Changes of the 1960s
The movie industry went through a lot of changes in the 1960s. The 1960s were a time for change all over the world, in nearly every country, and in most every medium. Revolution was on its way, and the film industry was not going to just sit back and let it pass them by.
One of the biggest issues that the film industry faced during this decade was the problem of money. Films were costing more and more to make and the public was unwilling to fork over the difference. This caused a lot of problems for many movie studios and was the reason myriad of films found themselves on the editing floor, never even made. This means that quite possibly several great films that could now be considered classics were never given life and the American public has probably missed out on seeing them.
Many of the best directors, many of whom made their mark on Hollywood with several of what could be described as blockbusters, had left this life behind and gone to the big studio in the sky. Without benefit of their movie making techniques to guide them, this made it much harder for the up and coming directors to make movies deserving of the title of “classic”.
The Invention of the Multiplex
However, a more positive change that came to the industry would be the building of the very first multiplex, allowing people a choice of movies to see, all under one roof. Kansas City would see the first multiplex built in 1963, thanks to Stanley H. Durwood. The opening of this was considered to be state-of-the art in building and was seemingly the beginning of the end for the opulent movie houses of old, also known as Theatre Palaces. This, as it turns out, was really a good step for the industry and allowed movies to play to a wider audience, thus garnering the attention and acclaim they were due. Prior to this, many movies that were shown in smaller theatres, with limited seating, just couldn’t accommodate everyone who wanted to see it.
Movie Disasters of the 1960s
The Cleopatra Disaster, as it came to be known is 1963’s Cleopatra, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, was supposed to be a huge hit for 20th Century Fox. The movie had big name actors and actresses, including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, a tremendous storyline; it was filmed in Rome, with an unprecedented budget of $44 million (which, adjusted for inflation, would be about $300 million). Costumes for Taylor alone cost Fox $200,000. It could have been considered an epic film, with a running time of 4 hours; it had all the signs of a potential hit and huge moneymaker for the studio. Instead it is considered a huge flop!
The 1960s saw big changes in movie making and Hollywood, for better or worse, learned from its collective mistakes. As movie goers began hankering for less dialogue and more special effects, for movies like Cleopatra, it may have been a little too much too quickly. But through it all, the industry has survived, indeed more accurately, it has thrived, despite wars, downturns in the economy, deaths of beloved directors, actors and the whims of the theatergoers (who ultimately decide what gets made after all).
This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 10:36 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
