The result was that several top studio executives (including the company founder's son, Richard Zanuck) lost their jobs, and the studio itself went into such dire financial straits that it produced only one picture for the entire calendar year of 1970. All were released amid massive pre-release publicity and all lost equally massive amounts of money for the studio that could have sunk the studio again if it weren't for the spectacular success of the hit SF series, Planet of the Apes, starting in 1968 to keep it afloat. Furthermore, the strategy then backfired spectacularly when the studio attempted to duplicate that success by producing three expensive, large-scale musicals over a period of three years: Doctor Dolittle (1967), Star! (1968) and Hello, Dolly! (1969). Unfortunately, this strategy proved wildly inconsistent in results, the grotesquely overpriced Cleopatra would have nearly bankrupted the studio if the marathon musical The Sound of Music hadn't become the studio's most profitable film at the time. In the 1950s, alongside its more standard dramatic fare, 20th Century produced a series of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, comedies with squeaky-clean teen idols, and well-regarded biblical epics, hoping to stave off the threat of television by the sheer size of its productions.
In addition, under long-time founding executive Zanuck, the studio became known for making some of the most important and controversial films in Hollywood, with films that addressed sensitive issues such as antisemitism (the Academy Award winning Gentleman's Agreement), poverty (fellow Academy Award winner The Grapes of Wrath), unfair unionization and environmental destruction (a third Academy Award winner, How Green Was My Valley), and institutionalized mistreatment of the mentally ill ( The Snake Pit, which caused 13 states to change their laws when it came out). The studio was distinguished by its glossy production values and sharp-focused, high-contrast cinematography. 20th Century also capitalized on its association with Shirley Temple, who single-handedly made over $20 million for the studio in the late 1930s. In its day, 20th Century was considered one of the most prestigious of the Hollywood studios, known for its musicals (especially in the 1940s with Betty Grable), and prestige Bio Pics (such as John Ford's 1939 film Young Mr.
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