biggest silent film star at the time. His character, who wore floppy over-sized shoes, a bowler hat, and his ever-present cane. When the silent era ended, Chaplin refused to go along with sound in films. Some of his last movies he made in the 1930’s City Lights and Modern Times were some of his best ever. In most of his movies he represented the “little guy,” the underdog, someone who used wit and whimsy to defeat his adversaries.Along with sound came stars. People would swoon and idolize over actors and actresses. Stars had contracts with various studios. Some of those studious include: 20th-Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia Pictures, and Warner Brothers. Many of those companies are still very profitable and successful today. However, in the early part of the century the contracts worked very differently than they do today. It was comparable to modern day professional sports. An actor or director had a contract with a studio. Much like a basketball player has a contract with a specific team. They would only work for that studio. However studios often “borrowed” actors or directors in trust that the favor would repay them in the future. That part is unlike sports. Movie stars also worked on more than one project at a time and often were expected to come up with about five movies every year. Using Humphrey Bogart as an example, he starred in 36 films between 1934 and 1942, which is unheard of today. Casablanca was one of four pictures her did in 1943.When English director Alfred Hitchcock made his first American film in 1940 (Rebecca), he joined the other directors of American Studios. He was known as “the master of suspense” His first attempt at making a film, which was titled Number 13, never finished. In 1922 he collaborated in the direction of Always tell your Wife. He had gone to Germany and filmed The Pleasure Garden. While in Germany he...
