Film Industry In The US News And Report

In 1951 the invention of television affected filmmaking in America because what was originally seen as a non-factor changed drastically. According to film in the television age movies were at their peak in 1946 when over 90 million a week were attending theaters. At the same time the television started broadcasting daily. Live television was difficult at first but it was a challenge to many producers, writers and actors. The television audience was drawn to the new form of entertainment it brought them into your home. Television was growing tremendously and because of this Movies had to try new methods of enticing the audience to the movie theater. A 1958 article in U.S News and Report, “What TV is Doing to the Movie Industry” eulogized the industry as a dying giant. In a few short years television took the place of film as the most popular form of entertainment. After years of setbacks to include World War II, television was finally able to expand into a thriving industry in a matter of years. The growth can be attributed to the fact of having entertainment in your home. Actors transitioned from the big screen to television after downsizing in the Motion Picture industry. Motion Pictures then decided to make fewer but more expensive films to try and generate revenue and attendance.

Motion Pictures chose to highlight the use of widescreen formats Cinemascope and Color. This offered movies the opportunity to do it all on a grander scale that television lacked at that time. They also tried novelties like 3D movies, Cinerama, 3 Dimension, Psychoroma, Smell-O-Vision which according to Gene Siskel was a “Carney show” because of television. Television response was the use of smaller sets with great writers. Hollywood began to produce taped television shows which then led to the production of less live