Cinema as an art form has stood the test of time for over one hundred years, since the Lumiere Brothers exhibited a series of moving images to the public in 1895. What started off as a documentary-tableau style of moving photography progressed into a contrived and well-planned medium. New filmmakers were pushing the medium further. Georges Melies' A Trip to the Moon (1902) showcased a vaudeville style previously only seen in theatres. Edward S. Porter's The Life of an American Fireman (1903) and more so The Great Train Robbery of the same year put forward the idea of story telling through space and time, via the unique technique of editing scenes together. He also hinted at the importance of the protagonist and antagonist to carry the narrative through to the viewer.

The success of these early films aroused the interest in several entrepreneurs who, having seen the great public demand, saw what could turn out to be a great money-spinner. The new place to be was California as the second gold rush began, that is, Hollywood. At first there was a large number of companies set up to cash in on this new industry. However, it was a hi

ghly competitive business and a lot of the equipment and talent was owned by a small number of larger companies, such as the Edison Company. This led to a number of small businesses going under or being bought up by the self-sufficient larger companies. By 1920 the system had calmed down somewhat. Hollywood was home to the production side of several large studios such as Universal, Paramount, First National, Loews-Metro (MGM) and Warners. These studios still had their front offices in New York to handle all financial transactions. Their integrated system of production, distribution and exhibition monopolised !

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"The best way out of the pit of bad and costly pictures in which we are now sunk is through breaking up production, in whole or in part, into smaller units."

a ghost town making foolish efforts to seem alive".

His new post allowed him to work with another major Hollywood player, Irving Thalberg. At first it was feared that Thalberg would not work well with the new upstart, but these fears were soon quashed, as the two became close allies. In fact Thalberg agreed with Selznick on many levels. His ideas on formulas selling pictures was commonplace, for example, RKO's 'Fred and Ginger specials', Warners' crime thrillers and MGM's whimsical musicals. He felt that it was time to start producing pictures that challenged the usual output. He argued with his superiors about producing the Dickens classic, 'David Copperfield':

If I look at the problems a young European producer has to face now I will always try to imagine what Selznick would have done. The need for co-productions. The demand for commercially viable scripts. An understanding of the statistics and demographics that 4.5% of European films released in 1989 were comedies compared to 14.8% in 1995. Why don't comedies cross borders well? Why haven't European writers been able to create formulaic but nonetheless blockbuster stories like The Fugitive, Speed and Die Hard? Why doesn't someone take a stand and produce films that will sell? Where is the 'showman and sophisticate, crassly commercial and exploitive yet a man of cultured tastes?' Where is the new David O. Selznick?

The studio system, the Golden Age, was over. After the end of World War Two people were being introduced to a more lucrative society. Families were moving out of the cities and into the suburbs. They were literally moving away from the cinemas. Better working conditions and better jobs allowed for more leisure time. Dynamic family activities such as fishing, camping and sports were looked upon as healthier than passive activities such as watching a movie. And there was television.

"There is no question in my mind that the public has finally

Some common words found in the essay are:
Irving Thalberg, Releasing Organisation, Vanguard Films, Line Producer, World War, Selznick Selznick, Train Robbery, David Selznick, Spielberg European, Cinemascope Panavision, studio system, david selznick, gone wind, independent producer, hollywood studio system, larger companies, hollywood player, films released, irving thalberg, hollywood studio, produce films,
Approximate Word count = 2023
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)