Studio Systems in Classical Hollywood

One of the aspects that allowed the studio system to work in classical Hollywood was the star system.  Stars were considered “tangible products of immaterial production” (guest speaker), and they were associated with genres and studios.  Studios used the discovery of and contractual agreements with stars to portray what studios did and the types of films they created.

Because stars were associated with genres, studios became associated with genres.  Genres give audiences ideas of the type of movie they will be watching before they actually see the film.  Warner Brothers, for instance, used Humphrey Bogart to help establish who they were as a company during the breakthrough of the crime genre.  The Maltese Falcon, Bogart’s defining role, helped Warner Brothers develop a new character for their crime films that was not considered a valorized gangster.  Even during the shift to war production, Bogart’s character in Casablanca was similar to those he had played in previous films.