5th Blog Post: Star System

An aspect of how the studio system worked was through the star system which was a result of contracted talent. Classical Hollywood used a factory-based system where every aspect of production was vertically integrated. Along with distribution and exhibition control, studios contracted its talent and controlled what movies they were allowed to participate in. The star system derived out of audience demand for certain actors/actresses. Therefore, they were used to advertise and sell the movies.

Actors were also typecast within certain characters and genres that came to be expected in every movie that they were in. This affected the kinds of films made by the studios. Audience demand dictated what films the studios chose to make. For example, if westerns were becoming more popular then the film studios would begin to make more westerns. If certain actors were in demand then they would be contracted to make several movies within the year.

Buster Keaton is an example of an actor/talent that was under the influence of the star system. He worked under MGM which limited his creativity and ability to create the movies he wanted to make. He came to be known as "the great stone face" because of his character that showed little emotion that was in every film he made. His films had the trend of being about an ambitious and naive character caught in a chaotic situation/world. His films were all comedic in nature.

The star system turned actors into products that could be advertised and sold. This is explains the high distribution of movies that contained the same basic formula.


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