What function does the Star system play in Hollywood cinema?
Leo Kuleshov’s early 1920’ experiment: "The Kuleshov Effect", whereby editing was used to imply a changing expression on an emotionless actor’s face has had implications on the importance of actors to film studies until the 1980’s. The results of this experiment, that spectators claimed to have seen emotional changes in the actor’s face, has lead many writers on film to disregard the actors importance to the film medium as art. In the 1920’s and 30’s, film critics directed their studies towards analysis of the various elements of film that caused effect upon its viewers. Further to this, motivated by an urge to confirm film as an art form, scholars focused on that which made elements on screen different from reality. French Impressionism, and its filmmakers’ concept of "Photogenie" likely influenced this. Photogenie, is the way in which, once filmed an item takes on a new separate identity from its source. As Impressionism was the most avant-garde form of film to emerge this period, critics would be keen to see it as the most "artistic". As such, in film form and style, acting and actors are the least likely element to be transformed and would always be a link to reality and therefore not art, but entertainment as
Before 1908 to 1909, films bore no reference to their players, either in marketing material or in the form of a credits reel. Actors did not even appear frequently enough to be recognised. By 1910, however star names began to appear on film marketing literature and two stars where exclusively identified with the studios that produced the films in which they appeared. Florence Lawrence had become "The Biograph Girl" and Florence Turner "The Vitagraph Girl" and became a useful marketing tool. How did this shift in the respect paid to film actors occur? Many attribute this to a rise in audience interest, with viewer’s asking theatre managers for actor’s names or studios for pictures and autographs. It is often written that independent producers such as Carl Laemlle then encouraged this as a method to gain strength within the market to battle the MPPC and its monopolistic practices. This very straight forward history is opposed by more modern film historians, who cite changes in the theatre as being influential too. Either way after the release of Griffith’s "Lady Escapade" a critic was quoted as writing: "the chief honours of the of the picture are borne by the now famous Biograph Girl…..This lady combines with very great personal attributes very fine dramatic abilities indeed."(FHAI) The formation of the United Artists by Pickford, Fairbanks and Chaplin in the 1920’s can be seen as marking a solidification of Actors’ importance within film as an industry and from this time onwards the concept of the star becomes central to movie marketing. This explains the stars importance to commerce, but what of the Star’s importance to the film itself? The stars presence in a movie, according to Laura Mulvey’s "Visual Pleasure of Narrative Cinema"(1974), the interaction between viewer and star constitutes two processes. Firstly Scopophilic pleasure, or the sexual pleasure derived by viewing the star as an object and secondly ego fulfilment through association with the star. As such when the star on screen resolves simply, issues irresolvable in the viewers real life some element of satisfaction is gained. Alfred Hitchcock seems all too aware of this in his use of Cary Grant and Jam
Some topics in this essay:
Marilyn Monroe,
Kuleshov Effect,
Hollywood Style,
Cary Grant,
Biograph Girl,
French Impressionism,
Richard Dyer’s,
Falcon Bogart,
John Ford,
Firstly Scopophilic,
importance film,
biograph girl,
film studies,
cary grant,
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Approximate Word count = 1483
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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