Hollywood Studio System

The film industry, which settled in Hollywood, experienced great financial success through the Great Depression and this is largely due to film studios being able to produce films at a rapid pace. This introduction of the studio system, was in large part, the reason the filming pace was manageable and maintainable and the success led to the ‘Golden Era’ of Hollywood. Actors, directors and production crews were staying employed during a period of economic hardship but viewers found escape from the struggle of daily life. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end.” Even as strong as the studio system was and the eight studios who employed the system, they were not immune to this concept as will be discussed in

Studios began investing their own interests back into the production cycle and created a monopoly within the film industry. In 1938, the Department of Justice took notice of the business practice and opened a legal battle with the film industry to disband the monopoly and introduce competition into the market (Lewis, 2018, p.194). However, the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 forced the United States to enter World War II (History, 2009) and this effectively made the Department of Justice to temporarily abandon their legal battle with the film industry. After the conclusion of World War II and a decade of waiting, the Department of Justice resumed its legal battle. In 1948, the Supreme Court agreed to hear United States vs. Paramount Pictures (otherwise known as the Paramount Decree) and from this point on, Hollywood would not be the

The verdict revealed on May 3, 1948 favored the small independent corporations while prohibiting the concept of block booking the big studios were known to utilize (Supreme Court Verdict, n.d.). The impact on the major studios was immediately visible as industry (as a whole) and studio revenues were drastically slashed. The less control the studios had, the less impact they had on the community and general film attendance plunged. As the homeland suffered, the film industry saw an uptick in popularity in the foreign market which helped offset the financial difficulties (Lewis, 2008, p.196-197). Even though the foreign connection helped the film industry, there was also a negative affect associated with foreigners. As history would have it, there was also an associated political aspect which resulted in the establishment of a Hollywood