1. The Studio System Hollywood’s Standardized Entertainment

2. The Beginning Mack Sennett Keystone (1912) Chaplin uses First National $ to pen his own studio Chaplin, Griffith, Pickford, and Fairbanks Formed United Artist (1919) Eight Studios = 95% control of theaters in US Vertical integration creates oligopolistic system

3. The BIG Five (Majors) MGM PARAMOUNT 20 TH CENTURY FOX WARNER BROTHERS RKO

4. MGM Est. 1924 “More Stars than in Heaven” ‘Glamour’ Films Judy Garland Spencer Tracy Gone with the Wind Wizard of Oz Grand Hotel

5. Paramount Comedy Films / Biblical Epics / European look Mae West / Bing Crosby Marx Brothers Bob Hope W.C. Fields / Cecil B. DeMille Alice In Wonderland (1933)

6. 20 th Century Fox Musicals Westerns John Ford Shirley Temple Marlon Brando Marilyn Monroe

7. Warner Brothers Established in 1924 First “talking Picture” Gangster films Gritty Style James Cagney

8. RKO Film Noir Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers King Kong Citizen Kane

9. The Little Three (Minors) Columbia Universal United Artists

10. Columbia History Founded in 1918 Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales 1924 “Columbia” 1926 Publicly traded 1930: Jean Arthur, Cary Grant (shared with RKO) 1940: Rita Hayworth 1950’s: On the Waterfront, The Bridge on the River Kwai, From Here to Eternity

11. Columbia Reputation established by a star director: Frank Capra (1934) Winner Academy Award for Best Picture First film to win all five top Oscars Columbia became home to the screwball comedy: see handout

12. Starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne Nominated for five academy awards Best Director winner: Leo McCarey 1996: National Film Registry The Awful Truth (1937)