Divided into two parts - the first discusses the rise and workings of the Hollywood studio system's "star machine" - as at least the author calls it - the second part (which is 75% of the book) goes into extensive discussions of individual stars - I barely skimmed this second part.
But the first part was quite interesting. PJ and I much enjoy movies of the 1930s and 1940s as well as some of the 1950s stuff. She's much more knowledgeable than me - much better exposure to this content in her growing-up years - in Iowa we only saw an occasional late-night movie. I think our tilt toward this era reduces our interest in more modern movies - we're neither used to, nor looking for, graphic content (whether violence or otherwise). Anyway, we continue watching lots of shows from this era.
Hadn't appreciated the factory-level scope of the big studios - they handled everything - author states that MGM could put out a full-length movie every nine days (1950). In addition to the big-name folks - fleets of people ready to be put into a scene on short notice. In a world without TV, the demand for the product was there.
Hard work for the most-used actors - in addition to full days on the set, time required at night to memorize the next day's lines. Discussions of the seven-year contract, lack of control by the actors, etc. - probably tough, but seems like "first world problem".
Finding a "type" for each star - then putting that star in a movie where he or she could play to type repeatedly - this is what the audience wanted (or had been trained to want). I've mistakenly criticized some of those stars along the lines of "he can only play himself" - but that was exactly how the studio wanted me to feel.
Author spends a lot of time on Tyrone Power (and they put him on the book's cover) - considered so handsome that he was a little hard to typecast (plus he later (perhaps too much later) wanted more serious roles, which wouldn't then have played to his "type") - anyway we're interested in Tyrone because EMG was compared to him pretty relentlessly in the 1940s.
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