American Independent Cinema
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AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA AMERICAN INDEPENDENT Films, filmmakers and film companies AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA examined include: • Cagney Productions and Johnny Come Yannis Tzioumakis Lately, Blood on the Sun and The Time of Your Life • The Charlie Chan series ‘A substantial and insightful examination of the infrastructure • Lomitas Productions, Stanley Kramer and of independent American cinema. This is a true advance on The Defiant Ones, On the Beach and Inherit previous studies and deepens the reader’s understanding of the Wind • Sam Katzman and Rock Around the Clock how independent films get made and distributed. For this • Roger Corman and The Wild Angels reason the book will be an invaluable addition to the literature • John Cassavetes and Shadows on Independent American Cinema.’ • Dennis Hopper and The Last Movie Professor Warren Buckland, Editor of The New Review of Film • American International Pictures and Foxy and Television Studies Brown • John Sayles and Return of the Secaucus Seven This introduction to American independent cinema offers • Filmhaus Productions, David Mamet and both a comprehensive industrial and economic history of the House of Games sector from the early twentieth century to the present and a • Steven Soderbergh and sex, lies, and study of key individual films, filmmakers and film companies. videotape Readers will develop an understanding of the complex • Kevin Smith and Clerks • Monogram, Republic Pictures and dynamic relations between independent and mainstream Producers Releasing Corporation American cinema. • William Castle Productions, Embassy Pictures, New World Pictures, Dimension The main argument revolves around the idea that independent and Crown International American cinema has developed alongside mainstream • Orion Pictures Hollywood cinema with institutional, industrial and economic • The Sundance Film Institute changes in the latter shaping and informing the former. Yannis Tzioumakis is a Senior Lecturer Consequently the term ‘independent’ has acquired different in Screen Studies at Liverpool John meanings at different points in the history of Hollywood Tzioumakis Yannis Moores University. cinema, evolving according to the impact of changing conditions in the American film industry. These various meanings are examined in the course of the book. ISBN 0 7486 1867 8 The book is ordered chronologically, beginning with AMERICAN independent filmmaking in the studio era (examining both top-rank and low-end independent film production), moving to the 1950s and 1960s (discussing both the adoption of INDEPENDENT independent filmmaking as the main method of production as well as exploitation filmmaking) and finishing with contemporary American independent cinema (exploring CINEMA Edinburgh University Press areas such as the New Hollywood, the rise of mini-major and 22 George Square major independent companies and the institutionalisation of Edinburgh EH8 9LF independent cinema in the 1990s). Each chapter includes case An Introduction www.eup.ed.ac.uk studies that focus on specific films and/or filmmakers, while Edinburgh Cover credit: House of Games. Orion/The Kobal Collection independent production and distribution companies are also Cover design: Barrie Tullett discussed in the text. Yannis Tzioumakis AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA AN INTRODUCTION ∑ Yannis Tzioumakis Edinburgh University Press Images on pp. 24, 70 and 211 courtesy of The Kobal Collection. Images on pp. 54 and 126 courtesy of United Artists/The Kobal Collection. Image on p. 150 courtesy of AIP/The Kobal Collection. Image on p. 175 courtesy of Lion Productions/The Kobal Collection. Image on p. 231 courtesy of Orion/The Kobal Collection. Image on p. 259 courtesy of Cineville/Film 4 International/The Kobal Collection. Image on p. 271 courtesy of View Askew/The Kobal Collection. © Yannis Tzioumakis, 2006 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in Adobe Palatino by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester and printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN-10 0 7486 1866 X (hardback) ISBN-13 978 0 7486 1866 8 (hardback) ISBN-10 0 7486 1867 8 (paperback) ISBN-13 978 0 7486 1867 5 (paperback) The right of Yannis Tzioumakis to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. CONTENTS ∑ Analytical Table of Contents vii List of Tables xi List of Case Studies xii List of Figures xiii Acknowledgements xiv Introduction: Problems of Definition and the Discourse of American Independent Cinema 1 Part I American Independent Cinema in the Studio Years (mid-1920s–late 1940s) 1. Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: Tendencies within the Studio System 19 2. Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: The Poverty Row Studios (1930–50s) 63 Part II The Transitional Years (late 1940s–late 1960s) 3. Independence by Force: The Effects of the Paramount Decree on Independent Film Production 101 4. An Audience for the Independents: Exploitation Films for the Nation’s Youth 135 vi AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA Part III Contemporary American Independent Cinema (late 1960s–present) 5. The New Hollywood and the Independent Hollywood 169 6. American Independent Cinema in the Age of the Conglomerates 192 7. Mini-majors and Major Independents 222 8. The Institutionalisation of American Independent Cinema 246 Epilogue: From Independent to ‘Specialty’ Cinema 281 Bibliography 285 Index 293 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS ∑ List of Tables xi List of Case Studies xii List of Figures xiii Acknowledgements xiv Introduction: Problems of Definition and the Discourse of American Independent Cinema 1 Part I American Independent Cinema in the Studio Years (mid-1920s–late 1940s) 1. Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: Tendencies within the Studio System 19 Introduction 19 The First Independents 21 Independents before the Formation of the Studios 25 Independents in the Age of Oligopoly 30 The First Period (mid-/late 1920s–1939) 31 Economic Constraints 35 Independent Production vs Studio-Unit Production 37 Some Economic Opportunities 41 The Second Period (1940–8) 44 The Industry-wide Shift 47 The End of the War Boon 52 Conclusion 54 viii AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA 2. Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: The Poverty Row Studios (1930–50s) 63 Introduction 63 The First Period (1930–9) 65 Monogram Pictures 68 Republic Pictures 69 Grand National Films 71 Independent B Films vs Studio B Films 73 The Second Period (1940-early 1950s) 82 Producers Releasing Corporation 84 Upgrading the Product 86 The Decline of the B Film Market 88 Conclusion 89 Beyond Poverty Row: Ethnic Films 90 Part II The Transitional Years (late 1940s–late 1960s) 3. Independence by Force: The Effects of the Paramount Decree on Independent Film Production 101 Introduction 101 The Paramount Decree 103 The Post-War Recession 105 Identity Crisis 108 The United Artists Revival 111 Independent Production: The United Artists Way 113 Production 114 Distribution 115 The Reasons behind the Success 117 The Triumph of a Brand of Independent Production . and of the Majors 120 Conclusion 124 4. An Audience for the Independents: Exploitation Films for the Nation’s Youth 135 Introduction 135 The Emergence of the Teenager and the Rise of Youth Audience 137 From Poverty Row to Exploitation and Showmanship 139 Analytical Table of Contents ix The Era of the Drive-in Theatres 141 Low-end Independents against Television 143 The Exploitation Teenpic and the Companies behind It 146 Sam Katzman 146 American International Pictures 147 Embassy Pictures 152 William Castle Productions 153 Roger Corman and the Filmgroup 156 The Majors and the Low-budget Exploitation Market 158 Conclusion 159 Part III Contemporary American Independent Cinema (late 1960s–present) 5. The New Hollywood and the Independent Hollywood 169 Introduction 169 The New American Cinema 172 The Influence of John Cassavetes 174 The New Hollywood 177 Conclusion 183 6. American Independent Cinema in the Age of the Conglomerates 192 Introduction 192 Raising the Stakes 195 Economic Opportunities in the Low-budget Independent Sector (late 1960s–1974) 197 The End of Exploitation as we Know It 200 The Gradual Rise and Rapid Fall of American International Pictures 203 From the Theatrical to the Video Market 205 A New Hope: The Birth of the New American Independent Cinema 206 Conclusion 210 7. Mini-majors and Major Independents 222 Introduction 222 A Star is Born 225 x AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA The New Orion Constellation 228 The Shining Star 230 The Fading Star 234 The Last Bonfires 237 The Fall 238 Conclusion 239 8. The Institutionalisation of American Independent Cinema 246 Introduction 246 A Business of Co-dependents 249 Institutional Framework (1): Organisations Dedicated to Supporting Independent Filmmaking, Finance Opportunities and Independent Distributors 253 Institutional Framework (2): The Classics Divisions 260 The Aesthetics Factor 266 Conclusion 270 Epilogue: From Independent to ‘Specialty’ Cinema 281 Bibliography 285 Index 293 TABLES ∑ 1.1 US production companies distributing through United Artists, 1926–39 34 2.1 Gross revenues and net profit/loss for Monogram and Republic, 1938–48 85 3.1 Number of production companies that released through United Artists and number of film released by the distributor during the 1951–67 period 113 4.1 American International Pictures’ approach to marketing and audience 152 6.1 Taglines from exploitation films of the early 1970s 199