Historical Background, Film List and Directors of New Hollywood Cinema

The 1960’s was the birth of the American counter-culture and the decline of Old Hollywood cinema, it was during this time that America underwent many social reforms because the young people of that time voiced out their discontent towards America’s materialistic, political and social norms. The young people of that time used music, politics and alternative lifestyle as a means of trying to create a better world for themselves, this led to the birth of what came to be known as counter-culture. Americans during this era also faced many controversial issues such as civil rights, the Vietnam War, nuclear arms, and the rise of drug use, sexual freedom, and nonconformity. 

Hollywood of that time faced a big crisis because of those social reforms along with technological advancements of that time such as the introduction of the television. It was thanks to television that movie audiences were in decline which led to American film companies to diversify with other forms of entertainment such as records, publishing, TV movies and the production of TV series. The year 1963 and 1964 were bad years for American film production with only 121 feature releases in 1963 (worst in fifty years) and 141 in 1964, 1964 was also the year which saw the highest number of foreign films released in America.

Hollywood of that time was in financial decline and on the verge of bankruptcy, major studios financed and distributed independently-produced domestic pictures. And made-for-TV movies became a regular feature of network programming by mid-decade. Many "runaway" film productions were being made abroad to save money. By mid-decade, the average ticket price was less than a dollar, and the average film budget was slightly over one and a half million dollars. And by the end of the decade, the film industry was very troubled and depressed and experiencing an all-time low that had been developing for almost 25 years.

 (Ruby Slippers worn by Judy Garland in Wizard of Oz 1939 sold for $15 000 during Hollywood financial crisis, currently appraised at $3 million)

Studio-bound "contract" stars and directors were no longer. And most of the directors from the early days of cinema were either retired or dead. Some of the studios, such as UA and Hal Roach Studios, had to sell off their backlots as valuable California real estate (for condominiums and shopping centers). Some sold props (MGM was selling various film artifacts in 1970, including Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz (1939)), offered tours of back lots (Universal began its famed studio tours in 1964), or created theme parks (DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida).

Bonnie and Clyde(1967) is regarded as one of the first films of  The Hollywood Cinema.

Alien(1979) directed by Ridley Scott, an aggressive creatures stalks and kills the crews of spaceship.

It was during the year 1967 to 1977 that a new generation of young film makers came into prominence thereby establishing New Hollywood cinema. They changed not only the way Hollywood films were produced and marketed but also changed what types of films were being made. The directors of New Hollywood Cinema are Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Norman Jewison, John Boorman, Sam Peckinpah, Arthur Penn, Dennis Hopper, Sydney Lumet and etc. They came from the baby boomer generation and most of these new directors had previously gone to film schools such as New York University, and The University of California in Los Angeles (Film Art An Introduction, 2008, PG464). An interesting fact to note is that most of these young directors of the New Hollywood cinema were mentored Roger Corman who also helped launch the careers of quite a number of actors as well such as Jack Nicholson, William Shatner, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Talia Shire and Robert De Niro.

 (Robert De Niro*far left* in Roger Corman's Bloody Mama)

Other films of New Hollywood Cinema are Taxi Driver, American Gigolo, Bonnie and Clyde, THX 1138, Annie Hall and China Town.

Little Big Man(1970) by Arthur Penn.

What emerged from such studies was radical in innovation and sophistication which became characteristic of the Hollywood Renaissance. This was attributed to the new breed of independent filmmakers who had some training in television or were film college graduates. They introduced new advancements such as widescreen processes and technical improvements such as cinemascope, stereo sound and etc to try to recapture their dwindling audience by giving them a larger than life experience, one that television couldn’t match.

American Gigolo(1980) a crime drama directed by Paul schrader.

The Goodbye Girl(1977) by Herbert Ross

During the 1950s and early 60s, Hollywood film production was dominated by musicals, historical epics and other films that benefitted from the larger screens, wider framing and improved sound. This proved commercially viable during most of the 50s. However by the late 60s, audience share was dwindling at an alarming rate. Several costly flops, including Cleopatra (1963) and Hello, Dolly! (1969) put severe financial strain on the studios

 (Jospeh L. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra)

Cleopatra (1963), filmed on location in Rome, brought together the explosive pairing of Elizabeth Taylor as the Queen of Egypt and future husband Richard Burton as Marc Antony, who brought more headlines with their blossoming romance than the budget problems. It proved to be a tremendous financial disaster for 20th Century Fox, headed by Darryl Zanuck. Taylor, already the highest-paid performer in the history of Hollywood at $1 million, had a costume wardrobe budgeted at almost $200,000, and with numerous cost over-runs, extravagant sets and thousands of costumes for the cast, the film was the most expensive up to that time at a record $44 million (in adjusted dollars, about $300 million), from an initial budget of $2 million. It was also the longest, commercially-made American film released in the US - at 4 hours and 3 minutes. [Fox was saved from financial disaster only by the release of the fact-based war epic The Longest Day (1963), an all-star re-creation of the events surrounding D-Day, and the blow was also softened by the unexpected success of The Sound of Music (1965).]

Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977) marked the beginning of the end for New Hollywood cinema. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas helped spearhead a jumpstart in the Hollywood blockbuster mentality on how studios could make money by having tie-in merchandise, spin offs into other media such as soundtracks and having sequels for popular movies.