In my mind, the most significant component of the studio system is the star system. The stars were the actual representation of what the film studio produced. They were contracted and then paid to sell the studio’s product, i.e. the movie. Between the top eight however, top talent could be rented in between studios.
The star system affected which films a company produced in many different ways. First of all, most stars became associated with specific genres. If the public were used to seeing certain stars in certain roles or movies, companies would continue to give actors similar roles. Also if a film company had seen success from another company using a specific actor to star in a specific type of movie, they could rent this actor to make a similar movie of their own.
Judy Garland and Humphrey Bogart were perfect examples of this phenomenon. Judy Garland’s work for MGM prompted her to become associated with musicals. Therefore, MGM started to produce more musicals for her to be a part of and produced one of their biggest hits in The Wizard of Oz. Bogart’s work basically reflected the genre evolution of his time. At first, Warner began to produce crime movies with Bogart as its star, but as censorship took over, they produced a likeable criminal type character, which Bogart took the role of. Then finally Warner began to produce detective films and Bogart assumed that role of well. In each movie, Bogart would end up in his classic outfit of a raincoat and hat.
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