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1940

Block-booking (selling films to theaters in packages) is judged illegal by federal courts.

1941

Orson Welles's directing debut: "Citizen Kane."

1947

The House Un-American Activities Committee says some members of the Screenwriters Guild are Communists.

1948

FCC declares major Hollywood studios ineligible for television licenses.

1949

Jimmy Stewart is the first actor to receive a percentage of a film's gross with

"Winchester 73."

1951

Sen. Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist hearings target members of the film industry.

1952

Network television covers the nation and movie attendance drops drastically. Supreme Court case Burstyn v. Wilson loosens social control on film, declaring motion pictures protected under the First Amendment.

1953

CinemaScope technology is introduced with "The Robe." "House of Wax" is one of the first 3-D films to gross high at box office.

1954

Marlon Brando earns Oscar for his role in "On the Waterfront."

1956

Motion Picture Code revised to allow film treatment of narcotics.

1957

Joanne WoodwardV wins best-actress Oscar for "The Three Faces of Eve."

1959

"The 400 Blows," directed by Francois Truffaut, is the first feature of the influential French New Wave. "Ben-Hur" wins 11 Academy Awards, the most given to a single film.

1960

Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" and Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" released.

1962

"Dr. No" is first in the James Bond series, the longest running series of profitable cinema. "Lawrence of Arabia" released.

1966

Motion Picture Code revisions allow use of common profanity.

1967

"Bonnie and Clyde" with Faye Dunaway ups the ante on violence and sexual content in mainstream film.

1968

"2001: A Space Odyssey," directed by Stanley Kubrick, stuns audiences with its special effects. MPAA adopts age restrictions to regulate audience attendance (G, PG, R, X). Woody Allen begins directing career.

1969

The only X-rated picture to win a best picture Oscar is "Midnight Cowboy." John Wayne wins best-actor award for "True Grit."

1971

"Shaft" gives the blaxploitation genre widespread recognition.

1972

Francis Ford Coppola directs "The Godfather."