Researching at the National Portrait Gallery

Summer 2010

With Cultural Historian Amy Henderson

The Assignment: How does the construction of the studio system in

the golden age of Hollywood relate to the idea of the American Dream?

Research an aspect of this topic using primary sources found in historic newspapers, magazines, and materials found at the Library of Congress

First Step: Become familiar with the Hollywood Studio Era from the 1920s through the 1940s…

The Studio System In the mid-1920s the movie industry became

streamlined Hollywood developed a “Glamour Factory”

manufacturing stars and turning beauty into business

Emergence of Visual CultureCelebrity status no longer rested on politics or military triumphs, but rather the creation of a successful image

Fans craved for more information about their favorite stars—the film industry switched from character to personality-based celebrities

Fan magazines like Motion Picture Magazine and Photoplay emerged to fulfill the interests of filmgoers

The Hollywood Studio Portrait In an era before take-home videos, the job of keeping the

stars’ images in the public consciousness fell to still photographers

“The Hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his image or trademark.” –Daniel Boorstin (12, Starstruck)• Portraits then, helped shape a star’s career…

Streamlined Image These portraits created an illusion of

glamour readily accepted as a goal of the American Dream

What kind of message did these photos communicate about American ideals?

Depression-Era Hollywood The Glamorous Thirties? Motion pictures with

glamorous art deco sets and costumes and fun musicals with Fred and Ginger raged in popularity during the Depression

The glamour image created by Hollywood was presented, not as a tease, but as a reachable goal…

Transparent Illusionthe idea that all Americans

have the opportunity to look this good…

These images were never modest about the art of illusion they utilized, many additional texts in Photoplay point out the falsity—March, 1921 Photoplay—“Gilding the Lily” the camera lies—how makeup changes our stars

very forward and open about the transformation process and its illusion

Accessibility and Availability Stars become friends Visual intimacy—stars are

now present in peoples homes to be put on the walls and into “family” photo albums like this one advertised in Photoplay, March 1917:

All photoplay enthusiasts will welcome this opportunity to have such a wonderful collection of their screen friends in permanent form. The first book of this kind ever issued.”

Advertising This closeness to the stars

was exploited by advertising companies…

Advertisements spoke through movie stars as the audience’s friends..convincing them to buy their products

Stars sold women’s products• Hollywood gendered its audience

as female…

The Gendered Movie Fan Conventional wisdom was that the average filmgoer was

female…but why? Film research from the time shows movie audiences as

equal parts male and female In 1915 Motion Picture Story Magazine changed its name to

Motion Picture magazine and starting to include more features aimed at women’s interests such as gossip, romance, etiquette and beauty…

With the creation of Photoplay, this magazine took advantage of the burgeoning market of women’s magazines, creating a Hollywood sphere exclusively geared toward women –this is obvious with the inclusion of advertisements for panty hose, facial creams, women’s clothing, and the like

Male Fans Ridiculed Male interests assumed to lie in

technology and physical activity As Hollywood moved toward the

personality-based star system, gossip columns in film magazines and the passive spectatorship of the movies was considered unmanly

This image changed somewhat when looking at “Flim Flam the Film Fan” from a March 1916 issue of Motion Picture Magazine -this poses the male movie fan as an object of ridicule, seen as naïve and foolish, this caricature represents a growing unease and confusion over men’s roles as movie fans

The Dominant Female In the 30s and 40s images of

women began to adopt the harder edged and angular lighting traditionally reserved for male sitters…this switch seems to illustrate the powerful roles actresses held in Hollywood, strong roles which women like Joan Crawford and Bette Davis exemplified

Women dominated over men in this visual world

Reflections Museums serve as a vital place of teaching the

American public about its own past as well as visual culture

Visual literacy becomes increasingly important in a modern world overloaded with media-generated images

Hollywood mainstream film should be taken more seriously and more thoughtfully researched—it holds many insights into the construction of the American Dream