The Effects of the Paramount Decision

The Effects of the Paramount Decision

Even if the Paramount Decision did not kill off Hollywood, it did have a major transformational effect on American cinema.

The effects of the Paramount Decree are wide-spread and varied

1. The Importation of European Art Cinema: Because the Hollywood studios no longer had a dictatorial control over which films American movie theatres could book, exhibitors could now look elsewhere than Hollywood for films to show. This caused, for the first time since before World War I, a major influx of foreign films into American movie theatres. Very often, since these (largely European) films were not controlled by the Production Code, a greater degree of sexuality entered American movie theatres. Also, since the Classical Hollywood model was not as strong in other countries, the imported films featured more aesthetic and narrative experimentation (which I have linked to modernist technique).

2. The Rise of Independent Production: Imported films were not the only source for exhibitors to draw from beginning in the 1950s. The freedom of exhibitors to choose films from outside the Hollywood system also led to the rise of independent production by American filmmakers. This began with producers, directors, and actors who had formerly worked for Hollywood studios breaking out on their own to form independent production companies. Otto Preminger is a famous case of a former Hollywood director who began producing his films independently. Kirk Douglas is a famous case of an actor who formed his own production company, Bryna, so that he could produce and have artistic control over the films that he would appear in. New post-war exhibition sites like the drive-in also explain the rise of independent producers of exploitation films, such as Roger Corman’s American International Pictures (AIP) and William Castle, who produced films mainly for the matinee and teenage drive-in movie audience.

3. The Fall of the Production Code: The freedom of exhibitors to choose also meant that they could begin to exhibit films which had not received the seal of approval from the PCA. These films at first came exclusively from the independent and foreign producers, but by the early 1960s, the Production Code was in practice moot. The American cinema was de facto uncensored from the late 1950s until 1967, when the MPPDA instituted a replacement for the Production Code, the ratings system that we now live under. CLIP: Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959): The Egg Scene. Anatomy of a Murder is a perfect example of a film only possible after the Paramount Decree. It is an independent production from Otto Preminger. It concerns taboo subject matter (the film is about a rape trial, it is the first American film to feature the word "panties", etc.). This particular scene is also a perfect example of how aesthetic practices (such as mise-en-scene), and not explicit dialogue, can carry ideological meaning.

4. The Demise of the Blacklist: The rigid control Hollywood had over its talent during the Classical