Evolution of the Movie Star: The Hollywood Studio System

The Hollywood studio system, which was especially influential during the 1920s and 1930s, is credited with producing some of the most legendary stars. In these early years, studios spent a considerable amount of money to help locate, establish, and groom potential stars. A typical studio in this era provided both training and coaching for its most promising recruits--almost always at its own expense.

It was in 1935 when the talent scout profession first emerged on a large scale. That same year, Ladies Home Journal published the top ten places where talent scouts found potential stars. Places in the listing included Broadway, vaudeville, and radio. With their extraordinary expense, potential stars were initially seen as an investment. Studios took the time to create a career campaign for a client because the thought was that, with the right training and the right talent, the studio would regain all that it had invested--plus much more.

The process of becoming a star invaded every aspect of a person's life. The stars essentially became the property of the studio once they signed a contract. In turn, the studio did as much as possible--even sometimes dictating social activities--to ensure proper exposure of their best stars.

At the time, actors and actresses operated on a strict, seven-year contract basis, with options every six months (for contract players.) If, after a six-month interval, a star was not drawing his or her share at the box office, the newcomer was dropped from the contract. However, if they were doing well, they were elevated to the next salary level until re-evaluation during the next option period.

This situation kept the power in the studio's hands. An actor's contract also entitled the studio to assign them to any role it chose, as well as loan out its stars to other production companies. Because of this, stars very often found themselves playing roles they weren't too crazy about. In essence, actors in the studio era really had no power or control over their own careers. Their futures and their careers were at the mercy of the studio that signed them.

Because the studio executives were so powerful during the studio system, much of a star's image and influence was the product of studio expertise. With strategic planning and decision-making that took place at the highest levels of studio management, studios built unknowns into household names. Newcomers to the studio were put through several tests before pursuance of a career was encouraged. After a variety of photographic and screen tests, hopefuls received frank comments and suggestions about their careers. Very often, the studio would encourage an actor or actress to change their given name to an more appropriate stage name that was sexier, more memorable, or more marketable in one way or another. Not everyone changed their name, but many stars did. For a list of movie stars' real names, submitted by a fellow content producer, click here.

The second decision that most often came up with new studio contract players was that of image and personality consulting. Many studios even employed their own personality consultants, assigned to manage new talent. Studio executives knew what types of stars they wanted and contract players were expected to play along, regardless of their personal identity.

Unlike today, studios, for the most part, succeeded in keeping a tight rein on a star's image, with regard to the media and the public. Most studios even employed their own in-house photographers to photograph studio stars and distribute these photos to the press, including trade papers and fan magazines. To ensure inhuman perfection, studios would not release unflattering photographs of its stars. According to Michael Webb in Hollywood Legend & Reality, everything, "from the way the star posed, to the clothes he or she were wearing in the photograph", was approved by the studio.

Hollywood studios in the studio system maintained the philosophy that by developing the whole person, they were simultaneously develop the talent of that person. Akin to a sort of finishing school for talent, stars were taught conduct, drama, speech, singing, dancing, foreign languages, music, art, and culture. At the studio, performers were also given advice on make-up and skin care, media interviews, how to deal with the public, and tops on personal care and image maintenance. To this day, many former contract players insist that this was one of the major advantages to the studio system. (Many of today's young actors and actresses would surely benefit from this type of training.) Although the studios had all the power during the studio system, the studios also took care of everything.

The studios, however, were not above altering facts or participating in cover-ups, in the name of positive publicity. The media depended on the studios for information about their highly-guarded stars and in turn, the studio was very careful with the information it gave. Many times, information was either altered or censored in order to preserve a particular star's image with the public.

In her book, Child Star, Shirley Temple Black recalls that in 1934, the newspapers proclaimed that four-year-old Shirley had just signed her first long-term studio contract. In reality, Shirley was nearly six years old. To prolong the image of her childlike innocence, her birth certificate had been altered. (It wasn't until her twelfth birthday that Shirley was informed of her true age.) Alterations and glamorizations such as this were not at all uncommon.

Early fan magazines, such as Photoplay and Modern Screen began to spring up everywhere, much like the US and Star weeklies of their day. These fan magazines were credited with building up more stars than any other media type, and some, such as Photoplay, began publishing during the silent era. Unlike the celebrity-obsessed tabloids of today, early fan magazines also depended on information supplied to them by the studios since it was the studios that financially supported them.

Despite the perfection and glamor movies stars portrayed, studio executives were well aware that their stars were only human. When stars went home at night, they could get drunk, have extramarital affairs, or participate in any number of negative activities. However, the studios did not want audiences to think this was true. Therefore, movie studios went to great lengths to preserve the images of contract players.

As built-in insurance to this end, studios began adding clauses to their actor's contracts. Two of these major clauses, according to Ronald L. Davis, author of The Glamour Factory, were universally known as the "potato clause" and the "moral clause." Both sought to control the star from doing anything to jeopardize the image created for them by the studio. The appropriately named, potato clause forbade contracted stars from exceeding certain weight limits. The moral clause proved to be a bit fuzzy since, ultimately, it was the studio that determined morality. For starts and contract players alike, going along with the studio meant money and contract renewals so most obliged, regardless of whether or not they agreed.

Despite these clauses, occasionally things did occur that had the potential to destroy a star's image. However, whatever it was, drunken-driving or an illegitimate pregnancy, the studios at the time were known to sometimes use bribery, when absolutely necessary, to cover up secrets and scandals. Press agents maintained friendly relationships with influential people such as district attorneys and the police. Studios offered everything from complimentary premiere tickets to supplies of liquor ( during Prohibition, mind you) to ensure that there were no unfavorable leaks and more often than not, they succeeded in covering up the negative publicity.

Up Next: The Hollywood Studio System Comes Crumbling Down