John Daniel And Company Charles Champlin, author of
"Hollywood’s Revolutionary Decade," is featured in a Festival of
Books panel discussion held on the UCLA campus this weekend.
By Michelle V. Gonzales
Daily Bruin Contributor
A discussion on a genre known for its twists, turns and red
herrings will have its own twist Saturday, as Charles Champlin, an
author of books on Hollywood, comes to the Festival of Books to
moderate a panel discussion on mystery novels.
Champlin is the author of “Hollywood’s Revolutionary
Decade,” (1998) a book that examines how the change from film
industry self-censorship under the Hays Code to a new ratings
system in the 1970s broadended and revolutionized the scope of
filmmaking.
In his book, Champlin explains how the ratings system, which we
still use today brought about new ideas in filmmaking.
According to Champlin, the Hays Code was dropped in 1968 after
it began to be weakly enforced. The code was a set of rules that
restricted the content in films. In turn, a new ratings system was
implemented, which gave filmmakers more freedom to be creative if
they accepted a stronger rating.
Many films of the 1970s explored cinematic innovations in fields
such as cinematography and special effects. He also discusses how
films were able to explore certain political, cultural, and social
themes that were not previously portrayed before the 1970s.
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According to Champlin, Francis Ford Coppola’s “The
Godfather” (1972) brings together a strong storyline, notable
actors and the introduction of innovative graphic violence. For the
movie “Cabaret,” (1972) Champlin describes how the
movie’s cinematography and costumes complement the
movie’s script and star Liza Minelli were able to capture the
cultural history of the cabaret era.
“The change opened up a gap between life as it is and life
as it is shown. Filmmakers could do anything he wanted on screen.
You can have all of the business that went on in “˜Midnight
Cowboy.’ With that movie you can see how far ahead of its
time it was,” Champlin said, referring to the 1969 X-rated
drama about life on the streets in New York City.
Champlin examines films from the late 1960s (“Midnight
Cowboy” and “Easy Rider,” both 1969) up to
1980’s “Raging Bull,” and includes
“Jaws” (1975), and “American Graffiti”
(1973). While these films have diverse themes and equally
dissimilar methods of conveying those themes to the viewer,
Champlin says the purpose of all these movies is the same.
“What is still true of the primary aim of the motion
picture is entertainment,” said Champlin. “People go to
the movies to be taken out of their lives and are given a kind of
wonderful experience, there are films that audiences find
engrossing.”
In addition to promoting “Hollywood’s Revolutionary
Decade,” Champlin will be supporting his newest book
“My Friend, You Are Legally Blind.” The book documents
Champlin’s own struggles with macular degeneration, a
condition that has deteriorated his central vision.
At this year’s festival, however Champlin will be speaking
not about film or blindness, but rather about literature, as he
moderates a panel discussion with mystery writers Thomas Perry, T.
Jefferson Partner and Elizabeth George. The topic will be character
motivations in mystery novels.
“The great thing about the festival is that it is a
reminder of how important printed books are,” said Champlin.
“It has an enormous collection of booths, books on display,
materials on free and discounted books of literature. The festival
is an exposure to an enormous extension of literature in age of
television and Internet. It is a wonderful corrective to seductions
of sitcom and allures of television.”
FESTIVAL: “Skeletons & and Their
Motives” is in Schoenberg at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.