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The History of American Cinema: 1946

October - December

10/10 -

Columbia release Alfred E. Green’s The Jolson Story, a biopic about the life of Al Jolson, the first man to talk in the movies.   Contract player Larry Parks plays Jolson, although the real singer’s voice is used for the musical numbers. [ADD]

24/10 -

Ava Gardner is granted a divorce from bandleader Artie Shaw on the grounds of mental cruelty. [ADD]

12/11 -

Song of the South, the first Disney film to use professional actors, is released.   The film has never been released on DVD or video in the States because of concerns over its depiction of race relations in the old South. [ADD]

21/11 -

William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives captures the problems encountered by servicemen returning from war to a world that has moved on since they left.   Fredric March, Dana Andrews and Harold Russell – a real war veteran who lost his arms in combat – play the disillusioned heroes trying to adjust to life out of uniform, while Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Cathy O’Donnell play the women they left behind. [ADD]

20/12 -

Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life premieres at the Globe Theatre in New York.   Labelled subversive by the FBI for its critical political position on post-WWII America, the film was not a commercial success, and only received its classic status through TV screenings.   The film stars James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell and Henry Travers.  [ADD]

31/12 -

The combined profit of the eight largest Hollywood studios for 1946 is a record-breaking $120 million, double that of the previous record set in 1945. [ADD]

– The American film industry earns $232m in domestic rentals and accounts for 1.5 per cent of total domestic corporate profit. [ADD]

– Cinema audiences reach an all-time high of 4,067 million, which equates to $1, 692 million in ticket sales. [ADD]

– Universal Pictures merges with International Pictures to become Universal-International.   William Goetz is made head of production. [ADD]

– The number of drive-in cinemas in the country is approximately 300. [ADD]

– Matthew Woll, vice-president of the American Federation of Labor, claims that Hollywood is the ‘third largest communist center in the US.’ [ADD]

– The House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) starts investigating alleged Communist infiltration in Hollywood. [ADD]

– The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences changes its rules for voting for Academy award winners so that only members of the Academy (instead of the entire film community) are allowed to vote. [ADD]

– The Association of Motion Picture Producers (AMPP) concedes to demands from the Conference of Studio Unions (CSU) to give their members a 25% wage increase, making them America’s highest paid salaried workers.   The agreement becomes known as ‘the treaty of Beverly Hills.’ [ADD]

– The IRS closes the tax loophole allowing single-picture corporations, forcing many independent production companies to seek permanent deals with major Hollywood studios. [ADD]

Top Ten US Box-office Stars of 1946

1.      Bing Crosby

2.      Ingrid Bergman

3.      Van Johnson

4.      Gary Cooper

5.      Bob Hope

6.      Humphrey Bogart

7.      Greer Garson

8.      Margaret O’Brien

9.      Betty Grable

10.    Roy Rogers

Source: Quigley Poll

Other Key American Films of 1946

Let There be Light (John Huston) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1946