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Schary did sponsor a few social problem films at MGM in the mid-1950s, including Bad Day at Black Rock, Blackboard Jungle, and Trial (all 1955). Further, Schary was a liberal, and MGM was the most politically conservative of studios-many of its employees belonged to the Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. However, Schary was not given the authority to clean house and restructure, and he was always resented by the studio old guard. MGM production head Dore Schary had been hired in 1949 to solve all the problems of the postwar era and restore the studio to commercial and artistic pre-eminence. When MGM finally did split off from the Loew's exhibition chain on 12 March 1959 (Loew's had delayed this for several years based on the difficulty of getting fair value for the theaters), Vogel became the president of MGM, Inc. With a shrinking motion-picture audience the theater chains, which had large, under-performing real estate holdings, were more at risk than the production companies. He pushed through a plan to divest the theater chain, not the film business, which was probably the right decision. Vogel managed to survive all threats to his authority.

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Mayer returning to power) divestiture of the film production/distribution business, with retention of the theater chain and the music, radio, and TV businesses even a possible merger with United Artists. Meanwhile, some members of the Loew's board were promoting a number of aggressive initiatives: outright sale of MGM's film library to television liquidation of all highly valued Loew's assets replacement of the current management team (one scenario had Louis B. Vogel struggled to cut costs at MGM and started making deals to finance independent productions (MGM was far behind its competitors in courting the top independents).

Arthur Loew in turn resigned in late 1956, and was replaced by Loew's Inc. (MGM's parent company) resigned under pressure in December 1955 and was replaced by Arthur Loew, son of the company's founder. Nicholas Schenck, longtime president of Loew's Inc. MGM went through four years of management turmoil between 19, with the board of directors constantly fighting over who would control the company and what direction it would take. All of the large studios survived, except for Howard Hughes's RKO. Some of the studios were sold others changed management a few went through proxy fights. It was hard for them to change, but the new conditions of the period made change imperative. These were large, well-established organizations with traditions of success.

The five 'major' Hollywood studios (MGM, Paramount, Fox, Warners, and RKO) went through a difficult period in the late 1950s (1955 to 1959). And there were opportunities to make profitable films for the more segmented audiences that were still going to the movies. In feature film production, the foreign market was still welcoming American films foreign sales became increasingly important as U.S. The film companies were also beginning to produce original programming for TV-this was a lower budget, lower profit margin business than film, but at least it did keep people and facilities working. Sales or leases to television would help most of the studios survive the hard times of the late 1950s. Recent pictures had greater value, though the film companies were reluctant to sell them. Films from the 1930s and 1940s, probably considered worthless in the studio account books, suddenly had value as programming for television. There were a few positive signs for the film industry at mid-decade. Though filmmakers satirized and scolded commercial TV in such films as It's Always Fair Weather (1955), The Girl Can't Help It (1956), Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), and A Face in the Crowd this adversary would not go away.

Pay-TV experiments featuring movies and other content had failed, at least for the moment (they would be revived, with great success, in the 1980s).

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New film content might have enticed spectators back into the theaters, but the conservative political mood plus the various censoring groups such as the PCA and the Legion of Decency limited the possibilities for change. However, even the 'CinemaScope rebound' lasted only a year or two. Technological innovation had lifted the fortunes of a few companies, with Twentieth Century-Fox's CinemaScope providing the broadest stimulus. Many excellent films had been made in the first half of the decade, but the downward trend of cinema admissions continued. 9 The Film Industry in the Late 1950s Decline of the Majors Smaller Studios Independent Producers Crisis in Exhibition A Changing Workplace: Musicians and Actors Finding Audiences Conclusionīy 1955 the film industry's attempt to overcome the challenge of television and re-establish its dominance in audio-visual entertainment had clearly failed.