America Cinema in the 1950s

CONTEXT OF POST -1940s U.S. and people who grew up during the Depression and World War II trying to decide how to live in a free society???

1950s a decade of ‟Peace, Progress, and Prosperity,” in which Hollywood was an island of depression due to dealing with:

• The loss of the exhibition chains (recall Consent Decree of 1948) and resulted in the rapid decline of the studios and the rise of independent producers and production companies.
• The rapid increase of production costs and studio overhead (and the stylistic shift to shooting on location due to the Neorealist influx),
• The loss of the mainstay family audience to television, 1950 -10.5 homes.  (1951 – NBC first nationwide tv network)

(so, Drive Ins: Due to suburbanization and baby boom: 100 at end of War II to 4000).  THEN move to mall theatres in 60’s.

• anti-comm hysteria/blacklist