In Europe it was mostly about the post war period and the economic boom that followed the end of WW2. Being Italian I can tell you how that period was the most prolific for the film industry, and many movies centered about telling stories of common people narrating their lives in a 1930s 1940s setting.

the immediate post war period up until the first half of the 50s was described as the Italian Neorealism where directors focused on telling stories of individuals during the war through uneventful events; theme like poverty, unemployment, injustice, were popular. Then throughout the 50s some themes like adaptation, integration, social differences, divorce, faithfulness, touched many taboos for the first time; however, the comedy genre was beginning to take place and to last for the next thirty years.

Films in the 60s started depicting a more political and morbid aspect of society introducing different topics. Movies made by Pier Paolo Pasolini in this decade are an eye opener over social issues that weren't told in depth in the past years, and we have themes like social differences, justice, political allegiance, violence, sex, prostitution, being explored and proposed to the public in order to start public debates over many real issue that affected society in that period: divorce, left vs right, drugs, youth violence, etc.

Throughout many comedy movies done between the 50s and 60s we see the many habits and vices of the people. Story illustrating powerful conservative men being involved in sexual scandals, successful families highly religious having orgies each month during their lavish parties, or wealthy individuals cheating the laws through their status trying to be above the system.

All in all those twenty years were the greatest period for movies world wide, they helped shape society to become more progressive and open towards certain arguments once deemed taboo.