking parallels in structure and theme Lush technicolor world contrasts with monochrome scenes of war Journey of a heroine to gain what she wants in a postwar world without trouble Expresses doubts about moving from the connection and support of a rural world into the impersonality and efficiency of an industrialized one

Scarlett and Dorothy Scarlett Gains wealth and security Abandons the moral code of her mother and “Mammy” (the rural world) Punished by losing what she finally wants Dorothy Becomes a hero in Oz, but abandons the new life to go home, giving up her independence Rewarded by the approval of friends and parents

Hollywood and Representation Hollywood “is not America at all, but it is all America.” (Ross Wills) Hollywood is “America in flight from itself.” (Carey McWilliams) Hollywood movies “have been able, in an extremely competent way, to show American society just as it wanted to see itself.” (Andre Bazin)

Hollywood Presents: Hollywood Sullivan’s Travels (1941) Who’s right: Sully or his producers? Stardust Memories (1980) What do even Martians know about movies? The Player (1992) Movies Are Art, Now More Than Ever?

To understand a particular movie, analyze its Economics Technique Ideology History Production Box office Critical response

Early Observers of Hollywood Hortense Powdermaker (1946) Sees belief in formula as parallel to belief in magic in primitive cultures “There seems to be a continuous conflict between making a movie they can respect and the ‘business’ demands of the front office. It is assumed that a movie that has the respect of the artist cannot make money.”

Early Observers of Hollywood Powdermaker’s insights are echoed by many later critics: Steven Bach (1986): “The art vs. business conflict has remained stubbornly resistant to resolution and remains the dominating central issue of American motion picture to the present day.” Rick Altman (1992): Hollywood movies are constructed backwards to come up with a beginning that guarantees a happy ending.

Affirming the Culture How do happy endings “affirm and maintain” the culture of which they are a part? How important is a Utopian vision of the world to Hollywood films? Why is this ideal world, recognizably akin to the real one, so crucial to a movie’s success?

The Player (1992) What elements are necessary to market a film successfully? “Suspense, laughter, violence, hope, heart, nudity, sex, happy endings. Mainly happy endings.” --Griffin Mill, The Player