Story of the Studio Film in What is a studio Film? Scandinavia, 1930s-1950s • Films made by a team within a • What is a studio film? system of production that – Narration closely follows rules of production, aesthetics, and – Formal elements character • Technological -- the sound film • Factory style production • Institutional – Employees under contract – Government involvement – Fixed capital (studio) – The Product – Systematized, continual planning and production • Some examples of Scandinavian Studio Film – Integrated production, – Juurakon Hulda (1936) distribution, exhibition – Intermezzo (1936) • Historical period of cinema – A Woman’s Face (1938) Filming Valborgsmässoafton (May production (1930-1960) – Fools in the Mountains (1957) Day Eve, 1935) at Svensk – Sound cinema • Toward the End of the Studio Period Filmindustri studios, Råsunda – National style Studio Film Narration Classical Style • Continuity editing • Focus on protagonist – Coordination of movement, – Goal-oriented characters matches, and sound to create – One-dimensional character unified space definition – Shot-reverse-shot as bread and butter – Plot-shaped around protagonist’s goals • Mise-en-scène dictated by character and her goals • Obstruction and necessity – Clarity of composition drive plot – Scaffolding with symbols and • Four parts plus epilogue motifs – Set up (goal established) – Music and character – Interruption (Necessity of a – Lighting reflects plot plan) His Grace’s Last Testament (Hans – Hypothesis and audience – Development (Plan in action) nåds testamente)1940 expectation – Resolution (goal/s acheived) • Efficiency of depiction – Epilogue Ingrid Bergman and Gösta Ekman in Intermezzo (1936) 1 Technology: Government Involvement Sound Film • Arrival of Sound – The Jazz Singer (1927) – “Synchronization” vs. “Sound Film” – Films made in multiple languages – Weakening of Hollywood exports in foreign markets • Sound film in Scandinavia 1929 – Dubbing Circus as Model for Taxation – Subtitles • Censorship controls • Säg det i toner (1930, Say it in – State church Tones) – Ministry of Education – Est. of Cultural Ministries in 1960s • Enormous popularity of domestic • Battles over Taxation film during 1930s-1950s – Economic issue • 1950s record sees record – Entertainment Tax 20-40% production levels throughout – Tax brackets dependent on evaluation of cultural value by censorship office Scandinavia First Swedish Sound Film Experiments,1930. • Film and national culture – 30-50 films annually 10 min. film “An Experiment Without Worth,” – Means of limiting governmental intervention in the cinema – Popularity with Audiences with Karl Gerhard and ballet dancers – Arguments over worth of national cinema The Players The Product 1930s-1950s • Who was making studio films? • Vertically integrated • Established generations’ companies are importers who technical expertise and lobby for their interests leadership – 25-40 % domestic cinema – Familiarity with audience – 75-60% Hollywood tastes • Profit Motive – Technical expertise – Producers as distributors and exhibitors Swede Edvard Persson, • 2-4 vertically integrated, – 4-7 times greater profit for in- Europa Films, between competitive studios per house productions takes country, except Norway – Distributions fees • Origins in exhibition during – Taxation 1910-20s • Predominant types of films – the • Svensk Filmindustri popular cinema Small stage at SF, 1930s • Suomi Filmi – Rural melodramas •Nordisk – Rural farces • Norsk Film A/S – Drawing room melodrama Finnish wunderkind, Valentin Vaala of Suomi Filmi 2 Juurakon Hulda (1937)—Hulda Fjols til fjells (1957)—Fools in the Goes to Helsinki Mountains • Hella Wuolijoki (1886-1954) • Quality standard of Norwegian funding • Valentin Vaala (1909-1976) system shapes studio film production • Carlmar Film Production • Niskavuori films – Serious films 1950-55 – Rural Melodrama – Comedies 1955-1959 – Nationalist source of orientation • Edith Carlmar’s noteworthy career • Nationalist themes – Never lost money on a film – Peasant as iconographic figure of – Blackballed in Norwegian film politics national value • Fjols til Fjells (1957) – Cynical and decadent urban – Return of Leif Juster to the screen middle class – Static camera and long-shot duration – Woman protagonist • Foreground actors’ and their chemistry • Saving on film stock by elimination of • Most popular Finnish film of the Norwegian shot-reverse-shot dialgoue 1930s review actor – Importance of women characters in The decadent middle class and – Suomi-Filmi Edith Carlmar’s films the honest, ambitious farm maid Leif Juster – – Sexual themes typical of Carlmar’s – Six months between play films in Juurakon Hulda premiere and film Poppe in Fjols • Hollywood remake as The til fjells Farmer’s Daughter (1947) Edith Carlmar (1912-2003) Intermezzo (1936) A Woman’s Face (1938) • Gustaf Molander (1888-1973) • Pre-production – Leading director at Svensk – Success of Ingrid Bergman and filmindustri during 1930s Intermezzo melodrama – Scriptwriter for Mauritz Stiller – 1932 premiere of Il était un fois – Melodrama and comedy (Once upon a time) • Melodramatic chamber-play films • Georges Cruisette • Melodrama of a “modern miracle” – Following Stiller • Typical Molander SF film – Establishment of Ingrid Bergman – Molander directs – Co-writer of scripts with Gösta Stevens – Gösta Stevens screenwriter • Themes • Reception in Sweden –Family – Technical sophistication –Love • Continuity • ‘Seamless’ special effects Erik “Bullen” Berglund and Ingrid –“Art” • Integration of studio shooting and – Melodrama Natural settings Bergman in A Woman’s Face • Sale to David O. Selznick Gustaf Molander at the Editing Table • International style – Appeal – Molander’s top achievement • Melodramatic themes •Narrative drive • Ingrid Bergman’s “Star Quality” • Persuasive acting – 1939 Remake • Hollywood Remake 1941 3 Toward the End of the What Does Cinema Become in the Scandinavian Studio System Sound Era • Predictable but problematic production cycles • Studio Film: “Films made by teams within a – Easy productions system of production that follow closely rules of – Profits reinvested in production as tax shelter production, aesthetics, and character” – Increasing costs of contracted • 1950s are high point of studio film production, staff • Stagnant ticket proceeds creating great supply of domestic cinema • Arrival of television as competitive entertainment form • Cinema trends and arrival of television weaken • New film art discourse in postwar demand for studio films Europe – Italian neo-realism • New argument makes a splash –French New Wave – Cinema is art, not commerce – Ingmar Bergman – Cinema deserves funding independent of studio • Large and costly film supply, production and audience demand decreasing film demand Pekka and Pätkä, Finnish studio farce series of the 1950s 4.