An Introduction to Film

Brown’s Conquest(1937; a romantic historical epic
about Napoleon and Countess Marie Walewska, his
Polish mistress, starring Greta Garbo and Charles
Boyer), and Jack Conway’s Saratoga (1937; a
romantic comedy starring Clark Gable and Jean
Harlow). The first three were lavish productions;
Saratogawas a bread-and-butter movie featuring
two of MGM’s most popular stars.
Although Hyman regularly produced fewer films
each year than Stromberg, both were members of
Thalberg’s inner group. Reliable if not particularly

imaginative (exactly what Thalberg liked in his

subordinates), these producers made movies that

enhanced MGM’s reputation for producing quality

films, kept its major stars in the public eye, and sat-

isfied the studio’s stockholders. That’s what the

studio system was all about. Finally, these produc-

ers were forerunners of what today we call a line

producer, the person responsible for supervising

the daily operations of a film production.

The Hollywood studio system established the

collaborative mode of production that dominated

FIGURE 11.3 Producer-Unit System at MGM

General Manager

Irving Thalberg

Thalberg supervised the overall production of some fifty films each year: his responsibilities included selecting

the property, developing the script (either by himself or in collaboration with writers), selecting the actors and

key production people, editing the film, and supervising marketing. Thus, without ever leaving his office to visit

the set, he could be intimately involved in every phase of every production at the studio. He generally received

screen credit as “producer.”

Executive Manager

Responsible for the studio's financial and legal

affairs, as well as daily operations.

Production Manager

Responsible for all pre- and postproduction work;

key liaison among the general manager, studio

manager, and individual production supervisors.

Studio Manager

Responsible for the support departments (research,

writing, design, casting, cinematography, marketing

research, etc.) representing almost three hundred

different professions and trades.

Individual Unit Production Supervisors

Ten men (e.g., Hunt Stromberg and Bernard Hyman),

each responsible for the planning and production of

the six to eight individual films per year to which

they were assigned by the general manager and

production manager, often called associateor

assistant producersand sometimes given screen

credit as such. Each producer was sufficiently

flexible to be able to handle various types of movies.

THE STUDIO SYSTEM 497