The Illusion of Depth

As has been well documented by now, our current series is a celebration of comedies released during the Great Depression (creatively entitled Depression/Comedy ). Last week's film took us rather dramatically out of that particular comfort zone with Monkey Business , released in 1952.  The late date notwithstanding, Monkey Business is (ideologically, if not actually) a Depression-era comedy. It may have been made in 1952, but its heart belongs to the 1930s (very appropriate for a film about regressing to one's youth). Before we go back to the Depression, I want to dawdle in the 1950s for one more evening with a film that is very much of its time. After Monkey Business , I think it's worth seeing what movie making in the 1950s actually did look like. You See it Without Glasses! Last week I talked about the multi-threaded crisis that was overwhelming Hollywood in the early 50s. Film studios were in trouble, and most studio heads were of the opinion that new films would need

It's probably not surprising that a film series entitled Depression/Comedy would focus on films produced during the Great Depression (often with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers in various combinations). Slightly more surprising is our next film, which is every bit the Depression-era comedy, except it was made two decades later. Trust me. There is a reason why the 1930s is often remembered today as the Golden Age of Hollywood. Not only was this a decade of intense creativity, it was also a time when the "studio system" was working at its peak efficiency.  Each studio employed a full-time roster of writers, directors, performers etc who were uniquely positioned to pump out film after film after film for a Depression-ravaged audience that was desperate for everything they could get. The system functioned extremely smoothly, and the quality of the product was very high. But nothing lasts forever. At the end of World War II, everything began to change. The Hol