The Studio System

• The Box Office

– Art within, not vs,
Capitalism
– Cinema is the most
expensive art form
– “Cheap shows for cheap
people”
– Popular art as opposed to
the European artistic ideal
– Differences based on social
conditions after WWI

Queen Christina
 The Studio System
• The Big 5
– Paramount - 25%
– Warner Bros. - 25%
– Twentieth Century Fox
– MGM
– RKO
• The Remaining 10%
– Columbia
– Universal
– United Artists
 The Studio System
• Stars were
investments and
properties for the
major studios
• Were “loaned” to
other studios

Greta Garbo
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• Paramount
– Adolph Zukor
– Most sophisticated studio
– Refined “block booking”
– Originated by Thomas
Ince in the 20’s
– “Produce Exactly As
Written”
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• Stars & Directors
– Cary Grant
– Marlene Dietrich
– Gary Cooper
– Carole Lombard
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– Preston Sturges
• Sullivan’s Travels
– Ernst Lubitsch
• Trouble in Paradise
– Josef von
Sternnberg
• The Scarlett Empress
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• Warner Brothers
– “Torn from the
headlines…”
– Darryl F. Zanuck &
Hal B. Wallis
– The Jazz Singer
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• Stars
– James Cagney
– Edward G. Robinson
– Bette Davis
The Studio System
– Public Enemy
– I am a Fugitive from
a Chain Gang
– Little Caesar
 The Studio System
• 20th Century Fox
– Darryl F. Zanuck
– Biographies,
Detectives and,
oddly enough, quality
literary adaptation

The Grapes of Wrath

The Studio System
– 20th Century Fox
– Movietone News
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• Stars
– Janet Gaynor
– Shirley Temple
– Will Rogers
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• MGM
– Irving Thalberg, the
“Boy Wonder”
– Hands-on
management of all
talent soon emulated
by everyone
– Hired literary figures
such as F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Dorothy
Parker, Ben Hecht
– Genius of promotion
with “Garbo Talks!”
Anna Christie
The Studio System
– Louis B. Mayer
ousted Thalberg
before his death at
age 37
– Crowd-pleasing
lavish musicals

The Great Ziegfeld &

Broadway Melody of 1936
The Studio System

The Wizard of Oz
The Studio System
• The Stars
– Judy Garland
– Clark Gable
– Joan Crawford
– James Stewart
– Katharine Hepburn
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• RKO
– David O. Selznick
– 29 years old
– Also worked at
Paramount, MGM
(Gone with the Wind)
and his own
company distributing
through United
Artists
King Kong
 The Studio System
• The Stars
– Irene Dunne
– Fred Astaire
– Katharine Hepburn

The Awful Truth

& Top Hat
The Studio System
• The Directors
– John Ford
• Stagecoach
– George Cukor
• Little Women
– George Stevens
• Gunga Din
 The Studio System
• “A” films
– Big stars
– Literary adaptations
– Large budget

Captains Courageous
 The Studio System
• “B” films
– Not so famous actors
– Some genre films
– Many directors
started this way

Dracula
The Studio System
• Serials
• Raiders of the
• Lost Ark
The Studio System
• The Philadelphia Story (1940)
– Starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary
Grant, James Stewart
– Dir. George Cukor
– Based on Broadway play by Philip
Barry who wrote The Philadelphia
Story specifically for Katharine
Hepburn who backed the play,
foregoing a salary in return for a
percentage of the play's profits
The Studio System
The Studio System
• Katharine Hepburn, 1907-2003
– 4 Best Actress Oscars, 12 nominations plus one Emmy
– Athletic, graduate of Bryn Mawr, she demanded $1500/week from RKO in 1932, which,
amazingly, they gave her
– Real non-conformist – wore pants, no make up, intellectual, outspoken, refused to sign
autographs and answer personal questions she was nicknamed "Katharine of
Arrogance" and in 1938 was voted “Box Office Poison” in a poll
– Married once briefly, she never married the love of her life, Spencer Tracy, who was
married to someone else - they were together off and on from 1942 to his death in 1967
and they never discussed their relationship publically
– Last film in 1984 TV in 1994
– Films include: A Bill of Divorcement, Christopher Strong, Alice Adams, Little Women,
Stage Door, Bringing Up Baby, Adam’s Rib, The African Queen, Summertime, On Gold
Pond, The Rainmaker, The Lion in Winter, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, Suddenly
Last Summer, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Pat & Mike, Holiday, Sylvia Scarlett,
Morning Glory
The Studio System
The Studio System
• Cary Grant, 1904-1986
– Born Archibald Leach, an English acrobat, became the definition
of suave, handsome and debonair
– Once told by an interviewer, "Everybody would like to be Cary
Grant," Grant is said to have replied, "So would I."
– At ease with comedy, he starred in many in the 1930’s
– Was top male star for several decades
– Hitchcock said he was the only actor he ever loved
– Retired from film in the 1960’s
– Married 5 times, the last to a women 47 years his junior
– Found “peace” through LSD
– Films include: Blonde Venus, She Done Him Wrong, Holiday,
Gunga Din, His Girl Friday, Suspicion, Notorious, The Awful Truth,
My Favorite Wife, North By Northwest, Charade, To Catch a
Thief , Bringing Up Baby
•
The Studio System
The Studio System
• James Stewart, 1908-1997
– Portrayed many iconic roles in American Film although
not immediately successful because of his gangly looks
and shy, bumbling manner
– Flew bombing missions over Germany in WWII &
eventually became a Brigadier General
– One of the first independently contracted actors
– Married for 45 years to the same spouse!
– 5 Oscar nominations – won for Philadelphia Story
– Famed later collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock and
Anthony Mann (Westerns)
– Films include: You Can’t Take It With You, Harvey, It’s a
Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Vertigo,
Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rope,
Anatomy of a Murder, The Man Who Shot Liberty
Valance, Destry Rides Again
 The Studio System
• George Cukor
– Stage director recruited to Hollywood as a
dialogue coach
– Fought to cast Katherine Hepburn in her first film &
they made 8 more together
– Famous for his polish & the best of “corny”
Hollywood, he was also, somewhat unfairly,
labeled a “women’s director” but was successful at
getting great performances out of of divas of both
sexes including Great Garbo, Joan Crawford, Cary
Grant, John & Lionel Barrymore
– Fired from Gone With the Wind although he
coached the actresses all through the shooting
– Continued to work until 1981

Films include: A Bill of Divorcement, Little

Women, Holiday, Camille, The Philadelphia
Story, Adam’s Rib, Gaslight, A Star is Born,
Born Yesterday, My Fair Lady and the
movie that killed Garbo’s career, Two-Faced
Woman