Moguls & Movie Stars: Fade Out, Fade In (2010)
*** (out of 4)
The final entry in TCM's seven-part series takes a look at the 60s, which kicked off with Alfred Hitchcock going low-budget with PSYCHO and ending with folks like Dennis Hopper making low-budget movies like EASY RIDER and making millions off of them. This episode covers the end of the studio era as more and more companies found themselves making big-budget pictures like CLEOPATRA, which weren't making any money back. Then various foreign directors made an impact on young filmmakers in America and this is where the new talent came from. After a rather shaky start the series finally ends and it's on a good note as this entry does a good job of explaining why the studio system started to fail and why so many people wanted to see pictures like BONNIE AND CLYDE, THE GRADUATE and of course MIDNIGHT COWBOY. The documentary also pays nice tribute to the original moguls who started to either die or retire by this time but we do get to hear from a couple on their thoughts of the hippies taking over. The importance of Roger Corman and all the talent he discovered is mentioned so it's good to see the director finally getting the attention he deserves.
*** (out of 4)
The final entry in TCM's seven-part series takes a look at the 60s, which kicked off with Alfred Hitchcock going low-budget with PSYCHO and ending with folks like Dennis Hopper making low-budget movies like EASY RIDER and making millions off of them. This episode covers the end of the studio era as more and more companies found themselves making big-budget pictures like CLEOPATRA, which weren't making any money back. Then various foreign directors made an impact on young filmmakers in America and this is where the new talent came from. After a rather shaky start the series finally ends and it's on a good note as this entry does a good job of explaining why the studio system started to fail and why so many people wanted to see pictures like BONNIE AND CLYDE, THE GRADUATE and of course MIDNIGHT COWBOY. The documentary also pays nice tribute to the original moguls who started to either die or retire by this time but we do get to hear from a couple on their thoughts of the hippies taking over. The importance of Roger Corman and all the talent he discovered is mentioned so it's good to see the director finally getting the attention he deserves.