'THE TWENTIETH CENTURY' (CBS, 1957-1966) TELEVISION SERIES: A HISTORY AND ANALYSIS (DOCUMENTARY, COMPILATION)

This study demonstrates that the production system of The Twentieth Century, a Columbia Broadcasting System documentary series, mediated historical representation in the television compilation film, obstructing the comprehensive and accurate collection, assimilation, and interpretation of material evidence (written documents and actuality footage). Produced by Burton Benjamin, the series contained 112 half hour compilation programs--films combining actuality footage from disparate sources with a predetermined purpose. An analysis of mediation in the compilation films of Victory at Sea (NBC, 1952-1953), Project XX (NBC, 1953-1958), and Air Power (CBS, 1956-1957) serves as an introduction to The Twentieth Century.;Three factors circumscribed the series' production of history and acted as determinants of program structure and content. First, the conservative influence of both the Prudential Insurance Company of America, the sponsor, and the CBS network over the selection and representation of historical subjects assured a substantial viewing audience. Second, the major informational sources--the Department of Defense, foreign governments and film archives in the United States and Europe--contained limitations in film and written material and restricted access to selected material, demarcating the history potentially available. Finally, the selection, organization, and processing of information through the unit's production policies and practices furthered mediation. By starting the representation process with the historical narrative or story that was popularly perceived and received, the production unit constricted the collection and assimilation of actuality footage and precluded examining alternative versions of history. Dramatic history, a primary agenda item, constituted the way of perceiving and representing past events; consequently, the compilations avoided interpretive history and reduced the past to a dramatic chain of incidents with a simplistic causality. Analyzing the conceptualization and production of seven historical programs covering the series' three genres--the biographical, broad canvas and event compilations--illustrates the specific mediation of history. The Twentieth Century's production system institutionalized mediation in the television compilation film, producing recognizable, uncontroversial, and easily digestible popular history.