Three Approaches to the History of Poverty Row: Majestic Pictures, 1930-1935 Público
Long, Derek (2010)
Abstract
This thesis adopts a multifaceted historiographic approach to researching and writing the industrial history of classical Hollywood’s low-budget sector, known colloquially as “Poverty Row.” It takes as a case study of this approach Majestic Pictures, an independent studio that produced low-budget feature films between 1930 and 1935. Through evidence from industry trade discourse, studio advertising, independent exhibitor reports, and data from theater receipts, I argue that Majestic consciously exploited the chronic shortage of film product that characterized the early 1930s through its selection of stories and genres as well as its allocation of higher budgets for its films. As a result, Majestic’s films enjoyed wider distribution, especially in urban areas, than was typical for most low-budget independents. I further offer the various historiographic approaches I use as possible avenues for further research in this understudied sector of the American film industry during the period of the major studios’ greatest dominance.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
The Invisible, Other Indies 1
Methodology 4
Historiography 9
Chapter 2: The History of Majestic Pictures, 1930-1933
Majestic Under Sherman and Trop, 1930 13
Phil Goldstone, the IMPPA, and Independent Production, 1932 17
Setting the Stage: 1932 25
Imitating the Majors: 1933 and Beyond 40
Chapter 3: Majestic’s Discursive Strategies and Generic Exploitation, 1933-1935
“Packed With Woman Appeal” 43
Majestic and the Discursive Status of Genre 52
The Fallen Woman Film and Metropolitan Female Audiences 63
Chapter 4: The Sin of Nora Moran – A Narratological Analysis
A Case Study of the Exceptional 68
Flashbacks in 1930s Hollywood 70
Nora Moran: Syuzhet Segmentation 73
Nora Moran: Story, Reception, and Flashback Structure 74
The Significance of Nora Moran 86
Chapter 5: A (Brief) Conclusion 90
Appendices
Appendix 1: Tables – Independent Production in the United States 94
Appendix 2: Majestic Theater Receipts 96
Appendix 3: “What The Picture Did For Me” Exhibitor Reports 103
Filmography 109
Bibliography 117
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