Under Contract

[happyfilmluvguy]

During the golden days of Hollywood, actors, actresses, writers, directors, editors, producers, and probably every other position were under contract to the studio, working only for them. Occasionally actors and actresses were "borrowed" by other studios, but the studio executives didn't usually enjoy it. Hollywood Canteen is a good example of "borrowing" actors. It wasn't until the "new" Hollywood era, the 1950s, that the entertainers left the studio system and became freelanced, working with other studios. But before that time, who was under contract to who, and what date span (1930-1956)? What do you know about this particular part of the studio system?

 

[Dixon Cannon]

The Studio System WAS the system in Hollywood, probably well into the '50's. The most notorious was most likely Howard Hughes himself with his ownership of RKO. He'd put store clerks, cigarette girls, and hat check girls "under contract" just to control them and their personal lives.

A 'contract player' would spend the day in dance lessons, voice lessons, acting lessons, only to go on dates with the boss at some odd hour of the night. You could count the one's that actualy acted with one hand!

Hughes attempted to control every aspect of their personal lives - who they saw (or were seen with!), what they ate, what they wore, and even where they could go and when. Most of them never met the boss at all (having been procured by a Hughes associate) and were paid in cash from an envelope lowered on a string from an upstairs window on Romaine Street.

Geesh! What some people will do for fame and fortune!

-dixon cannon

 

[Nts]

I kind of like the old studio system, You had groups of actors that would act together in movies, and other who might not. The loan system reminds me of the Football loan systems were they lend out player to other teams for experience. I enjoy the extra controversy and back room dealings the contract system did just that!

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I think in some forms the studio system had it's advantages over cast and crew. They had some of the best people in the industry working with you and there was a sense of family. You probably saw the same people (hopefully some friendly ones) almost everyday. Some cast and crew were probably capable of going off on their own, some probably couldn't. A little too controlling can be bad. Telling an actor or actress who you can or can't converse with isn't right. I believe that was one aspect I don't personally like.

Does anyone know if directors were under contract to a studio? The only director I really know that was with a studio was Cecil B Demille at Paramount.

 

[John in Covina]

The Day of the Locust (1975)

I was just reading a little blurb about a movie that is about movie making in the 1930's directed by John Schlesinger.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The contract system, more than anything else, gave movies of the Era their distinctive look -- it was impossible to mistake one studio's films for any other because the talent remained consistent from film to film, not just for the big stars but for the supporting players, and the more vintage films you see, the easier it becomes to identify them by studio on the basis of even a fleeting glimpse. If you glance at a film and see Frank McHugh and Joan Blondell in a scene together, you don't need anything else to know it's a Warner Bros. film. If Nat Pendleton walks into an office and sees Florence Rice sitting at a desk, well, no question about it, it's an MGM picture. Edna May Oliver being all snooty with James Gleason? Looks like RKO to me. Marjorie White cutting up with El Brendel? That's a Fox Film. And on and on for all the various studios. The result was a far more consistent product from year to year.

There were freelance actors as far back as the thirties, of course -- but they weren't common. Cary Grant was one of the first to really buck the system successfully, but for a long time few big-name performers followed his example.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Who was with who?