Hollywood (2)
The dominance of the “Big Five” who controlled the film industry had a jolt for a year in 1932 during the Great Depression in US but their final end came in 1948 when a federal antitrust suit was known as the Paramount Case was placed against the Big Five and the Supreme Court of US of A outlawed Block Booking which gave the Big Five the big edge.By 1950, the Studio System came to an end, partly due to the Paramount Case and partly due to the rise of Television as an additional medium of entertainment. The economics were controlled by either highly successful films or super flops. There were no “middles”.
Investors invested in big stars, reputed writers, successful directors to guarantee the Return on Investment and with the studio system gone, all skilled talents went free lance. This was the beginning of the start system in cinema, which was equally adopted in India and other film making nations.
In India there were models of the star system but being run by talented businessmen who were in to it with a commitment to set up an industry, they were not ruthless. In Mumbai, Bombay Talkies was launched by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, which hired many fresh talents many of whom later went onto become big names in the industry. In Kolkata, B N Sircar formed the legendary New Theatres Studio,which was a one stop shop of available talents in Bengal, and in fact India. Writers, authors, actors, music directors and legendary singers. Both Bombay Talkies and New Theatres carried the Indian cinema, both in content, treatment and technology till the fifties matching with the world standards.
In America, as in India today, the branded stars and technicians were slowly moving out of the fee system. They would “work for free” but be a stakeholder in the profit. A leading star could expect 50% of the profit or 10% of gross revenue. For example, Cary Grant, for his role in To Catch a Thief (1955), earned over $ 700,000 from 10% of the gross revenue deal he had signed up, while the iconic director of the film, Alfred Hitchcock made only $ 50000!
Cinema was no longer a corporate style business as many actors like Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra opened up their own companies and started buying scripts and paying directors to make the films. Successful directors like Billy Wilder and William Wilder were being lured by investors since a film by a successful director attracted cast, crew and audience.
Though we are talking Hollywood, we must mention here that in India, the star system worked better than anywhere else in the world. In a poor country where people are full of aspirations, the characters the actors played out were becoming role models, so mothers wanted to be a motherly Nirupa Roy, romantics wanted to become a cavalier Raj Kapoor. There was a star for every aspiration. And, as a critic had mentioned in a country where the majority people are Hindus, these “stars” were being equated with divinity. Down South, there is a temple dedicated to actress Nagma while a fan of Amitabh Bachchan had non stop prayers offered during one of his illnesses with the whole locality joining in.To Indians, they are not mere mortals. They are Gods and Goddesses! Nowhere else in the world can the Star System work better than in India.
Courtesy : Artpickles