5 The changing landscape of the post-war world
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Sian Barber
Abstract
This chapter covers the 1950s, a decade bookended with significant pieces of legislation that impacted cinema; at the start, the 1950 Wheare report, which drew on the data gathered at the end of the 1940s and which subsequently led to increased regulations for children and cinema, and at the end, the 1959 Cinemograph Act and the 1959 Obscene Publications Act, both of which were to have significant impacts upon both film content and on the cinema space. This was a period of significant change in Britain; not only was the uniformity of purpose and collectivist and patriotic spirit dispensed with in the post-war era, but the cinematic audience which had been the mainstay of culture in the period began to drift away. The primary concern of the period was juvenile delinquency, and the BBFC were extremely anxious about films containing teen violence and frequently requested cuts in films which they feared would affect impressionable teenagers. These issues were also significant for local censors, who sought to control both teenage films and teenage behaviour.
Abstract
This chapter covers the 1950s, a decade bookended with significant pieces of legislation that impacted cinema; at the start, the 1950 Wheare report, which drew on the data gathered at the end of the 1940s and which subsequently led to increased regulations for children and cinema, and at the end, the 1959 Cinemograph Act and the 1959 Obscene Publications Act, both of which were to have significant impacts upon both film content and on the cinema space. This was a period of significant change in Britain; not only was the uniformity of purpose and collectivist and patriotic spirit dispensed with in the post-war era, but the cinematic audience which had been the mainstay of culture in the period began to drift away. The primary concern of the period was juvenile delinquency, and the BBFC were extremely anxious about films containing teen violence and frequently requested cuts in films which they feared would affect impressionable teenagers. These issues were also significant for local censors, who sought to control both teenage films and teenage behaviour.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vi
- List of acronyms vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Introduction 1
- 1 A new form of leisure 15
- 2 New regions and new anxieties 43
- 3 Councils, committees and the perils of the cinema 64
- 4 Wartime concerns and local anxieties 103
- 5 The changing landscape of the post-war world 137
- 6 Local alliances in a permissive decade 164
- 7 New categories, new permissions 191
- 8 New boundaries and new regions 228
- Conclusions 250
- Films cited 255
- Bibliography 259
- Index 269
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vi
- List of acronyms vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Introduction 1
- 1 A new form of leisure 15
- 2 New regions and new anxieties 43
- 3 Councils, committees and the perils of the cinema 64
- 4 Wartime concerns and local anxieties 103
- 5 The changing landscape of the post-war world 137
- 6 Local alliances in a permissive decade 164
- 7 New categories, new permissions 191
- 8 New boundaries and new regions 228
- Conclusions 250
- Films cited 255
- Bibliography 259
- Index 269
