Hollywood and the studio system had been the sole form of film production in the United States and was often referred to as the ‘reign of the majors’ due to the all-encompassing control the studios held. 272 The system was liberated when United States v . Paramount Pictures ruled that studios’ use of block-booking and vertical integration 273 “constituted anti- competitive and monopolistic trade practises.” 274 The deconstruction of companies’ vertical integration meant that the self-censoring Production Code, which had enabled studios to avoid greater restrictions put in place by government agencies and religious groups, was left inoperable and studios lost power over their own censorship. 275 The introduction of the rating system established a more enduring method of film censoring, one which is still used today. 276 Rifts in Hollywood’s once-united audience were widened when overproduction of popular 1950s roadshow epics drove older generations to turn to television in search of entertainment. 277 This, paired with the coming of age of the Baby Boomer generation, signified the initiation of a more liberal, accepting audience. 278 These changes in demographics and regulations allowed Nichols to produce one of the most popular and shocking films of the era. The generational divide was making its presence felt through all aspects of American 272 John W. Cones, Hollywood Wars: How Insiders Gained and Maintained Illegitimate Control over the Film Industry (Wisconsin: Marquette Books, 2007), 328. 273 Kramer, The New Hollywood, 20. 274 United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U.S. 158 (1948). 275 Geoff King, New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction (London: I.B.Tauris Publishers, 2002), 30.
276 King, New Hollywood Cinema, 30. 277 Kramer, The New Hollywood, 38. 278 Ibid., 59.
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