Before 1960 the British film industry produced movies about their success in wars such as Dam Busters and they relied on Hollywood blockbusters to fill the cinemas such as Ben Hur and Cleopatra. In the 1960s more realistic movies were started to be produced that everyone could relate to such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” These films dealt with realistic problems which reflected the life of ordinary middle class people socially and economically because of this the British film industry took off. Also in the 1960s, something new came to cinemas: the 'Carry On' films. They showed a different and new British humour, which people had never seen in films before.
TV and radio were still broadcasting old-fashioned, educational programs. People wanted to watch programs about real life. The middle class male was the main target because they had the most interesting life style. Until Coronation Street in the beginning of the 1960s, there were hardly any regional accents on television. Some people called this he democratisation of television. Suddenly, it was very popular to had a regional accent whereas before people were embarrassed by it. When ITV formed they brought in comedies such as I love Lucy, and Coronation Street. Coronation Street portrayed working class families in Manchester; this was popular as people could relate to the everyday problems. This was a welcome change from the high culture programmes that were broadcasted by the BBC. Coronation Street was the first TV program that showed things as they were. They were criticised for their effect on viewers.
Television sets in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s were very basic as a wooden box with a screen and a few controls on the front including power, volume, brightness, pitch, vertical and horizontal synchronization, contrast, channel tuning and channel switch. Most of these TV’s were made out of wood grain and this was the same as colour came out as well later on.
The fashion in these years was mainly items that had carried over from the 1950s. Most children fashions were identical to their parent’s. However, as more and more young people started to rebel in the 1960’s, many new fashions arose to suit the youths, and give them more freedom in what they could wear. A very popular American fashion icon was Jacqueline Kennedy. She wore shifts and A-line dresses, which had been designed several years ago, but had never been worn till 1960. They quickly became popular, and it gave women a new sense of freedom and allowed them to dress in their own way. Also, Mary Quant opened her first shop in Carnaby Street, which soon became very popular. She opened the way for a new generation of British fashion.
Teddy Boys, an example of a youth group, emerged in south London in 1954. The Teddy boys had long hair, which they greased and swept back. They wore long Edwardian jackets and thick crepe-soled shoes. They listened to American rock ‘n’ roll. They met in coffee bars and listened to Jukeboxes. In the late 50s and early 60s they evolved into a group called Bikers. The Bikers’ main interests revolved around motorbikes. They kept the same hairstyle as the Teddy Boys but changed their clothes. They wore jeans and leather jackets. Like the Teddy Boys, they listened to Rock ‘n’ roll music. This showed the fast changing fashions of similar groups of the 1960s. The Teddy Boys and Rockers are just one example of the change of youth groups. There was also rivalry between groups. There was a new fashion. Mary Quant, designed clothes which: “Allowed people to run, to leap, to retain their precious freedom.” They could be described as “styles that were more daring, more colourful, and more exciting than ever before.” This was a radical change from the clothes of the older generation who used to wear tight and restrictive clothes.
Before 1960 the British film industry produced movies about their success in wars such as Dam Busters and they relied on Hollywood blockbusters to fill the cinemas such as Ben Hur and Cleopatra. In the 1960s more realistic movies were started to be produced that everyone could relate to such as “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” These films dealt with realistic problems which reflected the life of ordinary middle class people socially and economically because of this the British film industry took off.
Before the 1960s England was largely conservative and relied on imports form the USA such as Elvis and I love Lucy but in the 1960s they took the initiative and started to produce quality media themselves such as The Beatles and Coronation Street. This was only the start though soon a dramatic culture change was on its way, and society was changed forever as it became less conservative and more open.
Things started to change at the beginning of the 60s but the change happened slowly and was very selective. There were different changes for different social classes, different ages, different races and different genders. The early 60s were still interlocked with the late 50s but there were signs of change.
