Introduction

The second period in the history of American independent cinema commences with the Paramount decree of 1948, signed by the Big Five and Little Three studios when the US Supreme Court found them guilty of applying monopolistic practices that restrained trade and eliminated competition. The decision had a seismic impact on the structure of the American film industry, as it forced the studios to divest themselves of their theatre chains and therefore lose control of exhibition, one of the three foundations upon which their vertical integration depended. Although the studios found alternative ways to retain control of the film industry, the Paramount decree became instrumental in gradually dismantling the studio system of production, which had been in place since the late 1910s. Instead, the new system privileged a format of independent production that had its origins in the top-rank independent production model of the hyphenate filmmakers, which had started gaining momentum during the 1940–8 period (see Chapter 1), though with some important differences. It could be argued that the Paramount decree formalised the industry-wide shift to independent production that began in 1940 and therefore ushered in American cinema's post-studio era.

To a certain extent, this development, which became particularly evident from the 1950s onwards, continues today. For the purposes of this book, however, we will adopt the position that the second phase of American independent cinema starts in 1948 and finishes in 1967, a year that film historian Paul Monaco calls ‘a watershed year’ for the film industry. During that time, a number of factors – including changes in the constitution of the audience and in movie-going habits in general, the conglomeration of the film industry (already underway from the mid-1960s) and the socio-cultural upheaval that the country experienced throughout the decade (represented mainly by an increased protest/anti-Vietnam sentiment and the growing visibility of the civil rights movement) – laid the foundations for new directions in independent filmmaking that we will discuss in detail in Parts III and IV.