The biggest problem facing the movie industry in the 1950s was the TV. As sales of TV sets increased, more and more Americans stayed at home—and away from cinemas. This was not the movie studio's only problem, however. A 1948 Supreme Court ruling had led to the major studios selling off all their theater holdings in 1951. No longer could movie studios exert complete control over which movies were shown in which theaters. With TV and the breakup of what was known as the "studio system," moviemakers faced real competition.

Movie studios responded to this new era in a variety of ways. They made fewer movies. In 1954, the seven major studios made fewer than 100 movies, down from over 320 movies per year in the late 1940s. The movies they made, however, were bigger and more dramatic, providing the kinds of entertainment that TV could not. Films...