Classical Hollywood (about 1930–1960)
The studio system: five 'major' studios (MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros., 20th Century-Fox, RKO) plus smaller ones controlled production, distribution and exhibition. This is called vertical integration. They worked like factories, each with its own stars, writers and house style.
The star system: actors were on long contracts; studios built their image and chose their roles.
Genres: the western, musical, gangster film, melodrama, screwball comedy, film noir and the woman's picture. Genres made films easier to sell.
Classical style: a goal-driven hero, clear cause and effect, continuity editing (180° rule, shot/reverse-shot, eyeline match) so cuts are 'invisible', three-point lighting, music guiding emotion, and a closed ending. Films often studied here include Casablanca (1942), All About Eve (1950), Vertigo (1958), Imitation of Life (1959) and Some Like It Hot (1959).
Censorship, the Paramount case and decline
The Production Code (often called the Hays Code) was written in 1930 and strictly enforced from 1934. Crime could not pay, sex was only hinted at, and authority had to be respected. Filmmakers learned to suggest meaning through cuts, shadows and double meanings.
In 1948 the US Supreme Court's Paramount case ruled that the studios' control of cinemas was a monopoly; they had to sell their theatres. At the same time television spread fast and audiences shrank. Studios answered with widescreen, colour, epics and fewer, bigger films, and stars and directors went freelance. Late-1950s films such as Some Like It Hot already pushed against the Code.
New Hollywood (about 1967–1980)
With studios in crisis and a young audience in the 1960s, a new generation (many from film schools) got creative freedom. Influences: the French New Wave and European art cinema, the counterculture, the Vietnam War and civil rights protests.
Features: antiheroes and outsiders, ambiguous or downbeat endings, stronger violence and sexuality, location shooting, jump cuts, zooms and handheld camera, genre revision (gangster, horror, western, sci-fi). In 1968 the Code was replaced by an age-rating system (G, M, R, X at first).
Films often studied: Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Night of the Living Dead (1968, independent horror), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Alien (1979) and Do the Right Thing (1989, a later independent-minded film on race and community).
The blockbuster era and comparing the two periods
Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977) showed the power of wide release, TV advertising and merchandising. The high-concept blockbuster became the studios' main product, and director freedom shrank again.
Comparing a Classical and a New Hollywood film — look at: hero (goal-driven vs antihero), ending (closed vs open), style (invisible continuity vs visible technique), values (Code morality vs questioning authority), and context (studio control vs director freedom). Always link differences to institutional and social context.
Key formulas and definitions
- Classical Hollywood ≈ 1930–1960 · New Hollywood ≈ 1967–1980 · Blockbuster era from 1975
- Vertical integration = production + distribution + exhibition owned by one studio
- Production Code enforced 1934 → replaced by ratings 1968
- 1948 Paramount case → studios sell cinemas
- Classical: goal hero, continuity editing, closed ending · New: antihero, visible style, open ending
Worked examples
1. Why is Classical Hollywood editing called 'invisible'?
Continuity rules (180° line, matching action, eyeline match) make cuts smooth, so viewers follow the story without noticing the editing.
2. How did the 1948 Paramount case weaken the studio system?
Studios had to sell their cinemas, so they lost a guaranteed outlet for every film. With TV also cutting audiences, they made fewer films and let stars and directors go freelance.
3. Compare the ending of a Classical film with a New Hollywood film.
Classical films usually close all story lines, often with the couple united or the criminal punished (as the Code required). New Hollywood films often end suddenly, violently or ambiguously, leaving the audience unsettled, reflecting distrust of authority in the late 1960s–70s.
4. Why did New Hollywood films show more violence than 1950s films?
The Code was replaced by age ratings in 1968, so adult content was allowed for adult audiences; also war news on TV and protest culture made filmmakers want to show violence more honestly.
Common mistakes
- Saying the Production Code started in 1968 — it was enforced from 1934 and replaced by ratings in 1968.
- Thinking Classical Hollywood had no artistry — strong directors worked inside the system.
- Treating New Hollywood as fully independent — most films were still financed and distributed by studios.
- Comparing two films only by plot instead of by style and context.