Three Approaches to the History of Poverty Row: Majestic Pictures, 1930-1935 Público

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

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Film and Media Studies
Degree	MA
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Cinema
Palavra-chave	The Sin of Nora Moran Phil Goldstone Majestic Pictures Majestic Poverty Row
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Bernstein, Matthew, Emory University
Committee Members	Pratt, David B, Emory University Schreiber, Michele, Emory University

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