The Death of the Studio System.

During the summer of 1961 20th Century-Fox took its back lot apart, a poignant symbol of the dismantling of the Hollywood studio system that became final later in the 1960s. Rather than creating motion pictures, the studios gradually assumed the role of financing and distributing films made by producers, directors, and actors not on the studio bankroll.

Rising Costs, Shrinking Audiences.

Motion pictures entered the 1960s in fairly bad shape in general: fewer movies were being made, and they were attracting smaller audiences. The most common scapegoat was television, but as expenses increased so did the number of admissions required to produce enough revenue to cover them. Such increases were justified by some; after all, Ben-Hur (1959) had cost fifteen million dollars to make yet grossed one hundred million dollars. Not every movie could be Ben-Hur, but to studios it seemed...