Blog Post 5 - Classical Hollywood

The star system was integral to the Classic Hollywood studio system. It was way in which Hollywood created new stars and used them to endorse their movies. Actors were discovered at a young age and trained by studios become stars.

 Stars defined movies in the way that producers or genres define movies in the modern film era. Audiences went to the movies to see Humphrey Bogart or Judy Garland’s newest films, rather than for a specific genre or producer. Because stars were a means of audience identification, studios tended to place actors and actresses in similar roles from movie to movie.  For example, child star Shirley Temple repeatedly appeared in movies as a lovable, singing, cheery orphan.