The 1950s

In Anos 50: Hollywood em tempos paranoicos (The 1950s: Hollywood in paranoid times) Ricardo Luiz de Souza analyses some of the masterpieces made during this period. I will discuss some lesser-known but equally brilliant films. I will also analyse some minor films - and even some mediocre works - but which help to understand one of the main characteristics of the 1950s which is paranoia. It was in this decade that science fiction first gained relevance in Hollywood production. Renowned filmmakers remained on the sidelines of the genre the actors were obscure and the productions were cheap usually ignored by critics although several of these films have undergone a well-deserved process of belated appreciation. The box office however proved highly receptive to the genre at a time when traditional monsters were disappearing from the scene. The danger now came from space or was embodied by radioactive mutations. In one way or another they represented the danger that everyone saw as present whether as a communist threat or a nuclear threat. And in paranoid times these films exorcised evil.