Creation of the Hollywood Star System - PowerPoint Presentation

Creation of the Hollywood Star System Censoring Mae West

Edison Kinetoscope Asst. Wm. Kennedy Laurie Dickson actual inventor Collaboration, Edison, Wm. Heise , Etienne Jules Marey , Eastman Company Patented in 1891 Prototype built in 1892 Device both camera & peephole viewer

Kinetoscope

Lumiere Brothers August & Louis Parallel development with Edison/Dickson camera, also borrowed from Marey Cinematograph-1895 Camera acted as projector & developed the film Believed cinema was an “invention without any future.”

Lumiere Cinematograph

Early Film Largely exhibited in vaudeville Didn’t replace the acts Instead, focused on historical figures, disasters, natural wonders Both the technology & the subject matter were the draw Projectionist was the only star No place for film acting

Edison Projector

Rise of the Nickleodeon Started in 1905 Became dominant mode of exhibition Store-front movie theaters Immigrant proprietors & customers Cheaper than vaudeville No English language required By 1907 2,500 in US

Nickleodeon 1907

Changes in Film Production Increase in nickleodeons increases demand More systematic film production & distribution needed More studios built Stock companies formed Shifted to fictional film production By 1908, eclipsed narrative films

Early American Studios Edison Vitagraph Biograph Eventually formed a monopoly The Motion Picture Patents Co. Also known as the Edison Trust

Product Differentiation By 1907, exhibition market saturated Need to differentiate themselves Physical setting Include vaudeville acts More frequent program changes Better films

Introduction of Human Labor Originally referred to the theatrical model Vaudeville references become more frequent Cinematographer often stressed Terms like “posing” & “picture performers” used

3 Parts of Film “Reality” Filmic-what you see on the film; the fictional reality Profilmic -what happens while you’re filming, sometimes not included in filmic Real-reality, what really happens Pg. 97 in de Cordova

Films D’Art & Prestige Films French productions, began in 1908 US exhibition 1909 Use famous theater actors & featured names Pathe also releases prestige pictures Theater & cinema compared again Adds credibility to film industry American companies follow this example US companies don’t use actors’ names

US Film Star Creation US companies initially copy French companies Vitagraph & Edison, Biograph does not All strongly emphasize acting Edison company hires French pantomimist Pilar -Morin in 1909 Allows comparison of film acting & pantomime

Famous Players Film Co. Created in 1912 Adolph Zukor -film producer & exhibitor Daniel Frohman-theatrical agent Charles Frohman-Broadway agent Became Famous Players- Laskey in 1916 Added Jesse Lasky , Samuel Goldwyn, Cecil B. DeMille 1927, becomes Paramount Pictures

Factors for Film Stardom Production of fictional narratives dominant Status of movies rises Actual work being ascribed to actors Production rationalized & systematized Expanding demand & exhibition Need for differentiation of product Differences in meaning become economic

Mae West b. Brooklyn, NY 1893 Member of subculture “tough girls” e. 1910s Becomes vaudeville performer at 14 Later, seated shimmy “dance” Briefly in burlesque Becomes well-known on Broadway Sex, 1926 Produces play The Drag in 1927

Mae West Arrest Sex raided by police in 1927 Prosecuted on morals charges in NYC Convicted, sentenced to 10 days on Welfare Island (Roosevelt Island) Served her sentence as a guest of the warden 8 days served, 2 off for good behavior Media attention enhanced her career

Diamond Lil 1928, 4 th full-length Broadway production Made her a star Took her out of the urban underworld Set in 1890s Bowery West a tough underworld queen Falls in love with a Salvation Army captain Finds out he’s a cop & he becomes hers

Film Censorship Many censoring agencies in America Municipal, state, and private Required changes in films for different reasons Many for sex, some for race, some for political or economic reasons Hollywood has its own censorship office: The Hays Office Trying to avoid federal censorship

US Film Censorship, 1920s Films became more sophisticated No rating system, so all-ages audiences Hollywood must appeal to those looking for more risqué content Also must placate reformers & moralists Temperance Unions take up the issue The advent of sound complicates the issue

Broadway & Hollywood Complicated relationship Broadway urban, explicit, less concerned with moralizing Films must appeal to all, mass entertainment Many Broadway writers & properties exported to Hollywood Hollywood embattled by conflict The Great Depression changes the game

Paramount Studio Known as a prestige studio Until 1932, most cooperative with censors Falling revenues, mounting debt, on the brink of receivership Began producing films that other studios wouldn’t touch due to censorship concerns Buys the rights to Diamond Lil

She Done Him Wrong New name for Diamond Lil Tries to play down underworld aspects Language & innuendoes toned down West’s delivery defies the censors Released at time of Roosevelt’s Bank Holiday A smash hit all over America Makes West a household name

Production Code Administration Replaced the Hays office, 1934 No more “leaving sex to the imagination” Banished altogether Defying the moral code must be punished “No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it.” “The sanctity of marriage & the home shall be upheld.”

Forbidden Topics/Depictions White slavery Miscegenation Venereal diseases Sex perversion, i.e. homosexuality Actual child birth Complete nudity Obscenity

I’m No Angel Released 1933, a smash hit Takes West out of the underworld Most ardent fans are young women Concern for young women’s vulnerability Payne Fund Study/ Our Movie-Made Children West no ordinary gold digger or sex object Depression worsens controversy

Censorship Results Ambiguities eliminated Oversight much tighter West’s persona resistant to efforts Fans can remember her earlier incarnations West not believable as “reformed” Her final film loses money; Parmount releases her Conservative sexual values prevail on film until 1960s