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HOLLYWOOD. Stars & Studios. PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM. 1931, industry moved away from Central Producer system to PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM Lasted from around 1931 to around 1955. PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM. Specialization increased under Central Producer system
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HOLLYWOOD Stars & Studios
PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM • 1931, industry moved away from Central Producer system to PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM • Lasted from around 1931 to around 1955
PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM • Specialization increased under Central Producer system • Different directors under central producer specialized in various genres of films • Difficult for central producer to keep tabs on growing number of films • Also difficult for central producer to be an “expert” in every genre
PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM • Various studios’ central producers began assigning assistants to take over a degree of control over smaller groups of films • Central producer still maintained high degree of control over all of the film production at a given studio • Films of a particular studio beginning to all “look alike”, influence of central producer decreasing the individuality of the films
PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM • Specialization continued & intensified with Producer-Unit system • Central producer replaced by a number of producers ( “associate producers”) • Desire to decrease costs; with a smaller number of films for each producer to supervise, he could keeper tighter control over costs • More different kinds of movies produced; producers made movies within their specializations • Individuality & creativity increased
PRODUCER-UNIT SYSTEM • Producer-Unit system adopted by all Big 5 studios • Allowed them to make even more films, more efficiently, than during the silent era • Part of general increase in specialization & departmentalization at the studios • Increased the division of labor • Jobs in other departments also became more specialized • New jobs created by new technologies of sound & color (technicians, dialogue writers, voice coaches) • Required new jobs in other departments (make-up, costume, prop, etc.)
Owned largest chain of theaters, esp. in the South & Midwest • In 1930s, during Depression, mortgages on these properties almost sank the company • When industry (& US) recovered in WW II, these theaters source of huge profits • In 1940s-50s, Paramount by far most profitable & powerful of Big 5 • During these years, Paramount made many of the films we value most from the Studio Era
Paramount Stars Marlene Dietrich
Paramount Stars The Marx Bros Mae West
Paramount Stars Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour & Bob Hope
Fleischer Bros. Studio Popeye
Fleischer Bros. Studio Superman
Fleischer Bros. Studio Betty Boop
MGM production branch of Loew’s, Inc. • Loew’s theater chain concentrated in NYC • Company survived Depression in good shape (premiere film company of 1930s) • In the post-Depression boom, however, lack of theaters hurt Loew’s
MGM Stars Greta Garbo
MGM Stars Clark Gable Spencer Tracy
MGM Movies Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
MGM Movies Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
Hal Roach Studio Laurel & Hardy
Hal Roach Studio Our Gang
MGM Animation Tex Avery’s Wolfie and Red
1935, Fox merged with 20th Century Pictures • Best remembered for its Technicolor musicals & its “socially-conscious” films
20th Century-Fox Stars Sonja Henie Shirley Temple
20th Century-Fox Stars Betty Grable Tyrone Power
20th-Century Fox Movies Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
From profits from innovation of sound movies, Warner bought First National in 1928, making it a major player in the Big 5 • Remembered for social expose films, gangster films & backstage musicals • Most of these films were box office losers • Biggest profits from moderately-budgeted mainstream comedies & biographies; specialized in contemporary genre films • Warner also distributed Vitagraph musical shorts
Warner Bros. Stars Humphrey Bogart
Warner Bros. Stars Bette Davis
RKO • Result of RCA’s purchase of Film Booking Office, Keith & Orpheum chains • Output was erratic • Few of RKO’s films were successful at the box office
Disney Animation Mickey Mouse Donald Duck
Disney Animation Snow White (1937)
Important in silent era, but fell on hard times in 1930s-40s • It specialized in: • Abbott & Costello features • Horror films (the best!) • Cheap serials (Jungle Jim, Flash Gordon) • Cheap newsreels • Cheap cartoons
Universal Movies Abbott & Costello
Walter Lantz Studio Woody Woodpecker Chilly Willy
Small, cut-rate studio • Remembered especially for its Frank Capra films • Most of its output consisted of B films • Westerns • Series based on comic strip & comic book characters • Shorts starring the 3 Stooges (very popular)
Columbia Movies Claudette Colbert Clark Gable Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934)
Columbia Movies Batman & Robin
Columbia Shorts The Three Stooges