The 1950s Arts and Entertainment: Topics in the News

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM CONFUSES ART PATRONS

During the 1950s, a new kind of art, known as "abstract expressionism" and "action painting," revolutionized the art world. Since the heyday of the late nineteenth-century French impressionists—artists like Edgar Degas (1834–1917), Edouard Manet (1833–1883), Claude Monet (1840–1926), Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), and Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), who reproduced impressions of subjects without much focus on detail—paintings in general had included fewer recognizable objects. Line, color, and composition were being used to express mood; some paintings were solely comprised of color schemes, geometric shapes, or drips and blobs of paint. Occasionally, recognizable forms might be contained within the painting, but the image on the canvas often was completely abstract.

The art that qualifies as "action painting" expressed the feeling and power of abstract painting. Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), who today is arguably the most celebrated of all action painters, emphasized the spontaneity and physical act of creating art by splashing and dripping paint onto his canvasses. Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) used thick globs of paint to create both semifigurative and abstract works. Franz Kline (1910–1962) produced large black-and-white canvases. The paintings of Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) were dynamic and colorful. The works of Robert Motherwell (1915–) were characterized by large indistinct shapes, some of which resembled inkblots. Mark Rothko (1903–1970) used a range of colors to create simple designs, often emphasizing large, rectangular shapes.

To the casual museum-goer who preferred representational paintings, or at least impressionistic images of recognizable objects, abstract expressionism was confusing and annoying. To them, action paintings were nonpaintings, and their creators were nonartists. However, those who objected to abstract art generally did not consider the artists' individual objectives and the intellectual and physical effort that went into creating the art.

IN LITERATURE, THE OLD MEETS THE NEW

The 1950s not only saw a number of established American writers publishing major works, but also gave rise to a new generation of writers who challenged Americans to develop new literary tastes. A number of novels published during the decade have become American fiction classics, including The Martian Chronicles (1950), by Ray Bradbury (1920–); From Here to Eternity (1951), by James Jones (1921–1977); The Old Manand the Sea (1952), by Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961); Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958), by Truman Capote (1924–1984); and Goodbye, Columbus (1959), by Philip Roth (1933–). However, if one had to cite the decade's most celebrated novel, a worthy choice would be The Catcher in the Rye (1951), by J. D. Salinger (1919–), a first-person narrative about Holden Caulfield, a disillusioned adolescent. The book was controversial for its cynicism, raw language, and preoccupation with sex. Yet Caulfield became an instant spokesperson for his generation. For decades, his story has remained a favorite among young people.

William Faulkner (1897–1962), regarded today as one of the twentieth-century's great American writers, produced two hotly debated works in the 1950s. A Requiem for a Nun (1951), a sequel to his 1931 novel Sanctuary, featured an experimental dramatic structure that confused readers, unsure if it was a play or a novel. A Fable (1954), his story of a French army officer who reenacts the Passion of Christ, was labeled by some reviewers as "remarkable" and "extraordinary," while others called it "spurious and unreal," "a heroically ambitious failure," and a "bad small novel."

Art and Fames

During the 1950s, no living artist won more critical attention than Willem de Kooning (1904–1997)—not even his friend and rival, Jackson Pollock (1912–1956). On three occasions, de Kooning's works were included in Italy's Venice Biennale, the most prestigious international contemporary art exhibition. Seven times, they were displayed in the Whitney Museum's Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting. De Kooning's works were the centerpiece of the Guggenheim Museum's influential Young American Painters exhibit. His three one-man shows at Manhattan's Sidney Janis Gallery were among the most prominent of the decade.

The decade also saw the rise of a new generation of nonconformist Beat Generation writers, including novelist Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) and poet Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), who aroused controversy for their emphasis on spiritual values over physical comfort and the pursuit of wealth, the sexual nature of their work, and their experimental writing styles. Because of its sexual content, Howl and Other Poems (1956), Ginsberg's lone work published during the decade, was seized by officials and dubbed obscene. A highly publicized trial followed, ending in a victory for free speech with the acquittal of its publisher, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1920–). During this decade, William S. Burroughs (1914–1997) also published his controversial novel Naked Lunch (1959).

The sales of paperback books, small-size, low-cost alternatives to hardcover editions, increased during the 1950s. Some books came out first in hardcover and then were published in paperback, while others went directly to paperback. Unlike hardcover books, which were sold only in bookstores, the smaller, inexpensive paperback could be sold in a range of venues, from newsstands to low-priced "five-and-dime" stores.

Pulitzer Prize Winners in Fiction in the 1950s

MOVIES REACT TO THE RISE OF TV

The motion picture industry underwent a major overhaul during the 1950s. As television set sales steadily increased, more Americans chose to stay home and watch free television rather than go out to the movies. As a result, box-office receipts plummeted. In order to lure audiences back into theaters, the motion picture industry employed a range of gimmicks. One of the most famous was the short-lived 3-D process, used in such films as Bwana Devil (1952), House of Wax (1953), and Kiss Me Kate (1953). Films shot in 3-D were viewed with special glasses, creating the illusion of three-dimensional photography.

Movie producers decided that another way to challenge television would be to create lavish productions that were too expensive for TV programmers to copy. The studios began offering more and more spectacles: big-budget, special effects-laden swashbucklers, biblical epics, and costume dramas featuring "casts of thousands." Among these movies were Quo Vadis? (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), and The Buccaneer (1958). A range of films were shot using such wide-screen processes as CinemaScope, Cinerama, and VistaVision.

The popularity of television during the decade also resulted in the demise of the Hollywood studio system. Previously, the major studios and their top executives ruled the industry. Actors, directors, producers, and writers signed standard, seven-year contracts, and they had no choice but to comply with the wishes of their bosses. Now, with the decline in power of the studio, actors began forming their own production companies, selecting their own projects, and bargaining for their films' financing and distribution rights.

Previously, most Hollywood films were shot on the soundstages of M-G-M, Warner Bros., or Columbia Pictures. Locations from a New York street to a Paris nightclub to an African village were recreated on studio lots. Now, however, films were increasingly being shot on location, with filmmakers adding authenticity to their work by bringing their actors and cameras directly to avenues, cafés, and villages across the globe.

During the decade, more Americans were driving cars. This increased mobility also impacted the motion picture industry by boosting the popularity of the drive-in theater. There, audiences could remain in their cars as they watched movies on a wide screen.

"Method" acting also came to the forefront during the 1950s. The Method, emphasized inner motivation and anguish over dramatic performance. Marlon Brando (1924–), James Dean (1931–1955), and Montgomery Clift (1920–1966) were three of the decade's top movie stars who espoused The Method.

Among the decade's other major stars were Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Debbie Reynolds, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day, Grace Kelly, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, James Stewart, William Holden, and the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

THE HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST

During the 1930s, Americans were suffering through the Great Depression. Many individuals who cared about others and felt disheartened by the suffering around them felt that the American economic system had failed. Some joined the Communist Party. Others simply were concerned about their country's future.

After World War II (1939–45) came the advent of the cold war. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—U.S.S.R., or Soviet Union—a communist bloc of nations best known by the name of its dominant country, Russia, had been one of America's allies during World War II. Now it was an enemy of the United States, and many Americans feared the influence of communists. A congressional committee, known as the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), began investigating alleged communist influence in the motion picture industry.

Best Picture Academy Award Winners

When they were called before the committee, witnesses were asked, "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?" Answering "yes" was not enough to satisfy the HUAC questioners, however. Witnesses were expected to further cleanse themselves by "naming names" of other so-called "guilty parties." It did not matter that the committee might already be in possession of these names. The purpose was to embarrass witnesses by compelling them to snitch publicly on their colleagues and friends.

Elia Kazan and Lillian Hellman

In 1954, On the Waterfront earned an Academy Award as the year's best picture. It is the story of Terry Malloy (played by Marlon Brando [1924–]), a young dockworker who struggles with his conscience when he is subpoenaed to testify before a crime commission investigating waterfront gangsters.

The film's director, Elia Kazan (1909–), and its screenwriter, Budd Schulberg (1914–), previously had testified before HUAC, and both had chosen to "name names." Kazan claimed he cooperated because he felt that communism was an evil which needed to be exposed and destroyed. Others believed that he and Schulberg complied solely to avoid blacklisting and save their careers.

The story told in One the Waterfront serves as a rebuttal to Kazan's and Schulberg's critics. In their film, Terry testifies against thugs who are clearly defined villains. He is doing the right thing, just as Kazan and Schulberg claimed they had done by cooperating with HUAC.

Kazan's and Schulberg's actions may be contrasted to the decision made by playwright Lillian Hellman (1905–1984) not to "name names." In a letter she sent to HUAC before her testimony, she declared that, "…to hurt innocent people whom I knew many years ago in order to save myself is, to me, inhuman and indecent and dishonorable. I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions.… "

Many refused to comply with HUAC because of their belief that, in America, one's political affiliation is a private affair. Yet given the mood of the era, anyone who refused to testify could be held in contempt of Congress. Furthermore, they almost certainly would be blacklisted, which meant that they could no longer find employment in the movie industry. During the 1950s, scores of Hollywood directors, producers, actors, and writers were blacklisted. Careers were ruined and friendships were destroyed.

Many screenwriters managed to keep working, but did not earn on-screen acknowledgment for their scripts. Instead, they were given fictitious names, or nonblacklisted writers were credited. The beginning of the end of the blacklist came at the decade's close, when actor and producer Kirk Douglas (1916–) and director Otto Preminger (1905–1986) insisted that the blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (1905–1976) receive full credit for the screenplays that he had written for their respective films, Spartacus (1960) and Exodus (1960).

THE BIRTH OF ROCK AND ROLL

The 1950s saw the evolution of two styles of music that were distinctly American: modern jazz and rock and roll. The experimental, free-form stylings of such jazz legends as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Gerry Mulligan, and Miles Davis almost exclusively appealed to a small but fervent audience of intellectual hipsters. However, rock and roll was a different story altogether, with its mass popularity revolutionizing the recording industry.

Alan "Moondog" Freed

In 1951, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed (1922–1965) began playing rhythm-and-blues records, which were then classified as "race music," for the white teens in his audience. He dubbed the music "rock and roll," and three years later Freed relocated his "Moondog Rock and Roll Party" to New York.

More than anyone else, Freed was responsible for the crossover popularity of rock and roll and its status as a dominant force in 1950s American youth culture. Just as significantly, he insisted on playing the original recordings of African American performers, rather than the "cover" versions recorded by white singers.

Before such rock performers as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Fats Domino invaded the radio airwaves, popular music was more sedate. The era's singing stars—including Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole—were older, more traditional performers whose brand of sophisticated, romantic music appealed to adults. Adolescents viewed these artists as too slow and inhibited. Rock music, on the other hand, required neither complex instrumentation nor refined lyrics, and was ruled by basic chords and simple melodies and arrangements. In order to rock, all a band required was a singer, rhythm guitarist, bass guitarist, and drummer. The sound of the music, its beat and sheer loudness, was what made it so appealing. Lyrics and voice quality were secondary to emotion and feeling.

When kids listened to rock and roll, they felt free to express themselves on the dance floor—enthusiastically. This freedom, combined with the fact that much of rock and roll was rooted in African American rural blues and urban rhythm and blues, made it controversial in white, middle-class circles. Some parents, politicians, and educators viewed rock and roll as downright sinful. Back in 1956, the image of a white fifteen-year-old girl gyrating to the sounds of black soloists and singing groups was scandalous. Rock and roll's most vocal critics called it a communist plot, and certainly a sign of the downfall of civilization.

The popularity of rock and roll was viewed by many as a fad. Antirock and roll forces hoped that Elvis Presley's 1958 entry into the U.S. Army would signal the beginning of the end for the music. By then, however, rock and roll had irreversibly entered the mainstream of American culture.

THE RISE OF SCIENCE FICTION

Paralleling the birth of the Atomic Age, with its jet engines and atom bombs, came an avid interest in science fiction (sci-fi). Increasingly, writers concocted stories about rocket ships flying to the moon, aliens living on faraway planets, aliens coming to Earth, or nuclear experiments gone awry. These writers found a ready audience for their fantastic speculations.

Previously, science fiction literature had been highly structured, with storylines following standard formulas. Most sci-fi stories were short and were published in magazines. In 1945, nine science-fiction magazines were published in the United States. By 1953, the number had increased to fifty-three, and sci-fi comic books were flooding the marketplace. This exposure led several paperback publishing houses, including Ace and Ballantine, to publish short story anthologies and single-author novels. A generation of sci-fi writers began earning accolades during the 1950s, including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and A. E. Van Vogt.

The movie industry also joined the sci-fi bandwagon. A few films, such as The Thing (1951), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), When Worlds Collide (1951), and The War of the Worlds (1953), were ambitious, high-prestige productions. Most, though, were made on small budgets and emphasized melodrama over plot.

Television united with science fiction in the series Tales of Tomorrow (1951–1953), which featured adult-oriented stories of the supernatural. Then in 1959 came the debut of The Twilight Zone (1959–1965), a fantasy-oriented dramatic anthology that won a large, loyal audience.

THE TELEVISION DECADE

The 1950s was the decade of television, with TV-watching replacing radio listening and movie-going as America's favorite entertainment activity. In 1946, approximately 7,000 television sets had been purchased in the United States. Two years later, the number had increased to 172,000. By 1950, it had risen to 5,000,000. By the end of the decade, 90 percent of all American homes were equipped with at least one TV set.

TV Guide

During the early 1950s, as television sets began selling as quickly as hot dogs at a baseball park, a market emerged for a weekly publication that offered viewers an easily accessible program schedule. That publication became TV Guide, first issued nationally in 1953.

Over the decades, TV Guide has printed feature articles on TV shows and stars, series reviews, and TV-oriented gossip. However, its primary appeal is still its television schedule, which makes it an essential weekly purchase for millions of viewers and a fixture alongside the family TV set.

The motion picture industry initially looked down on television, viewing it as an inferior form of entertainment. However, as more Americans purchased sets and programming expanded, movie stars reluctantly began appearing on television. A new generation of stars also emerged on this new medium, ranging from comic actors (Milton Berle, Jackie Gleason, Danny Thomas, Sid Caesar, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz) to talk-and variety-show hosts (Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Art Linkletter) and unconventional innovators (Ernie Kovacs). Occasionally, actors who first had won fame on television series—including Steve McQueen (1930–1980), the star of Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958–61), and Clint Eastwood (1930–), featured on Rawhide (1959–66)—later graduated to big-screen stardom. Meanwhile, more Americans began to depend on television for news. Such TV journalists and news anchors as Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite, Charles Collingwood, and Eric Sevareid became famous faces as well as household names.

Today, all network TV series are filmed or taped, as were many of the 1950s programs. However, back then, a number of shows, including The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950–55), Studio One (1948–58), and The Alcoa Hour (1955–57), were broadcast live. Performers pranced about in comedy skits or acted out a range of emotions, with their performances broadcast into millions of homes as they occurred.

A range of 1950s television programs are fondly recalled today. During the decade, such classic situation comedies as The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (1952–66), Leave It to Beaver (1957–63), and Father Knows Best (1954–63) featured comfortable middle-class characters. The Honeymooners (1955–56) was a happy exception. Its characters were strictly blue collar: big-mouthed bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason [1916–1987]); dumb but lovable sewer worker Ed Norton (Art Carney [1918–]), and wives Alice Kramden (Audrey Meadows [1922–1996]) and Trixie Norton (Joyce Randolph [1925–]). All were recognizable to viewers who regularly struggled to pay their bills and realize their modest American dreams.

Variety shows were also popular during the 1950s. Singers Perry Como (1912–2001) and Dinah Shore (1916–1994) hosted their own programs, on

which they sang, joked, and introduced guest performers. The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–71), originally known as Toast of the Town, became a Sunday night staple. Its host, Ed Sullivan, was a former newspaper columnist whose legendary stiffness won him the nickname "The Great Stone Face." Nonetheless, Sullivan (1901–1974) was a master showman who welcomed a breathtaking range of performers, including show business legends, classical musicians, rock and roll acts, magicians, tightrope artists, and dancing bears.

Quiz shows also captivated audiences in the 1950s. Among the prime-time hits were The $64,000 Question (1955–58) and Twenty-One (1956–58), on which contestants won money by displaying their knowledge. However, at the end of the decade, a quiz show scandal erupted, with show producers accused of providing contestants with answers beforehand.

Not all classic TV shows aired during prime time. Two of the most celebrated programs of the 1950s, in fact, continued to be broadcast into the twenty-first century. The Today Show (1952–) was America's first national early morning program. It featured news summaries, sports and weather reports, and interviews. To date, Today has logged more on-air hours than any show in television history. The Tonight Show (1954–) aired in the late evening, after the local news. Its first host was Steve Allen (1921–2000). From the beginning, The Tonight Show featured celebrity chatter, music, jokes, comedy sketches, and guest stars.

Of all the vintage 1950s television shows, perhaps the most beloved is I Love Lucy (1951–1957). This laugh-out-loud situation comedy spotlighted four characters: zany Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball [1911–1989]), who yearns for a show business career; her Cuban-born bandleader husband Ricky (Desi Arnaz [1917–1986]); and their neighbors, landlords, and partners in comedy, Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley [1887–1966] and Vivian Vance [1909–1979]). I Love Lucy is notable for more than its timeless humor. The show was groundbreaking in that it was filmed, rather than broadcast live, resulting in top-quality archive film reels that have been rebroadcast for decades around the world.