4B - Popular Culture and Entertainment, 1945-1979

Question 1

What are examples of the popular Ealing comedies produced 1947-57 that entertained and explored the changing quality of life?

Answer 1

• 1947 Hue and Cry - about school boys who thwart a criminal gang, filmed in bomb ruins of East London.
• 1953 Meet Mr Lucifer - film about TV set that is cursed and is passed from owner to owner causing chaos. Reflects growth and anxieties of television ownership.

Question 2

Why were war films prominant in the PW period even though GB’s world role had declined after WW2?

Answer 2

Reminded people of war record. Important due to relative economic decline, loss of world power status, end of the empire, growth of immigration and sense of uncertaint

Question 3

What are examples of patriotic war films?

Answer 3

The Dam Busters (1955) and Sink the Bismark (1960)

Question 4

What did James Bond movies reflect after beginning in 1962?

Answer 4

Reflected improvement in living standards - expensive cars, clothes, drinks and international trave

Question 5

What are examples of the new wave of film making in the 1950s and 1960s that produced dramas based on everyday experiences of GB working class?

Answer 5

Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (1960) - WC man resentful of his class status, looks at community of Nottingham and dreams of better things. Materialistic - shows WC man with more money

Question 6

What are examples of 1970s films depicting a darker GB with harsh economic problems; fears of rising crime and permissive society?

Answer 6

1971 Get Carter - gangster seeking revenge for the death of his brother, made due to the relaxation of film censorship. Included drug abuse and prostitution
1971 A Clockwork Orange - Film of future GB where violent gangs kill and rape for enjoyment, reflects anxieties over hooliganism of 1960s. Withdrawn from cinema.

Question 7

Why did cinema decline in the 1970s?

Answer 7

Couldn’t compete with US, lack of funding

Question 8

What soft porn cinema comedies became popular in the 1970s?

Answer 8

Confessions of a Window Cleaner and TV series spin offs like On the Buses were popular

Question 9

Who were the popular rock n roll artists of the 1950s/60s?

Answer 9

Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry reinvented black blues music for a youth audience

Question 10

What was skiffle?

Answer 10

GB style of Rock n Roll, Lonnie Donegan - most successful Skiffle artist, had 31 top 30 singles, 3 number 1s by 1962

Question 11

Who replaced skiffle?

Answer 11

Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones and the Who replaced skiffle and American Blues and invaded America from 1963

Question 12

What music was popular in the 1960s?

Answer 12

Mod music - tensions would often arise between the mods, often riding highly decorated motor scooters, and their main rivals, the rockers, a British subculture who favored early rock’n’roll and rode motorbikes

Question 13

What music was popular in the 1970s?

Answer 13

Glam rock - David Bowie appeared androgynous and made statements about sexuality. Found fame in 1969 with Space Oddity - wore make up and rejected male hetrosexuality

Question 14

What genre of music came from carribbean immigrants in the 1950s?

Answer 14

Reggae - First reggae song to ever hit number 1 was Desmond Dekker The Israelites in 1969, reflected changing ethnic makeup of GB

Question 15

What genre of music was similar to reggae, popular in the 1970s?

Answer 15

Ska - adopted by Black and White musicians, known as two tone music. Drew from punk, 1970s group called The Specials wrote about lack of opportunity for young people in 1970s

Question 16

What are examples of 1970s Punk bands and what did they aim to do?

Answer 16

Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Buzzcocks captured the mood of trying to appear shocking and offensive through piercings and tattoos, people linked the appeal of punk to

Question 17

What did people link the appeal of punk music to?

Answer 17

A decline in living standards, labelled ‘the music of the dole queue’

Question 18

What did Glam Rock represent?

Answer 18

Changing attitudes towards gender roles and sexuality, David Bowie wore make up, shocking to older generation and fascinating to newer generation

Question 19

What was the most popular music of the 1970s?

Answer 19

Feel good pop music - Elton John

Question 20

What was radio caroline?

Answer 20

Pirate radio station playing pop music while BBC wouldn’t, audience of 10 million people by 1964.

Question 21

Why were illegal broadcasts popular?

Answer 21

No effective way of stopping illegal broadcasts. Gained huge teen audiences because they played the latest music. PW baby boom = growth in teenage market.

Question 22

What did Pirate radio force the BBC to do?

Answer 22

To broadcast pop music. 1967 reorganisation of radio into Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4. Many pirate radio DJs hired to radio 1.

Question 23

When did commercial radio come in?

Answer 23

1975 BBC loses monopoly on radio. Commercial stations began to appeal to niche markets through selling airtime to advertisers.

Question 24

What was the impact of radio?

Answer 24

• Important component of the development of popular culture
• Shaped music and fashion trends
• Eventually replaced by TV

Question 25

When was the first TV broadcast?

Answer 25

1936 - Only 20,000 viewers of TV in 1939

Question 26

Why did TV grow significantly in the 1950s?

Answer 26

Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 attracted mass audience. 8 million viewers.

Question 27

How did people view the BBC in 1960 and what happened because of this?

Answer 27

Elitist tone of BBC seen as old fashioned and outdated, New programmes emerged that challenged elitism and deference: That Was The Week That Was - ridiculed snobbery and challenged establishment

Question 28

What are examples of films depicting social issues like abortion and homelessness?

Answer 28

Up the Junction (1968) dramas about social issues and Cathy Come Home (1966)

Question 29

What is an example of a popular 1960s escapist tv programme?

Answer 29

Doctor Who (1963) national sensation due to impact of Daleks

Question 30

Why and how was TV so popular?

Answer 30

3 channels - tended to be a captive audience
Over 20 million people watched Morecambe and Wise 1977 Xmas special
Comedies like Dad’s Army and Fawlty Towers emerged

Question 31

What impact did TV have?

Answer 31

Took up people’s leisure time at home. Price of TV sets decreased and TV no longer a pleasure for the minority. Intellectuals worried it destroyed family time.

Question 32

What was the most successful programme on ITV?

Answer 32

Most successful programme on ITV was Coronation Street - began broadcasting in 1960

Question 33

What did the 1954 TV Act do?

Answer 33

Allowed for commercial rival to establish itself, ITV. Financed through advertising not a licence fee. Attempted to be more classless and modern, offered entertainment the viewer wanted not what they needed

Question 34

How successful was ITV by 1959?

Answer 34

Greater ad revenues than all newspapers put together.

Question 35

What evidence is there that there was a baby boom in the PW period and what impact did it have?

Answer 35

1 million births per year in PW period vs 750,000 in 1930s. New teenage market emerged as young people had jobs and increased spending power.

Question 36

How did new teenagers differ to older generations?

Answer 36

Previous generations had left school to go to work at 14 whereas school leaving age raised to 15 in 1947 and many stayed on to do exams and from 1960s onwards go to university.

Question 37

What impact did the end of national service in 1960 have on teenagers?

Answer 37

More teenagers. Full employment + apprenticeships = more money

Question 38

How did TV cater to teenagers?

Answer 38

1964 Top of the Pops designed specifically for teenagers

Question 39

How did teenagers try to differentiate themselves from their parents?

Answer 39

• Teddy boy gangs of 1950s with slicked back hair and listened to Rock n Roll.
• Mods and Rockers replaced by rockers with leather jackets and motorbikes.
• Mods also emerged, italianate suits and riding vespas.
• 1970s - punks with torn clothing and chains and mohican hairstyles.