Mass Culture and Sovereignty: The American Challenge to European Cinemas, 1920-1960
Author(s)
De Grazia, Victoria
Abstract
In 1918, the US film industry established a position of dominance in the European market that it retained until the 1960’s. This produced a restructuring of the industry, featuring a more varied and dispersed system of production. During the interwar years, a series of efforts were made by European filmmakers to resist American domination. By 1939, this had led to attempts in Germany and Italy to establish alternatives to US mass culture that would be “susceptible to local political manipulation.” By 1947, however, Hollywood had reestablished its dominance of the market, which lasted until the 1960’s slump.
