1. “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out
“What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out.” – Alfred Hitchcock, Director

2. The Rise of Television
With the development of the television and it becoming more affordable, audiences began to abandon the movie theaters
To bolster sagging theater attendance, Hollywood used its best weapon: SPECTACLE!!

3. The Introduction of Wide Screen
Studios wanted to increase the size of the screen and the image
Cinerama developed by Paramount – uses three projectors / three cameras to create the larger image
The History of Aspect Ratio
CinemaScope developed by 20th Century Fox
CinemaScope required a special lens which would “squeeze” the image during filming. Then during projection, a lens would “unsqueeze” the image to make it larger
The CinemaScope Story
The Robe – First CinemaScope film

4. Color film Technicolor was deemed a monopoly
In 1947, the government stepped in to break Technicolor’s hold on the film industry
One in ten films were in color
Technicolor was making 10 million a year
Eastman Kodak wanted to create their own color film system – did not rely on the camera, but the film itself
Using the new color film developed by Eastman color, during the 1950s approximately 50% of the films were now shot in color

5. Attracting the New Audience
The studios needed to attract a new audience and focused on a specific demographic
3D – House of Wax (1953) the first commercially successful 3D film – Paddleball sequence
The History of Stereoscopic 3-D
The Drive-In – created in the 1930s, but boomed in the 1950’s
Smell-O-Vision – created by Hans Laube – Scent of Mystery (Later – Holiday In Spain)
Teen Rebellion movies – Rebel Without A Cause
The Wild One

6. The Genres of the 1950s
Musicals were still around – but what was changing
Blackboard Jungle
Rock Around The Clock
Fifties Fatalism – an extension of Film Noir and “Social Problem” films -
House by The River
The Big Heat
Science Fiction – reflected the fears in society
Invasion of The Body Snatchers –
When Worlds Collide – Can we live in peace?
Godzilla -

7. The Auteur Theory
Cahiers du Cinema – a French magazine – promoted the AUTEUR THEORY
It held that the DIRECTOR was the most important person involved in the creation of the film
Stated that certain directors had a distinctive visual signature and a range of thematic interests or motifs that made a director a recognizable individual with a set of values, levels of social engagement, and visual style
Began to compare these commercial films to personal works of art

8. Alfred Hitchcock “The Master of Suspense” – originally from England
First American Film – Rebecca (1940)
One of the first directors whose name was used to sell the movie
Thoughts on actors
Directed Psycho (1960) – (We’ll talk about this film later)
Hitchcock on Editing
Rumored obsession -