Genres and Production
Trends, 1950-1954

I n social/political terms, the 1950s can be summarized as a period of half-war, halfpeace. In the Korean War, which began in 1950 and ended in 1953, the United States entered into military engagement not only with Communist North Korea but also with the far stronger People's Republic of China. More than 30,000 American servicemen died in this undeclared war. However, the Korean conflict was a faraway engagement that did not immediately threaten the stability of the United States or its European allies. A greater threat to the United States was the Cold War with the Soviet Union and its allies, with its complex issues of diplomatic and economic competition, border disputes (Berlin, Korea, Hungary), nuclear gamesmanship, espionage, and internal subversion. Competition with the Soviet Union led to a quick buildup of U.S. nuclear forces in...