There’s more to movies than just what you see on the screen. Peter Lev, professor of electronic media and film at Towson University, came to Dickinson on Thursday, Mar. 4 to discuss the political and social evolution of the film company Twentieth Century Fox from the mid-20th century to today.
The event was sponsored by The Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues, The Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life, and the departments of Film Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Political Science, American Studies, English, French & Italian and History.
After opening comments from Professor of French Nancy Mellerski, Lev began the lecture with a brief background on Twentieth Century-Fox. He explained that Darryl Zanuck and Spyrous Skouras, the original presidents of Twentieth Century Fox, were key figures in leading the company during the period of the 1940s and 1950s, particularly in their desire to make films regardless of political opinions and censorship on the subjects.
Lev emphasized the importance of the 1940s pro-war film “A Yank in the R.A.F.” as an example of the sort of work Skouras and Zanuck were piloting at the time. He also noted that Twentieth Century-Fox was involved with “The Hollywood Ten” and the “Hollywood Blacklist” incident, which was a list of people who were blacklisted from working in Hollywood because of their suspected affiliation with communist ideals.
Lev concluded the lecture by remarking on the present day Twentieth Century-Fox, which he noted is now a part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. He said that as opposed to the time of Zanuck and Skouras, now Twentieth Century Fox is obliged to produce films even if they contain political messages that the company does not agree with.
During the question and answer session Lev fielded a variety of questions from students and faculty including what he thought the most politically influential film 20th Century-Fox had made was and whether there was legislation passed during the 40s and 50s that protected film production companies from censorship. After the question and answer session students and faculty lined up to introduce themselves to Lev and further discuss film and his lecture.
Lev is currently serving as an Electronic Media and Film Professor at Towson University. A published author with six books to his name, he recently released Twentieth Century-Fox: The Zanuck-Skouras Years 1935-1965, which deals with many of the topics discussed during his lecture.
