January 26, 1999

Announcements:  Dr. Jordan's office hours are canceled this Thursday.

Lecture Notes:

I.  Studio System:  Mass Production

• Factory style of making movies on basis of an assembly line process
• A single company would own the rights to a movie from the writing of the script to the exhibition in the theaters
• Motivated by economic efficiency
• Costs were controlled and minimized because there was only one company
• All profits went back to one company
• Movies were made in a very short period of time

II.  Vertical Integration

• Studios owned every aspect of movie making process:  production facilities, distribution facilities, and theaters
• Promoted monopolistic business practices
• Blind bidding
• Theater owners would bid in advance on movies that weren't even made yet
• Studio owners had guaranteed exhibition and audiences
• Block booking
• Theater owners were forced into a contract with the studio for one year
• This system blocked independent producers from making their movies
• Studios owned all of the most profitable theaters, which were in urban areas
• Once the movies were becoming less profitable, they would filter out to theaters in rural areas
• Run, zone, clearance
• Provided studios with the legal means to keep movies in major theaters
• Major theaters generated 70% of all box office receipts
• Stars, directors, producers were all under contract to the movie company for 7 years
• They were told what they had to do and what kind of movies they would be in
• Studios and directors had a lot of flexibility, due to the directors' lack of flexibility
• Studios became associated with certain types of movies

III.  Warner Brothers and Urban Realism: They Drive By Night

• Warner Bros. films set in depression
• As depression set in, people stopped watching these movies
• Clip:  They Drive By Night
• 2 brothers, honest, trying to make a living
• capitalists trying to exploit working man
• Working man studio
• Audience saw people like themselves
• Movies contained very strong heroines

IV.  The Gangster Movie's Birth: Public Enemy

• Supposed to draw back audiences
• PE shot in 26 days
• Made Jimmy Cagney a star
• Being a gangster was the only way to achieve upward mobility

V.  The Production Code

• With the rise of sound, movies became more realistic
• Dialogue could shock and arouse audiences
• Censorship became a necessity to enforce standard middle class morals
• The code allowed leeway of movie content, but the content had to compensate for moral values
• There is a message at the beginning of PE stating that the violence, etc. is not acceptable or moral
• In PE, the code required the gangsters to die at the end in a violent way
• Catholic Legion protested and petitioned people to boycott movies

MOVIE:  PUBLIC ENEMY

           Tom Powers......................................................................James Cagney
            Matt Doyle.....................................................................Edward Woods

1909

    Two boys, Tom and Matt are running away from the police after getting into some mischief.  They go to the Red Oaks Club, which is a boys' club.  They sell the head of the club, Putty, some watches that they had stolen.

1915

    Tom and Matt go into the club.  Putty gives them guns as Christmas presents.  They do a job for him at Northwestern Fur Co.  While they're there, they get scared and accidentally shoot a bear rug, thinking it was a person.  The cops come and they manage to flee, but one of the guys, Larry, is shot.  They run to Putty, but he won't help them.

1917

    Tom's sister is going to marry their longtime friend, Mike.  Matt and Tom go talk to Paddy Ryan, who owns a bar in town.  He tells them that he'll be their friend, not a two-timer like Putty.  Mike enlists in the Marines, so Tom is left to take care of their mother.  Mike confronts Tom about his illegal way of making a living and they get in a fist fight.

1920

    Liquor stores are closing due to the prohibition.  Matt and Tom do a job for Paddy bootlegging alcohol.  He pays them pretty big money.  They end up going to business under the guidance of Paddy and Nails Nathan, a mobster, selling beer for Mr. Lehman, who owns a brewery.  They basically threatened people and forced them to buy their alcohol.

    Mike comes back from the war.  At dinner that night, Matt and Tom bring a keg to dinner and stick it right in the middle of the table.  Mike is disgusted at this.  He yells and Matt and Tom accusing them of being killers.  He then throws the keg against the wall.

    Tom and Matt track down Putty because they think he's going to pull a fast one on them.  He pleads for forgiveness.  Tom shoots him anyway.

    Tom and Matt find out that Nails is dead.  He was thrown off his horse and kicked in the head.  They go to the stable and buy the horse for $1,000.  Then they shoot it.  The mob is now weakened without Nails.  Paddy tries to keep his men off the street by taking their money and guns.  They're basically stuck at Paddy's house.  They hear what sounds like gunshots, but it's just a coal truck.

    The next day, Tom and Matt leave the apartment and start walking down the street.  They hear the sounds again, but this time the coal truck is a cover for real gunshots.  Matt is shot dead.  Tom goes and steals a gun so he can get revenge.  When he goes to kill the people who shot Matt, he ends up getting shot himself.

    He ends up in the hospital, where his family goes to visit him.  His mom is very happy that Tom will be staying home now and can become friends with Mike again.    Some time later, Paddy stops by the apartment and tells Mike that Tom was kidnapped from the hospital.  Eventually, Mike gets a call from someone saying they're bringing Tom home.  When Mike answers the door, Tom's dead body is propped up there and falls over onto the floor once the door opens.