The Star System and the Move to Hollywood

The Star System and the Move to Hollywood

 

An advertisement from October 1911 names Owen Moore and Mary Pickford as the stars of an upcoming release by an independent producer, Majestic.

Indeed, before 1908,
1) few actors worked regularly enough in films to be recognized.
2) At about that time, however, producers started signing actors to longer contracts,
    and audiences began to see the same faces in film after film.
3) By 1909, viewers were spontaneously asking theater managers the actors’ names or writing to
    the studios for photographs.
4) Fans made up names for the most popular stars: Florence Lawrence, who regularly appeared in
    Griffith’s films, became “the Biograph Girl”; Florence Turner was “the Vitagraph Girl”; and
    Vitagraph’s heartthrob, Maurice Costello, was dubbed “Dimples.” Reviewers picked up this way
   of referring to anonymous stars.

By 1910,
1) some companies responded to audience demand and began exploiting their popular actors
   for publicity purposes.
2) Kalem supplied theaters with photographs to display in their lobbies.
3) Personal appearances by stars in theaters became an institution.

In 1911,
1) the first fan magazine, The Motion Picture Story Magazine, appeared.
2) That same year, an enterprising firm began selling photo postcards of popular players.
3) Stars were named in advertisements aimed at exhibitors.
4) Still, films seldom included credits until 1914.

Film company locations:

1)The first American film companies were located in New Jersey and New York.
2) Other producers emerged in Chicago (Selig, Essanay),
3) Philadelphia (Lubin), and
4) elsewhere in the East and the Midwest.
5) Because filmmakers worked outdoors or in sunlit glass studios, poor weather could hamper
   production.
6) After the formation of the MPPC in 1908, some film companies sent production units to sunnier
    climes for the winter:
    a) New York–based firms might head to Florida,
    b) while Chicago companies tended to go west.

During the early 1910s,
1) the Los Angeles area emerged as the country’s major production center.
2) It had several advantages. Its clear, dry weather permitted filming outdoors most days of the
    year.
3) Southern California offered a variety of landscapes, including ocean, desert, mountain, forest,
    and hillside.
4) The Western had emerged as one of the most popular American genres, and such films looked
   more authentic when filmed in the real West rather than in New Jersey.