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The 1950s were an era of both prosperity and great conflict. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a series of conflicts collectively known as the Cold War. The Soviet Union began the Space Race with the launch of Sputnik 1, while Fidel Castro became the first Communist leader in the Western hemisphere. The landmark Brown v. Board of Education court decision ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, and the Civil Rights Movement was born. Joseph Stalin died, the Vietnam War began, and Elvis Presley turned rock 'n' roll into the most popular music genre in the world.   (from left to right) Replica of Sputnik 1; Fidel Castro; the Vietnam War; Elvis Presley.   The 1950s changed Hollywood as well. As a result of the introduction of television, studios were desperate to attract audiences back to the theatres and resorted to such exotic techniques as CinemaScope and 3D film. The Cold War era zeitgeist translated into a ren...

Rock Hudson was one of the most popular leading men in the 1950s and 1960s. Considered a classic example of the «heartthrob» of Hollywood's Golden Age, he achieved stardom in films such as Magnificent Obsession (1954), All That Heaven Allows (1955) and Giant (1956), the latter of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. His starring role opposite Doris Day in the hugely successful Pillow Talk (1959) made him the number-one male actor in America at that time. In a career that spanned four decades, Rock appeared in nearly 70 films and starred in several television productions, notably the procedural drama McMillan & Wife (1971-1977), with Susan Saint James. But before Rock, there was Roy. Rock Hudson, one of the most popular leading men in the 1950s and 1960s.   Rock Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr. on November 17, 1925, in the village of Winnetka, Illinois. His parents were Katherine «Kay» ( née Wood), a homemaker and later telephone operator, an...

In the two years after the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, over 60,000 American servicemen had died in combat overseas. The country was right in the middle of a costly war and thousands of families were mourning the loss of their loved ones. Taking advantage of this scenario, MGM became interested in making a film that would somehow console grieving families by fueling «hope in a connection between at risk or deceased loved ones and the folks they leave behind.» (from left to right) Photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the attack on Pearl Harbor; the entrance to the MGM studios in Culver City (1947).   Looking to match the success of the afterlife comedy Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), MGM chief Louis B. Mayer commissioned that film's producer, Everett Riskin, to find a story with a similar premise. He came up with «Fliers Never Die», in which a couple of brothers tutored their youngest sibling from the great beyond. The studio, however, was not impr...

The 1940s were marked by World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history. The end of the war signified a change in the political alignment and social structure of the globe. The Marshall Plan helped rebuild war-torn Europe, while the United States became the most influential economic power in the world. Germany was divided in two, and the Cold War began. The State of Israel was established, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, and Chairman Mao founded the People's Republic of China. Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania developed the first general-purpose electronic computer, and Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven.   (from left to right) American troops of the 1st Infantry Division landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day (June 6, 1944); Glen Beck and the ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose digital computer (ca. 1947); Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated on January 30, 1948 by a Hindu nationalist; Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China...

Directed by John Cromwell, Since You Went Away (1944) is set in 1943 and tells the story of Anne Hilton (Claudette Colbert), an upper-middle-class housewife with two teenage daughters, Jane (Jennifer Jones) and Bridget «Brig» (Shirley Temple). After Anne's husband, Tim, enlists in the U.S. Army, the family must make sacrifices for the war effort, including food rationing, giving up the services of their maid, Fidelia (Hattie McDaniel), who is still willing to keep on working for free, and taking in a boarder, the retired Colonel William G. Smollett (Monty Woolley). In contrast, their cynical socialite neighbour, Emily Hawkins (Agnes Moorehead), complains about the inconveniences caused by the war and criticizes the Hiltons' efforts and patriotism. Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple in Since You Went Away .   In the meantime, an old friend of the Hiltons, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Tony Willett (Joseph Cotten), visits the family while awaiting his orders. Jane soon ...