Modes of film production in 1950s Italy

The Italian film industry between 1945 and 1959 has been the subject of many studies during the last twenty years. However, the existing literature generally follows detailed examinations of big production companies, that were protagonists at the time, or concentrates on macro studies portraying the situation of the Italian film industry from its origins onwards. The presence of small and medium companies in the post-war era and particularly during the 1950s, has not been studied extensively. This lack of specific, in-depth studies around this area, guided me in undertaking a first analysis of this period. In doing so, I combined archival, cultural, and historical analysis, as well as economical, and statistical studies. Firstly, I identified all the new 770 production companies founded between 1945 and 1959, together with all the films released and their genres. Secondly, I defined the general context and the industrial framework of the time, which saw the birth of hundreds of firms. Thirdly, through archival researches, I identified several case studies of both some decentralised companies and some firms managed by directors and actors. These case studies were used to examine more in-depth production patterns analysing them in relation to their context. These investigations allowed to examine the evolution of the industry and to trace the structure of the field, made of small and medium, undercapitalised companies. Moreover, through them I could highlight some of the common behavioural patterns identifying certain modes of production as well as cinema boroughs outside the main centre represented by Rome. Through all the data collected and the combination of analysis reported, this research provides production patterns of the 1950s Italian film industry, and also presents a general framework which could be the starting point of further future analysis.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Year dc:date

2021

Author dc:creator

• Giannini, Clara

Contributors dc:contributor

• Treveri Gennari, Daniela

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/4qgt-mj12

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:7b17084c-fb19-4846-8fb4-9219ed86b76b:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1