The pseudo-change of power in 60's Hollywood

There is a common assertion among analysts that during the 1960's, power in Hollywood was given to a newer collection of directors bent on churning out mediocre movies as quickly as possible. However, Manhola Dargis's essay "60's Hollywood: Power Shifted (or did it?)" debates the exact opposite; though there was a change in management for each of the major film studios, the agenda was, and always had been, to imitate the style and ideals of the popular foreign movie studios. This agenda, despite proving useful for the earlier years, began to fail in the 1960's just as the change of directors took place in Hollywood due to the foreign obsession with concepts that were unpopular in America.

The bulk of this argument is held by explaining cultural phenomena, such as the Monkees, and how it was poorly emulated by 60's directors in Hollywood to create atrocious movies like "Head." The careful explanation of how these popular brands were picked up by popular Hollywood figures such as Jack Nicholson and mutated into something that American audiences would like certainly holds water; considering the stable popularity of many foreign films in America, directors naturally flocked to their ideas in order to become equally successful.

Despite the attempts of the directors, this attempt to copy the style of foreign directors ended in failure. Most notable to the author are the attempts by Bert Schnieder, Bob Rafelson, and Steve Blauner to create a series of movies heavily influenced by the nature of other successful foreign films. These films, which included titles such as "Drive, He Said" and "Five Easy Pieces," were obviously poor attempts at attempting to use the style of more successful directors outside of America in an American movie, and were generally considered inferior by critics. This failure to replicate the feel of the popular foreign film, Dargis argues, is the major reason that the 60's lacked the luster of previous decades.

source:

Dargis, Manhola. "'60s Hollywood: Power Shifted (Or Did It?)." New York Times (2010): n. pag. Web. 28 Nov 2010. .