Key sources: Gabler, N. (1988). An empire of their own: How the Jews invented Hollywood.

New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.Mordden, E. (1988). The Hollywood studios: House style in the golden age of

the movies. New York: Simon & Schuster.Schatz, T. (1996). The genius of the system: Hollywood filmmaking in the

studio era. New York: Henry Holt.

The U.S. Hollywood Studio System (1920s-1950s)*The greatest movie-producing system the world has ever known.

COM 329, Contemporary Film

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

1. Vertical Integration by the 5 Majors:

ProductionDistributionExhibition

The major provision of the Paramount Case was that the studio(s) had to divest. . . What did they choose to sell off, do you think?

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

2. An Oligopoly: A relatively limited number of studios--only 11 total, including five Majors (MGM, Paramount, RKO, Warner Brothers, Twentieth-Century Fox), three Minors (the “Little Three”; Universal, United Artists, Columbia), and some Independents (e.g., Disney, Goldwyn, & Selznick)

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

3. Moguls: The studios were led by an amazingly homogenous collection of moguls—all but one (Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th-Century Fox) were Jewish, from East Europe/Russia, had lived in the American East and had been successful at another business first; some of these businesses were film-related (e.g., the Warner Brothers’ nickelodeons) and some not (Sam Goldwyn as glove salesman, Louis B. Mayer as junk dealer).

Harry Cohn, Columbia

William Fox, Fox Films (later, 20th Century Fox)

Jack Warner, Warner Bros.

Carl Laemmle Sr. & Jr., Universal

Adolph Zukor, Paramount

Louis B. Mayer, MGM

Sam Goldwyn, Independent

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

3. In An Empire of Their Own, Neal Gabler writes about the unique common background that drove the moguls to success—all came from families

who had suffered great prejudice and hardship.

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

4. Large physical plants: soundstages backlots other facilities that ensured

the independence of the studio (e.g., fire stations, medical centers, sleeping bungalows, restaurants)

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

5. Stables of crew and contract performers (both stars and bit players)

Studio System—Contract Players

Wallace (Wally) Ford (1898-1966; 160 film & TV listings)

Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock)

Freaks

The Mummy’s Tomb

Beast of the City

Harvey

A Patch of Blue

Can you name these performers?

It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946, D: Frank Capra

Donna Reed (“Mary Bailey”)—50 films & TV series/appearances The Getaway (1941) The Human Comedy (1943) The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) They Were Expendable (1945) From Here to Eternity (1953) The Caddy (1953) The Donna Reed Show (TV, 1958-1966)

Jimmy Stewart (“George Bailey”)—100 films & TV series/appearances The Murder Man (1935) After the Thin Man (1936) You Can’t Take it With You (1938) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) The Philadelphia Story (1940) Rear Window (1954) Vertigo (1958) How the West Was Won (1962)

Thomas Mitchell (“Uncle Billy”)—103 films & TV appearances Craig’s Wife (1936) Lost Horizon (1937) Stagecoach (1939) Gone with the Wind (1939) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) All 1939!! All 5 are Classics!! The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) Only Angels Have Wings (1939) High Noon (1952)

Beulah Bondi (“Ma Bailey”)—85 films & TV appearances Street Scene (1931) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Our Town (1940) Penny Serenade (1941) Back to Bataan (1945) The Snake Pit (1948) A Summer Place (1959)

How about this actor?

Henry Travers (“Clarence the Angel”)—52 films Reunion in Vienna (1933) The Invisible Man (1933) Death Takes a Holiday (1934) Dark Victory (1939) (7 films that year) High Sierra (1941) Look at the variety of genres! Ball of Fire (1941) (Horror, Dark comedy, Melodrama, Mrs. Miniver (1942) Western, Screwball comedy, War Shadow of a Doubt (1943) drama, Hitchcock thriller, Comedy, The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945) plus the Fantasy of IAWL)

Anyone here?

Anyone here? “Bert & Ernie”?

Ward Bond (“Bert the Cop” of “Bert & Ernie”)—272 films & TV series/appearances

Salute (1929) It Happened One Night (1934) Gone With the Wind (1939) The Maltese Falcon (1941) Fort Apache (1948) and 21 other John Ford-directed films! Wagon Train (TV, 1957-1961)

Frank Faylen (“Ernie Bishop” the cab driver, of “Bert & Ernie)—215 films & TV series/appearances

Romance in the Air (1936) Gone with the Wind (1939) The Grapes of Wrath (1940) Sergeant York (1941) The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (TV, 1959-1963) Funny Girl (1968) MOST of his film appearances are “uncredited”—but he’s memorable!!

And how about this actor? He’s a member of an acting dynasty.

Lionel Barrymore (“Mr. Potter”)—214 films The Paris Hat (1908) and 131 other silent films Dinner at Eight (1933)—one of 7 films that year The Little Colonel (1935) Camille (1936) You Can’t Take it With You (1938) Variety!! Young Dr. Kildare (1938)—and 14 sequels Duel in the Sun (1946) Lone Star (1952)

John

Drew

Ethel

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

6. The star system the "grooming" of stars

under contract

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

6. The star system the "grooming" of stars

under contract

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

6. The star system the "grooming" of stars

under contract

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

6. The star system the "grooming" of stars

under contract

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

6. The star system the "grooming" of stars

under contract

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

6. The star system the "grooming" of stars

under contract

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

6. The star system the "grooming" of stars

under contract star vehicles

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

7. Studios as family or "protectorates"

studio head as patriarch (e.g., Louis B. Mayer)

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System? MGM

1943

What distinguished the

Hollywood Studio System?

8. The development of genres Genre as a “contract” between filmmakers and

audience; a very commercial model Most studios specialized in certain genres

MGM--Musicals

MGM--Comedies

Paramount—Sophisticated Romantic Comedies

Design for Living

Paramount—Films Noir

Double Indemnity

Sunset Boulevard

RKO--Musicals

RKO—Screwball Comedies

20th Century Fox—Social Issue Films

20th Century Fox—Action/Adventure Films

Warner Bros.—Weepies/Women’s Films

Warner Bros.—Gangster & Films Noir

Columbia—Screwball Comedies

United Artists—Quality Films

Universal—Horror

What contributed to the weakening and ultimate demise of the Hollywood Studio System?

1. The 1948 Paramount decision (antitrust action that eliminated vertical integration)

What contributed to the weakening and ultimate demise of the Hollywood Studio System?

2. The blacklist: HUAC, Army-McCarthy hearings, Hollywood Ten, etc.

Joseph N. Welch, head counsel for U.S. Army—”Have you no sense of decency, sir?”

Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, others, protest

Senator Joseph McCarthy

Ring Lardner, Jr., one of the Hollywood Ten

What contributed to the weakening and ultimate demise of the Hollywood Studio System?

3. The automobile and the growth of suburbia

What contributed to the weakening and ultimate demise of the Hollywood Studio System?

4. The failure of gimmicks (e.g., William Castle) and changes in technology (e.g., widescreen, Cinerama) to keep audiences coming to the theaters 

What contributed to the weakening and ultimate demise of the Hollywood Studio System?

5. 1941 Revenue Act—introduction of a steep progressive income tax resulted in many artists creating their own production companies, and then using these companies to negotiate and formulate deals 

What contributed to the weakening and ultimate demise of the Hollywood Studio System?

6. Television

What followed is “contemporary film”?

The Williams and Hammond textbook is guided by the assumption that “contemporary film” begins around 1960 with the demise of the Studio System and the apparent change in the look and themes of American film, and the development of new genres.

END