Hollywood and the Star System

With film makers finding their groove in Hollywood the motion picture industry was beginning to boom.  Five studios emerged as the major film makers of the time: MGM , Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO, and Fox, with three smaller companies: Universal, Columbia, United Artists.  Most of these companies are familiar to movie-goers to this day.

The studios were able to control everything they produced from the screenplay to the actors and directors, to the way the film was processed and even distributed.  Each studio was able to ensure that every film that came out of their studio would be a money-maker through this control.  The studios also "owned" their actors, which became known as the star system.

The antitrust case United States vs. Paramount Pictures, Inc. outlawed the practice of block booking (forcing theaters to buy several movies at once as a unit, rather than buying them one at a time), and also forced the studios to sell their theater chains.  This verdict began the decline of the studio system and the decline of the then booming star system.

A STAR IS BORN

In addition to controlling the films in which an actor or actress could appear, studios also created the public images of their stars.  Household names such as 

Marilyn Monroe

Marlon Brando

Rock Hudson

and Elizabeth Taylor

were all products of this system.  While it did lead to successful careers for the stars borne of this system, it was incredibly frustrating for many artists.  Not only did they not have any control over the films in which they would star, many of them had false personas created for them which they were to uphold in real life.

The formula used to build stars begins with creating an archetype for them to fill.  Marilyn Monroe, for example, was made to be the "blonde bombshell, and Marlon Brando was to be the "mysterious rebel".  Once the archetype is in place that image is to be implanted in the imagination of the public.

Next, is to make the archetype believable for the person; that in their real lives, outside of a movie set, they are the same as the characters they portray.  Reports that Marlon Brando was out late drinking and causing trouble, for example, might boost his star power, while the same report would likely do grave damage to the career of Rock Hudson.

To really be sure that a star's power is solidified, the next step is to continually cast an actor or actress in roles that perpetuate the archetype.  By type-casting their talent studios were able to control this aspect of the star formula, ensuring their return on investment.

Although they are no longer controlled by studios, many stars use this same formula to create their fame today.

To resist the control studios had over the films they produced, four big movie stars created their own studio, United Artists.  Those stars were D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks.

By starting their own studio these artists were able to maintain control over their own creative pursuits.

The frustration of many stars, however, began to be too much and caused a lot of hostility and conflict between the studios and the film makers.  Several actors and actresses left their studios and were only willing to come back on their own terms.  Others sued their studios to be freed from their contracts.  By the 1960s the star and studio systems were no longer in place.