The 1930s ended with such promise in filmmaking. The 40s began with a bang (with Rebecca) and went down hill from there. Casablanca was one of the great films of the last 100 years but most of the other films failed to deliver.
These Oscar winning movie showed a change in society. The soldiers were coming home from the War and it became evident that society did not cling to the same morals as it once did. Movies like The Lost Weekend winked at prostitution and The Best Year's Of Our Lives portrayed alcoholism, infidelity and divorce in a favorable light.
Another change is the fact that women begin to be the heroes in many of the movies. I believe that the ceremonial torch was passed during Mrs Miniver when he captured an enemy solider in her kitchen. Hollywood showed the world that women were worthy of being the main characters rather than just being a pretty face to bring a change of pace, as was the case in Cimarron.
Overall, the 40s showed the social change going on in America but did not give us an improvement in movie making. We're hoping that the 50s bring an improvement in film.
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