Following World War II, movies reflected larger social and cultural issues, including the frustrations of the youth movement and the problems of ANTICOMMUNISM, and they faced challenges in attempting to deal with these explosive questions.
In the decade and a half after the war, the once unified vision of Hollywood film production fragmented as studios produced films targeting specific audiences and reflecting contemporary issues. Economic pressures in the 1940s forced the movie industry to rely more on overseas distribution and cost-cutting measures in order to keep films profitable. A government antitrust ruling against Paramount and other major studios further spurred changes in the process of making movies. By the 1960s, Hollywood lost its monopolistic hold on the filmmaking industry as producers looked overseas or shot on location to keep costs lower and make sure the industry remained competitive with TELEVISION.
Financial concerns, however, did not hinder the technical progress of the film industry. During the 1950s, color films became the standard rather than the exception. The switch to color film was expensive due to the higher cost of film and processing. Further progress was made as directors and cinematographers improved techniques for shooting film and editing outdoor shots to match color correctly. Lightweight cameras allowed for greater mobility and realism in filming. In the late 1950s, the film industry began incorporating cinema verite by using lightweight cameras to capture both image and sound. The artistic “Direct Cinema” movement took cinema verite (a hands-off approach to filmmaking) to its extreme by treating the camera as a silent observer of real life. Another innovation, Cinerama, used multiple cameras to produce a single image, which was projected on an oversized screen. Most films in Cinerama tended to be travelogues, though director John Ford’s 1962 film How the West Was Won showed the medium worked for narrative films too.
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) disrupted the careers of people working in all aspects of the film industry. The government, suspicious of Hollywood’s liberal tendencies, called writers, actors, and other film workers before the committee to ask the accused if they had been members of the Communist Party or if they could name people who were. The HUAC committee ruined the career of Paul Robeson, the leading African-American actor of the 1930s and 1940s. The HOLLYWOOD Ten, a group of influential producers, directors, and screenwriters, including several eastern European immigrants, refused to name names or reveal information about their past to the committee in 1947. The American film industry blacklisted them, but after serving jail terms for contempt of Congress, the Hollywood Ten continued to work using pseudonyms or by filming overseas. Although Dalton Trumbo won the 1956 screenwriting Academy Award for The Brave One, he was unable to claim it since he had written the screenplay under a pseudonym. The emotional pressure to denounce coworkers as communists left deep scars in Hollywood and lasting bitterness between those who yielded to HUAC and those who remained silent. The pall of anticommunism changed the types of films made in Hollywood. In reaction to HUAC, American filmmakers became vocal anticommunists, reluctant to experiment with anything that might be considered threatening.
In the mid-1940s to 1950s, genre films like film noir movies and westerns reached their peak of popularity. These films followed certain conventions. Film noir, a name earned for the darkly lit scenes and preponderance of nighttime shots filmed in black and white, brought together rugged detectives and dangerous women on the trail of a mystery. Dripping with cynicism, these films reflected postWorld War II doubt that the world was inherently good and cold war fears of technology. The diversity and flexibility of the genre attracted top talent. Howard Hawks directed Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep (1946), in which the plot was secondary to style and the on-screen chemistry. Alfred Hitchcock directed several film noir movies, including Notorious (1946), staring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in a tale of love and fear of Nazi conspirators; The Wrong Man (1956), about the failure of justice to acquit a wrongfully accused man; and Vertigo (1958), which pictured Jimmy Stewart’s obsessive love for Kim Novak and fear of heights. Actor Orson Welles and writer Graham Greene worked together on The Third Man (1949). Set in postwar Vienna, the plot revolved around the danger of trusting a former ally, and reflected the uncertainty of U. S.-Soviet relations. With the rise of color films, this genre rapidly declined in the late 1950s, but it never fully disappeared.
Westerns also reflected a cold war sensibility. The Old West frequently served as an allegory for American and Soviet relations. The good guys wore white and stayed true to American ideals of liberty and justice, whereas the enemies wore black and represented Soviet corruption and land hunger. The movie-going public enjoyed westerns throughout the 1940s and 1950s before they lost their appeal and degenerated during the 1960s. John Ford, the leading director of westerns, blended together a popular mix of sentimentality, nostalgia, and stunning composition that showed power, strength, and an idealized masculinity. Some of Ford’s most successful westerns, such as She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), starred actor John Wayne. The Searchers was atypical for the genre because it showed the harshness of American treatment of Native Americans, and John Wayne’s hero had complicated systems of morality, which differed from contemporary ideals. Wayne’s reputation for playing strong, stoic heroes solidified his patriotic image, but his off-screen political activism in conservative groups and support of the Vietnam War made him a target of the counterculture and other liberal movements.
Horror films maintained their popularity and science fiction movies proliferated, in part through low-budget productions commonly called B-movies. B-movies featured no-name talent (although some future stars began their careers in them), second-rate special effects, and poor production quality. Aliens and space-age developments were common in both horror and sci-fi films. Mysterious aliens reflected American views toward the Soviets and other communist states. Although average Americans had little contact or knowledge of either, they believed that Soviets and communists wanted to destroy the American way of life. The cheap productions tended to be profitable and were mainstays of the drive-in movies popular with the youth market. The results could sometimes be laughable, as in director Ed Wood’s 1956 film Plan 9 from Outer Space, often cited as the worst film of all time. But the genre also produced thought-provoking works like The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) in which mankind’s violence doomed the species to become dinner for alien invaders. In the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, alien pod people who replicated the human form but lacked human reason and soul represented American’s collective fear of a communist invasion. Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey was a masterpiece both of visual style and social commentary about man’s relationship to outer space and technology. In this film, mankind’s reliance on technology made it fall victim to machinery.
Although the film industry promoted youthful stars from its inception, the 1950s brought a new type of star to Hollywood. These men and women used sex appeal and angst together with a naturalistic acting style to create multidimensional characters. Marlon Brando, with his mumbling delivery and rebellious image, made a successful transition from stage to film. He received Academy Award nominations four years in a row for the sexually charged A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952), about a Latin-American revolution, the period piece Julius Caesar (1953), and On the Waterfront (1954). Brando’s Oscar-winning performance in On the Waterfront showed the gritty underside of American culture through the eyes of a down-and-out boxer. Even so, Brando failed to achieve the same attention as James Dean. Dean epitomized 1950s teenage angst and restlessness in Rebel without a Cause (1955), with his portrayal of a juvenile delinquent trying to go straight after moving to a new city. Born in 1931, Dean appeared in three major films, as a rebellious son in East of Eden (1955), Rebel without a Cause, and the posthumous Giant (1956), about infidelity on a cattle ranch. James Dean died in 1955 in a car crash while driving his Porsche Spyder to a racing competition. Fans of his acclaimed film performances have used this early death to immortalize Dean and the rebellious, yet sensitive young man he portrayed in his films.
Women, too, enjoyed notable success. Marilyn Monroe was the major female sex symbol of the 1950s, and her reputation persisted following her death. Unlike the foreign-born beauties Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, and Gina Lollobrigida, Monroe embodied the American ideal of the girl-next-door. Frequently cast as “the dumb blonde,” Monroe exuded sexuality, innocence, and wholesomeness at the same time. Despite her image, she was savvy about the film industry and even formed her own production company. Monroe brought comedic skills and feminine
Motion picture actress Natalie Wood displays new drive-in movie speakers, Hollywood, California, 1957. (Library of Congress)
Charm to such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1952), about showgirls on vacation, and Some Like It Hot (1959), in which she played a member of an all-female band that is joined by two men hiding from the mob. Her performance in the romantic comedy Bus Stop (1956) earned her critical praise and commercial success. Like James Dean, Marilyn Monroe suffered an untimely death in 1962, leaving behind many memorable films and an enduring image.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the blend of Music and movies changed to reflect additional elements of popular culture. The early 1950s marked the end of the grand-scale musicals with An American in Paris (1951) and Sin-gin’ in the Rain (1952). During the 1960s revival of the musical genre, filmmakers reinterpreted popular Broadway musicals such as West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965). Musicians ventured into film in an updated form of the musical that targeted the youth market. Elvis Presley made a string of movies in the 1950s, including Jailhouse Rock (1957) and Viva Las Vegas (1964), that brought his swiveling hips to theaters across America. The plots in both films served as a way to connect musical numbers. Elvis strayed little from the traditional musical format but used rock and roll instead of show tunes. In spite of poor critical reviews, Presley’s films proved successful with the public who found his personality and image attractive. In the 1960s, the Beatles developed a precursor to modern music videos with upbeat films like A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Help (1965), and the animated film Yellow Submarine (1968) that promoted a fun-filled lifestyle as well as their music.
In spite of Hollywood’s dominance, some significant work came from outside of mainstream production. Established actors like Peter Fonda, who starred as a motorcycle-riding hippie in The Wild Angels (1966), and Dennis Hopper lent their skills to the growing counterculture market. These films continued the focus on the youth culture that was important to earlier films like Rebel without a Cause. Also working outside of the established film industry, Russ Meyer made soft-core pornography and B-movies beginning with The Immortal Mr. Teas in 1959, which earned nearly $1 million dollars in profit. His Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), considered a classic B-movie, featured three women killers, who violently attacked only when men made sexist comments.
Within the film industry, the director’s style gained prominence over the studio’s style by the early 1960s. Innovative directors broke from traditional genres and, perhaps more important, moral constraints. Mike Nichols’s 1967 film The Graduate broke taboos by featuring a relationship between an older married woman and her daughter’s boyfriend. The controversial subject matter and excellent acting of Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft ensured the film’s critical and commercial success. Director Arthur Penn achieved similar success with the historical drama Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Featuring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the titular antiheroes, the film’s graphic violence served as a model to later directors.
Further reading: David N. Meyer, A Girl and a Gun (New York: Avon Books, 1998); Robert Sklar, Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies (New York: Vintage Books, 1994).
—Lyra Totten-Naylor
Muhammad, Elijah (1897-1975) Nation of Islam leader
Under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam became a significant factor in the development of American Islam and African-American racial consciousness.
Born Elijah Poole in Sandersville, Georgia, on October 7, 1897, he was the seventh of 13 children. Living in the segregated South, Elijah and his family bore the brunt of racial slurs and discrimination. Even Elijah’s father, a Baptist minister, failed to protect his son from this racist environment. During the winter of 1907, while taking some firewood into town to sell, Elijah encountered a large group of whites in the African-American section of town. Elijah recognized one of his friends hung from a tree, the victim of a lynching. He questioned how this could happen “in the midst of his own people.” The subdued reaction of the African-American community along with the brutality of the whites disgusted Elijah, and from that point on he openly advocated African-American separatist doctrines.
In 1919, Elijah married Clara Belle Evans, and between 1921 and 1939 they had eight children. In 1923, Elijah and his family moved to Detroit, Michigan, leaving the turmoil of the South behind. Introduced to a variety of African-
American organizations, Elijah explored groups such as the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the Black Shriners; each intrigued Elijah, but none kept his interest. In 1931, he met Wallace D. Fard and his group the Allah Temple of Islam (ATI). The ATI adopted Islamic beliefs and symbols, such as a crescent-and-star motif, the adoption of Arabic names, the prohibition of pork, and the separation of the sexes. Furthermore, Fard introduced new elements to the ATI, such as the belief that whites were devils, and a paramilitary unit called the Fruit of Islam. Elijah became Fard’s most ardent supporter, and he took on the role of Supreme Master of the ATI. Following this change, Fard bestowed the name Muhammad upon Elijah. From this point on, Elijah Poole became Elijah Muhammad, the messenger of the ATI.
Due to their connection with a ritualistic murder, the ATI horrified the Detroit police, who attempted to shut down the organization. In the hopes of escaping punishment, Fard agreed to disband the ATI, but he simply changed its name to the Nation of Islam. Forced to leave Detroit, Fard handed leadership of the Nation of Islam to Muhammad. Faced with major opposition, Muhammad fled Detroit to avoid assassination. He settled in Washington, D. C., where he took advantage of the Library of Congress to further educate himself.
The Nation of Islam went through trying times from 1943 to 1946, when Muhammad was jailed for draft evasion. While in prison, he recognized various factors he could use to strengthen the organization, employing radio to broadcast the message of the Nation to other African Americans. In so doing, he effectively reached many potential members. In addition to this idea, he saw that prison served as the perfect model for resource collectivization, a system in which the people controlled ownership and the means of production together. Muhammad believed he could use this approach in the African-American community to unite the population.
Following his release from prison in August 1946, Muhammad approached the Nation of Islam with renewed vigor. Pooling their resources, Muhammad and the members opened a number of small African-American Muslim-owned businesses in Chicago. The money poured in, and the Nation bought a large amount of real estate. The Nation of Islam became the most prosperous African-American organization in the United States.
Perhaps the most significant event to occur to both Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam during this period was the recruitment of Malcolm X in 1948. Charismatic and energetic, Malcolm X was one of the most successful organizers and recruiters for the Nation. New temples and schools opened around the country, as the organization surged with new members, including Louis Farra-khan, recruited in 1955. As a collective organization, the
Nation advocated a more militant stance in the Civil Rights movement, which opposed the viewpoint of leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr.
The birth of Muhammad’s first illegitimate child called his leadership into question. In all, he fathered 13 unrecognized children with seven different women. Muhammad’s actions violated the same moral codes that he preached to the Nation. He also used the funds of the Nation of Islam for personal gain. He traveled in a Lockheed executive jet and wore a lavish fez said to be worth $150,000. In addition to these problems, Muhammad was accused of ordering the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965. Muhammad continued to lead the Nation of Islam until his death from heart failure on February 25, 1975, at the age of 77.
Further reading: Claude Andrew Clegg III, An Original Man: The Life and Ti-mes of Elijah Muhammad (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997); Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad (New York: Pantheon Books, 1999).
—Clayton Douglas
Murray, Pauli (1910-1985) activist, educator, lawyer In the course of achieving noteworthy stature in the fields of literature, law, and religion, Pauli Murray became a distinguished African-American educator, an ardent leader in the Civil Rights movement, and vocal proponent of women’s status and rights.
Murray was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 20, 1910. Her father was a graduate of Howard University and a teacher and principal in the Baltimore public schools. In 1914, her mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage and she went to live with her aunt and maternal grandparents in Durham, North Carolina. Her father, who suffered from typhoid fever, had to be hospitalized, and he was unable to care for Pauli and her five siblings.
Murray graduated first in her high school class in Durham, and traveled to New York City to gain the necessary academic qualifications in a local high school to be able to attend Hunter College. In her sophomore year at Hunter, she had to leave school temporarily after the stock market crash of 1929. She went on to graduate in 1933 with a major in English and a minor in history. She was employed by the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) as a teacher in the New York City public schools.
As a young adult, Murray stood ahead of her time in her resistance to the Jim Crow segregation practices of the South. Whenever possible, she walked, rather than rode the segregated buses. In the fall of 1938, she took a more unorthodox step toward fighting racial discrimination. She applied for admission to the graduate school at the University of North Carolina, an all-white institution. The dean rejected her application on the grounds that “members of your race are not admitted to the University.” Her quest for admission became public news because the Supreme Court had recently ruled in Gains v. Canada that it was the duty of a state to furnish graduate and professional training to all the residents of the state based on an equality of right. Only the second black person ever to apply to the university, Murray received widespread publicity, which resulted in black students filing applications at other southern universities. Murray began to see the importance of her role as a pioneer in the struggle for equality and opportunity in higher education.
Murray’s career in law began in 1940 when she was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and creating a public disturbance. She and a friend refused to move to a broken seat in the back of a Greyhound bus in Petersburg, Virginia, and they were jailed for three days, then found guilty and ordered to pay a fine. As a result of that episode, Murray enrolled at the Howard University Law School in 1941 with the intent of becoming a civil rights lawyer. During her senior year of law school, she was elected president of her class and chief justice for the university’s Court of Peers. Her senior thesis, with its argument that the “separate but equal” doctrine did violence to the personality of the minority individual, was so eloquent that it was used by Oliver Brown’s lawyers in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education (1954) case. Previously, students with achievements similar to Murray’s were offered fellowships to study at Harvard University, but when she applied, she was rejected from the school on the basis of her gender.
She entered Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, for further study, and passed the California Bar examination. In January 1946, she became the first black deputy attorney general of California.
In 1951, Murray published her first book, States’ Laws on Race and Color Thurgood Marshall called the book the bible for civil rights lawyers fighting segregation laws. Murray worked as an associate attorney in New York City from 1956 to 1960. From there she went to Ghana to teach at Ghana School of Law. She returned to the United States in 1961 and began graduate study at the Yale University Law School, where she became the first African American to receive the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science.
In 1962, Murray, whose stature as a legal scholar, educator, and activist in a number of civil rights groups had become well known, was selected as a member of the Committee on Civil and Political Rights, one of seven study committees set up as part of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, created by John F. Kennedy in 1961. There she met Betty Friedan, and in October 1966, Murray, and 31 other women who met in Washington, founded the National Organization lor Women (NOW).
In 1972, Murray was named professor of law and politics at Brandeis University, where she taught for five years. In the last decade of her life, she felt drawn to the religious life, and, in 1973, she enrolled in the General Theological Seminary, subsequently becoming the first black woman to serve as an Episcopal minister. She spent the remainder of her life writing and traveling the country speaking. In 1985, she died of cancer.
Further reading: Pauli Murray, Pauli Murray: The Autobiography of a Black Activist, Feminist, Lawyer, Priest and Poet (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1989).
—Elizabeth A. Henke
World History
