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Collapse of the studio system
Due to the second world war, america needed more money so people earning over $200,000 were taxed 90%, which forced actors to break contracts. Studios were also forced to sell their theatres, decreasing overall income from $22m to $6m in a year. Television also became a big reason for the ecline of the studio system. -
Bonnie & Clyde
The real life outlaws Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow were made famous for the second time when the 'Spectacularly violent' film Hit theatres in 1967, heralding the arrival of 'easy riders, raging bulls' era in hollywood. Bonnie and Clyde is considered a landmark film, and is regarded as one of the first films of the New Hollywood era, since it broke many cinematic taboos and was popular with the younger generation -
Wild Bunch
Directed by Sam Peckinpah. The Wild Bunch is a 1969 American epic Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913. The film was controversial because of its graphic violence and its portrayal of crude men attempting to survive by any available means. -
Easy Rider
Hallmark american film and a great independent feature success -
George Lucas
Early Filmography: THX 1138: THX 1138 is a 1971 science fiction film directed by George Lucas in his feature directorial debut. The film was written by Lucas and Walter Murch. It stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence and depicts a dystopian future in which the populace is controlled through android police officers and mandatory use of drugs that suppress emotion, including sexual desire. -
Martin Scorsese
Championed by influential movie critic Pauline Kael, Mean Streets was a breakthrough for Scorsese, De Niro, and Keitel. By now the signature Scorsese style was in place: macho posturing, bloody violence, Catholic guilt and redemption, gritty New York locale, rapid-fire editing and a soundtrack with contemporary music. The film was innovative, its wired atmosphere, edgy documentary style, and gritty street-level. -
The Godfather
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it was a film which 'revolutionised movie making in the gangster genre'. -
George Lucas
Early Filmography: American Graffiti: American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film directed and co-written by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Wolfman Jack; Suzanne Somers was the blonde in the T-bird. Set in 1962 Modesto, California, the film is a study of the cruising and rock and roll cultures popular among the post–World War II baby boom generation. -
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg directed Jaws, one of the biggest films in history. Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. The prototypical summer blockbuster, its release is regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history. -
Cross of Iron
The film was a huge box office success in Europe, inspiring the sequel Breakthrough starring Richard Burton. Cross of Iron was reportedly a favorite of Orson Welles, who said that after All Quiet on the Western Front it was the finest anti-war film he had ever seen. -
George Lucas
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise centered on a film series created by George Lucas. The film series, consisting of two trilogies, has spawned an extensive media franchise called the Expanded Universe including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books. These supplements to the franchise resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe, keeping the franchise active in the 16-year interim between the two film trilogies. -
Steven Spielberg
Filmography: After rejecting offers from King Kong, Superman, and Jaws 2, he started to direct Close Encounters of the Third Kind which helped to secure Steven Spielberg's rise. It gave him his best director nomination. It won Oscars in two categories (Cinematography, Vilmos Zsigmond, and a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing, Frank E. Warner). -
Apocalypse Now
An adaptation of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness set in Cambodia during the Vietnam War (Coppola himself briefly appears as a TV news director). Apocalypse Now's reputation has grown in time and it is now regarded by many as a masterpiece of the New Hollywood era and is frequently cited as one of the greatest movies ever made.