Post by lune7000 on Jul 19, 2021 20:51:18 GMT
It should be noted that the majority of set designers, wardrobe people, composers, etc. of the Hollywood classic period were themselves immigrants or very recent second generation at best. They knew full well what Europe really looked like and also had access to film from Europe so studying authentic designs was a cinch.
My guess is that it came down to cost cutting. A generic building front can be used in many different films with little modification and extra cost. The audience couldn't tell the difference or didn't care. I read about 30 books about Hollywood in the past 5 months and everything that was done was done for money.
The only exceptions were that each studio had a few epic movies a year that they spent lots of money on to get an Oscar and prestige- knowing that they would lose money on that particular film. Movies were often seen as a morally degenerate force by reformers and by doing a few epic "highbrow" movies a year, a studio could win over the matrons of the cultural elite and make up for all that pulp fiction crap the public so loved.
My guess is that it came down to cost cutting. A generic building front can be used in many different films with little modification and extra cost. The audience couldn't tell the difference or didn't care. I read about 30 books about Hollywood in the past 5 months and everything that was done was done for money.
The only exceptions were that each studio had a few epic movies a year that they spent lots of money on to get an Oscar and prestige- knowing that they would lose money on that particular film. Movies were often seen as a morally degenerate force by reformers and by doing a few epic "highbrow" movies a year, a studio could win over the matrons of the cultural elite and make up for all that pulp fiction crap the public so loved.