Towards a Comparative Economic History of Cinema, 1930–1970: (Frontiers in Economic History)

This book examines the economic circumstances in which films were produced, distributed, exhibited, and consumed during the spoken era of film production until 1970. The periodisation covers the years between the onset of sound and the demise of the phased distribution of films.  Films are generally appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. But they are also commodities. This work of economic history presents a new approach, considering consumption behaviour as significant as supply-side decision-making. Audiences’ tastes are considered central, with box-office an indicator of what they liked. The POPSTAT Index of Film Popularity is used as a proxy where box office knowledge is missing. Comparative analysis is conducted through the tool RelPOP. The book comprises original case studies covering film consumption in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States during the 1930s;Australia and occupied Belgium during the Second World War; and Italy, the United States, Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Post-war. An overriding theme is how the classical American business model, which emerged during the 1910s linking production to distribution and exhibition, adapted to local circumstances, including the two countries behind the Iron Curtain during the years of ‘High Stalinism’. 

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Introduction: ‘Millions of People Every Day’ – Cinema as part of the quotidian of life (John Sedgwick).- Chapter 2. Managing Risk - Key Concepts and Methods (John Sedgwick).- Chapter 3. How did the Department of Justice Get it so Wrong? Philadelphia 1935-36: the Stanley Warner Chain, competitive practices, and consumer welfare (Andrew Hanssen).- Chapter 4. Comparative Film Popularity in Three English Cities - Bolton, Brighton, and Portsmouth: an exercise in POPSTAT methodology (John Sedgwick).- Chapter 5. Popular films in Stockholm during the 1930s: a presentation and discussion of the pioneering work of Leif Furhammar (John Sedgwick).- Chapter 6. Dutch films in the Dutch market in the 1930s: A characteristics approach to film popularity (Clara Pafort-Overduin).- Chapter 7. Unravelling Australia’s “Infamous ‘contract’ system.” Evidence from Adelaide, 1942-3. (Dylan Walker).- Chapter 8. Film exhibition, distribution, and popularity in German-occupied Belgium (1940-1944): Brussels, Antwerp, and Liege (John Sedgwick).- Chapter 9. Five Italian Cities: Comparative analysis of cinema-types, film circulation, and relative popularity in the mid-1950s (John Sedgwick).- Chapter 10. Cinemagoers should ‘…learn from progressive movies, again and again.’ Cinemagoing in Czechoslovakia, 1949-52 (John Sedgwick).- Chapter 11. ‘It seems to me that the most popular films in the West are very harmful to us’: Film Popularity in Poland during the years of ‘High Stalinism’ (John Sedgwick).- Chapter 12. Americanisation in reverse? Hollywood films, international influences, and US audiences, 1946-1965 (Peter Miskell)

About the Author :
John Sedgwick researches the business and economic history of movies and has published widely in business, economic and film history journals. As an academic, he worked for 25 years at London Metropolitan University (UK), teaching industrial economics and research methods. He also served variously as Economics Subject Leader and Director of the Centre for International Business and Sustainability. John was appointed Professor of Film Economics in 2009 and then Professor of Creative Industries in 2011. Between 2013 and 2017, he was employed as a 0.2 Professor in the Business School, University of Portsmouth (UK). He currently has visiting status at Oxford Brooks University