Reader Question: Only ‘distraction’ movies during a recession or is there room for ‘realistic’ movies?
An open forum question via Facebook from Scott Hite:
Scott,
With the current economic recession, I’ve heard writers talk about people wanting a distraction from life’s problems. What I’m wondering is if there shouldn’t also be an opportunity to write about individuals facing economic problems relevant to our current economy? Did people in the Depression seek distraction or films that were relevant to the Depression? During research for my last script, I read that Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was criticized for being left wing propaganda. I’m sure that Grapes of Wrath had to have received criticism from the right too. I’m wondering if modern films can reflect the real economic issues facing people and not face the same criticism? Or can we expect films that are a distraction from reality?
I’d really like to hear your opinions (& those of others) on how the economy affects the industry. Not financially, but instead how well films are received that deal with tough times. With the current polarized electorate and extreme views, it’s hard not to see it reach right into the film industry.
I’ve heard it said that the only two areas of business that made money during the Depression were lawyers and the movies. The reason for the latter, or so I’ve heard, is that Hollywood offered up movies that provided a escapist fare for people and their economic misery… as you put it a “distraction from reality.”
Is that true? You can go here to see the Academy Award nominated and winning movies from the late 20s into the 30s. Here’s a list of the relevant years per the Great Depression (1930–1936):
1930–31
Production (Picture):
“CIMARRON”, “East Lynne”, “The Front Page”, “Skippy”, “Trader Horn”
Actor:
LIONEL BARRYMORE in “A Free Soul”, Jackie Cooper in “Skippy”, Richard Dix in “Cimarron”, Fredric March in “The Royal Family of Broadway”, Adolphe Menjou in “The Front Page”
Actress:
MARIE DRESSLER in “Min and Bill”, Marlene Dietrich in “Morocco”, Irene Dunne in “Cimarron”, Ann Harding in “Holiday”, Norma Shearer in “A Free Soul”
Director:
NORMAN TAUROG for “Skippy”, Clarence Brown for “A Free Soul”, Lewis Milestone for “The Front Page”, Wesley Ruggles for “Cimarron”, Josef von Sternberg for “Morocco”
1931–32
Production (Picture):
“GRAND HOTEL”, “Arrowsmith”, “Bad Girl”, “The Champ”, “Five Star Final”, “One Hour With You”, “Shanghai Express”, “The Smiling Lieutenant”
Actor:
FREDRIC MARCH in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and WALLACE BEERY in “The Champ” (tie), Alfred Lunt in “The Guardsman”
Actress:
HELEN HAYES in “The Sin of Madelon Claudet”, Marie Dressler in “Emma”, Lynn Fontanne in “The Guardsman”
Director:
FRANK BORZAGE for “Bad Girl”, King Vidor for “The Champ”, Josef von Sternberg for “Shanghai Express”
Special Award: Walt Disney for creating Mickey Mouse
1932–33
Picture:
“CAVALCADE”, “A Farewell to Arms”,
“42nd Street”, “I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang”, “Lady for a Day”, “Little Women”, “The Private Life of Henry VIII”, “She Done Him Wrong”, “Smilin’ Through”, “State Fair”
Actor:
CHARLES LAUGHTON in “The Private Life of Henry VIII”, Leslie Howard in “Berkeley Square”, Paul Muni in “I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang”
Actress:
KATHARINE HEPBURN in “Morning Glory”, May Robson in “Lady for a Day”, Diana Wynyard in “Cavalcade”
Director:
FRANK LLOYD for “Cavalcade”, Frank Capra for “Lady For a Day”, George Cukor for “Little Women”
1934
Picture:
“IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT”, “The Barretts of Wimpole Street”, “Cleopatra”, “Flirtation Walk”, “The Gay Divorcee”, “Here Comes the Navy”, “The House of Rothschild”, “Imitation of Life”, “One Night of Love”, “The Thin Man”, “Viva Villa!”, “The White Parade”
Actor:
CLARK GABLE in
“It Happened One Night”, Frank Morgan in “Affairs of Cellini”, William Powell in “The Thin Man”
Actress:
CLAUDETTE COLBERT in
“It Happened One Night”, Grace Moore in “One Night of Love”, Norma Shearer in “The Barretts of Wimpole Street”
Director:
FRANK CAPRA for
“It Happened One Night”, Victor Schertzinger for “One Night of Love”, W. S. Van Dyke for “The Thin Man”
1935
Picture:
“MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY”, “Alice Adams”, “The Broadway Melody of 1936”, “Captain Blood”, “David Copperfield”, “The Informer”, “Lives of a Bengal Lancer”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Les Miserables”, “Naughty Marietta”, “Ruggles of Red Gap”,
“Top Hat”
Actor:
VICTOR MCLAGLEN in “The Informer”, Clark Gable in “Mutiny on the Bounty”, Charles Laughton in “Mutiny on the Bounty”, Franchot Tone in “Mutiny on the Bounty”
Actress:
BETTE DAVIS in “Dangerous”, Elisabeth Bergner in “Escape Me Never”, Claudette Colbert in “Private Worlds”, Katharine Hepburn in “Alice Adams”, Miriam Hopkins in “Becky Sharp”, Merle Oberon in “The Dark Angel”
Director:
JOHN FORD for “The Informer”, Michael Curtiz for “Captain Blood”, Henry Hathaway for “Lives of a Bengal Lancer”, Frank Lloyd for “Mutiny on the Bounty”
1936
Picture:
“THE GREAT ZIEGFELD”, “Anthony Adverse”, “Dodsworth”, “Libeled Lady”, “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “San Francisco”, “The Story of Louis Pasteur”, “A Tale of Two Cities”, “Three Smart Girls”
Actor:
PAUL MUNI in “The Story of Louis Pasteur”, Gary Cooper in “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town”, Walter Huston in “Dodsworth”, William Powell in “My Man Godfrey”, Spencer Tracy in “San Francisco”
Actress:
LUISE RAINER in “The Great Ziegfeld”, Irene Dunne in “Theodora Goes Wild”, Gladys George in “Valiant Is the Word for Carrie”, Carole Lombard in “My Man Godfrey”, Norma Shearer in “Romeo and Juliet”
Supporting Actor:
WALTER BRENNAN in “Come and Get It”, Mischa Auer in “My Man Godfrey”, Stuart Erwin in “Pigskin Parade”, Basil Rathbone in “Romeo and Juliet”, Akim Tamiroff in “The General Died at Dawn”
Supporting Actress:
GALE SONDERGAARD in “Anthony Adverse”, Beulah Bondi in “The Gorgeous Hussy”, Alice Brady in “My Man Godfrey”, Bonita Granville in “These Three,” Maria Ouspenskaya in “Dodsworth”
Director:
FRANK CAPRA for “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town”, Gregory La Cava for “My Man Godfrey”, Robert Z. Leonard for “The Great Ziegfeld”, W. S. Van Dyke for “San Francisco”, William Wyler for “Dodsworth”
With the exception of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, the list certainly seems to be filled with a preponderance of escapist fare movies. And also note that The Grapes of Wrath didn’t come out until 1940, when the U.S. had emerged from the Depression.
I’d underscore two points. First, movies have always been attuned to current cultural trends. Second, if a studio believes it can make money on a movie tied to the zeitgeist, they will make that movie.
So per your question — “shouldn’t [there] be an opportunity to write about individuals facing economic problems relevant to our current economy” — my answer would be a qualified “yes.” If Hollywood does prefer to provide escapist fare during times of national economic hardship, then selling a story that deals directly with that cultural phenomenon is possible, but will be harder to pull off.
How to handle that? One idea would be to use the dynamic of economic hardship as a set-up for a bigger plot:
* A poor family finds a suitcase filled with $1M, only to be pursued by druglords for the money
* A suburban family about to lose their house becomes a family full of robbers
* When a company fires a guy resulting in his economic demise, he sets out to murder all the white collar execs who decided to cut his job
You’ll note that I not only thought of stories where the economic situation took a secondary position to the main storyline, I also twisted each story into a popular genre — the first one action, the second one comedy, the third one thriller.
But what I think you’re really asking is could you expect to sell a drama about a character or characters who have to confront directly their financial woes. While I have learned to never say “never” re Hollywood, I think you would have a really tough time with that just now. For reference, I just went to DoneDealPro.com and did a sales archive search for 2010 for the genre “drama”. Out of 128 deals listed for this year, only 13 are dramas — and precisely zero of them is a project with one of Hollywood’s major studios.
There are indie films and perhaps that is a better venue for a drama just now, but of course that market is still reeling from its own economic woes.
So is it possible to sell a movie that has as economic distress as part of its plot? Yes.
Would it be better to make that dynamic a secondary one and twist the story into a popular genre like action, comedy, or thriller? Yes.
What are the chances of selling a straight-ahead drama script where characters confront their economic woes? Uh… probably not so good.
Now watch. Tomorrow in the trades, a seven-figure deal for a drama dealing with the economic crisis!
What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you think it’s a good idea to write an economic drama or should writers be focused nowadays on escapist fare?
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