This article is mainly about a Canadian economist’s view on the current state of Canada’s economy in 1978 and future expectations. Arthur Donner, the economist, starts by talking about the then current state of the world economy by mentioning that several countries were suffering from stagflation. Then he goes on to talk about how Canada’s economy was not doing very well in several sectors and there were no strong signs of the unemployment rate and inflation decreasing. The Bank of Canada couldn’t do anything about the situation because of fears of worsening the balance of payments. Among other things, Donner is also concerned about lack of business investments and Canada’s declining real gross national product going into 1979.

The U.S. film industry has always been able to do better than other industries during bad economic times. Films offer audiences an escape from the misfortunes of reality, so people turn to theatres when life is not going very well. In the 70’s there was a special situation where the collective world economy was doing quite poorly. This was mainly because of the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 and stagflation. Hollywood still had the major share in the international film industry and had to come up with a new way to keep audiences in theatres, especially after the decline of the studio system. Hollywood fought these economic troubles with the modern day Hollywood blockbuster. Superman helped to keep attracted multitudes because the storyline and special effects were so powerful they made one forget about real life. Rather, movie goers gained hope and were captivated by the magic that was going on before their eyes. By gaining more than 300 million dollars in international revenues, Superman showed Hollywood that a movie like it was always going to be the most successfully, especially since it did so well during a world economic recession.

Crowther, Bosley. "The Ambiguous ‘Citizen Kane’ :Orson Welles, in His First Motion Picture, Creates a Titanic Character Which Does Everything but Explain Itself ." New York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 4 May 1941, X5. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2004). ProQuest. Van Pelt Library University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. 9 Apr 2008 http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2100/

Bosley Crowther was a film critic for the New York Times. He is one of the first critics to call Citizen Kane the best movie of all time.

Crowther wrote a glowing review of Citizen Kane on May 2nd, 1941, the day after the premiere in New York. He was so impressed with the film that four days after the premiere, he wrote in this article that Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane could be the greatest movie of all time. He conceded that he might have been going out on a limb and that the felt slightly uneasy about this bold declaration, but that he knew that the film was vastly superior to average film of the day. He wrote that because the film maker was so young – only 25 –he was not sure how the future would fare for Welles. He commented about the movie’s hyped-up release and stated that at the premiere, the film was “riding the crest of the most provocative publicity wave ever to float a motion picture.” This wave of publicity was caused by Hearst’s insistence that the film be taken off of the market before it was even released. Crowther wrote about the viewers reactions to the portrayal of the media tycoon. Even though not a single “black mark” is made against the character, the audience still walked away with a vague idea of the rash techniques used by ruthless publishers. This juxtaposes the films portrayal of Kane as an honest publisher. Crowther then wrote about the ending of the film and how he felt that it increased the complexity of the film because the ending didn’t explain itself. He was of the opinion that Welles was a brilliant filmmaker, but because he was so young, he would need more experience in the discipline.

This article is groundbreaking with respect to the fact that it is one of the first to hail Welles’s movie as a masterpiece and one of the greatest movies ever made. In the years after the film, its popularity waned at first but then began to increase with time. When one looks today at various organization’s rankings of the best movies of all time (eg Time, AFI, IMDB), usually Citizen Kane tops the list. One might think that Crowther’s positive reviews of the film would inspire more viewership, however the film was not a blockbuster and it seems that Hearst’s attempts at suppressing it were effective.

Read Kendall. "Stellar Throng Attends El Capitan Event. " Rev. of: Citizen Kane. Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif.] 9 May 1941,18. ProQuest Historical Newspapers Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1986). ProQuest. Van Pelt Library University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. 9 Apr. 2008

This article by a LA Times correspondent, written on May 9, 1941, documents the west coast premiere of Orson Welles’s famous film Citizen Kane. Kendall reports that the premiere of Citizen Kane is held at the famous El Capitan Theater, a Hollywood landmark stage theater. The author describes a nostalgic feeling of “the old days” of Hollywood amid spot lights which pierced the sky in front of thousands of fans gathered – much in today’s fashion – to see their favorite stars. The glitz and glamour seems to add to Welles’s ego as he walks down the red carpet, his entrance timed. The crowds make even more noise for Barrymore as he walks into the theater. When stopped for questioning on the red carpet, Welles makes only one remark – about his gratefulness to George Schaefer, the president of RIO-Radio Pictures. “If it had not been for George J. Schaefer there would not be a Citizen Kane.” Outside the theater, the star-struck crowd for the premiere is so large that RKO had to erect temporary bleachers. The article then extensively lists the famous attendees, including Mickey Rooney, Ronald Reagan and Bob Hope. Kendall also includes a photograph of the “stellar foursome” including John Barrymore, Dolores Del Rio, Orson Welles, and Dorothy Comingore.

This article is a fantastic first hand account of the media and popular frenzy surrounding the grand release of RKO’s Citizen Kane. The movie premiered at the famous El Capitan Theater and was the first movie to be shown at that location. The theater remains a landmark to this day on the Hollywood strip. This article clearly shows that despite Hearst’s best efforts to suppress the film’s release, these attempts only furthered to publicize the movie and create even more attention for the premiere. Hearst did succeed in limiting the films success and it wasn’t for many years that interest in the film was revived. This article also, interestingly enough, reveals that as early as 1941, Hollywood felt a sense of nostalgia for the good-old-days of past. It is interesting to see these feelings manifest at such an early date, especially because today we consider Hollywood’s Golden Age to encompass the 1920s through the late 1950s.

Different essays written by different authors about the history of ultraviolence in movies, the aesthetics of ultraviolence, and the effects of ultraviolence. Includes a forward by Stephen Prince summarizing all three topics.

Essentially a book about the movie culture in America. Looks at the impact movies have on society and vise versa. Primarily focuses on fan clubs of movie stars and obsessed fans, but also how Hollywood reacts to these movements.

Wes Craven's horror movie about murders in a high school community. Contains humor as it refers to other horror movies, especially Craven's. Addresses the issue of whether violent movies influence violent behavior.