♪ ba-dam-pa-dam ♪ ♪ pa-tootly-do dam ♪ ♪ pooh! ♪ ♪ i wanna be loved by you ♪ ♪ just you ♪ ♪ and nobody else but you ♪ ♪ it was straight, seven-year contracts and you were owned body and soul. i give you heart soul, blood and guts as much as i can do, the best that i can do it. and that's a lot. if they had the choice would you be more famous in 20 years because you died i am convinced some of them would have said yes, the true stars

would have. annenberg media ♪ and: with additional funding from these foundations and individuals: and by: and the annual financial support of:

hello, i'm john lithgow. welcome to "american cinema." some people say the star is the greatest invention of american cinema. american films have to have big names in bright lights. in the old days of the studio system there was a structure for developing stars. they were owned, body and soul signed to long-term contracts. a powerful publicity machine run by the studio, they could reach an audience of millions. but that alone did not guarantee success. the problem for the studio was to find the one personna out of many possible characters to boost an actor to stardom. humphrey bogart, for instance, played as a cheap hood before he was recast and ultimately immortalized as rick in "casablanca." stars today are still a unique match of individual flair and audience aspiration.

with the studio collapse stars catapulted to power and became the most bankable commodities in hollywood who can often determine whether or not a film is made. in this program, narrated by kathleen turner, we look at how this reversal of roles came about, starting with an old-fashioned star like joan crawford who was shaped by the studio system. you'll also hear from contemporary stars like jack lemmon and julia roberts and find the answer to that elusive question: what makes "the star"? (dramatic music playing) (narrator) the names on movie marquees draw the audience in like moths to a flame. the public's love affair with stars lasts forever.

movie stars exist in a beauty that transcends time. (john waters) a movie star is mythic a movie star is like no one you've ever seen walking around in your daily life. america invented the star. and there's a specific time when that happened it happened in 1910. that's when the star was born. (thunder crashing) (music playing) (narrator) from the early days of motion pictures stars have incarnated the visions of directors provided the story elements for audiences and bankrolled more films than any other financial asset.

hi, nice meeting you. how do you feel about coming tonight? nervous. why shouldn't i be nervous? there's a lot of people here. i'm nervous - i'm human, what can i tell you? (stephen schiff) julia roberts is a star. julia roberts is pure, corn-fed american star. so what happened after? he climbed up the tower and rescued her? she rescues him right back. and that comes from dazzle and that comes from the smile, that comes from the eyes and that comes from -- the entire package is sort of an instant dream to a certain number of people. i mean, people want it. they want to see it, they want to be exposed to it, they want to -- when they pay their money -- get that thing.

(thunder crashing) (narrator) the launch of a star career signals a love affair between the public and a movie persona. for the public it's a new infatuation for the star, the end of life as they've known it. well, you sort of say, "oh, s---," you know. it's strange because it's -- i mean it's sort of -- it's like the ebb and tide it will come and it will go but there are moments when you sort of just have to choke it down and say, well, i guess people think that i'm good at this. (narrator) the greatest stars were often the ones that lasted lifetimes extraordinary individuals, refining their image with age. (karl malden) gary cooper had a style all his own.

he knew the camera he knew himself. and his style was "less is more." what's that? what's what? that? oh, that's an anklet. new? no, it's platinum. i never noticed it before. well, i only wear it when i don't have stockings on. where'd you get it? in spain. from whom? an anklet isn't exactly something a sister gives you. a man? i'll say... he was a bullfighter. a bullfighter... hmph. his name was sebastian. say, what's this with you and those sebastians? i mean, his name was michel, it happened in san sebastian. oh, it happened in sebastian. any dimples on his knees? nope. just scars. he was very brave, and he had the narrowest hips. you should have seen him in the ring. he had more grace, more style. ah! owww.... !

i'm sorry, i didn't mean to do that. did i say anthing wrong? no, it's just that i don't like anklets on women. you don't? i think they're very vulgar. well, why didn't you say so? it doesn't mean so much to me. not anymore. audrey hepburn is a great example. she was just so incredible and so brilliant. it was the way i felt watching an audrey hepburn movie, that's something that i wanted to do, make somebody laugh like that or maybe make somebody just die if this couple doesn't get together. so that's what i was aspiring to. tell me, what kind of money do you girls make these days? ballpark. can't take less than a hundred dollars. hundred dollars a night? an hour. an hour?! you make $100 an hour

and you've got a safety pin holding your boot up? i just want to be an actor i don't want to be a star, and i certainly don't want to be a celebrity. you know, you look at a star like julia roberts and she's talking about how she just wants to act, she wants to just be left alone and just let her do her job and all that sort of thing. and you look back at someone like joan crawford and they're saying "i'm a star i'm a star, look at me!" you say, what happened here, what's the difference? what makes a star go on? surely, the danger of a success and difficulty of following it? the endless enmity surrounding success in our business, is this worth going on with, do you know what i mean? oh, yes, indeed, every minute of it. the old kind put up with it, they were trained, they went to school to learn how to be famous in the studio. this is your first lesson. first thing i want to see you do is walk. the heel comes down first and then the ball of the foot, like that.

do either one of you know what was wrong? no. first, your posture. i'm going to have virginia grey a young featured player, show you the correct way of walking, sitting down going up the stairs and coming down again. we had what amounted to a finishing school on the lot. we had a drama school. they went to school regularly and they became good enough so that they were turned over to directors and used on films. you see, we were trained with a stable of stars. when i was growing up and in my teens, i used to sneak over my set when i was playing an extra and sneak over and watch the lewis stones wally beery, greta garbo three barrymores.

(narrator) many young hopefuls came here seeking stardom, but only the lucky few were introduced to the public as potential stars. here's one of my favorites and i know you like her too, she's the personification of youth and beauty and joy and happiness: joan crawford. (music playing) (douglas fairbanks, jr.) how did joan crawford become a star? well, she was determined to be a star. she learned to dance she learned to sing, she went to drama school learned voice placement. she worked all the time. she was only happy working. on our honeymoon together, she enjoyed a few days of it. but the main thing she wanted is get back to work again. she just loved getting back to the job. you're a little stenographer! yes, i'm a little stenographer. fascinating. i don't suppose you'd take a dictation from me sometime?

well, how about some tea then? tea would spoil my dinner. i only have one meal a day and i rather not spoil it. why, are you reducing? reducing? me? do i need to? stars have to have the genuine article to be one, but then you've got to push it a little longer, and you have to have people to work on them to decide what will make them a little bit un-lifelike. (soft music playing) (sidney guilaroff) she was arguably the biggest star of her time for young people. each one is an individual, they're all different. they become stars because of their difference. (sidney guilaroff) they don't match the crowd at all they don't even come close.

people used to go to the movies to get away from everyday life. there was an illusion about what they saw on the screen, and that was very nice then, that distinguished them. nobody really looks like the kinds of movie stars that become stars. no one looks like that. the women are drag queens, female female-impersonators. they have to get in drag too. everybody has to get in drag to be a movie star some kind of drag. tough-guy drag. because no one is really like that. tell me... don't, chip. don't what? i don't want to die. if i have to die i'm going to die last. you may need me and this winchester, curly. i'll make it worth your while. a few tiny people have what it takes to get there. but then you have to go that extra level to make them a movie star. you don't see these people walking to the drug store,

and the ones that you do aren't stars, they're actors. a star in the old days was someone taken by a studio, trained, processed. the studio had its feelers out at all times and whenever information came in they said, "well, we do this to this star put 'em together with this star move this star this way." i guess i was born out of my time, miss judith. i should have lived in the days when it counted to be a man. i just heard the oklahoma kid is old man kincaid's son! i'm starting to take over the numbers game. (gunshot) humphrey bogart. before he became a star, before they knew what to do with him, he was in a lot of lousy roles and every now and then he would do something crazy like play the irish stable hand. morning, ladies. i managed to get you up? don't be fresh. well, i hear you've got the finest string of horses. the least you could do is let them look at you. if the little horses can get up to run and jump for you, you can get up to watch 'em.

they made so many movies 4 and 5 a year sometimes; and if you go back and look at all the movies only a small percent of them really fit what we believe. but the public remembered those films embraced them in those films discarded the others. and then they were smart enough to start casting them as bogie. (man) from s. charles einfeld, advertising and publicity, to martin weisser. dear marty: bogart has been typed as a gangster character. now, we want to undo this. sell bogart romantically. ♪ no matter what ♪ ♪ the future brings ♪ ♪ as time goes by ♪ ♪ sam, i thought i told you never to play that -- i consider myself lucky that i got

a taste of what we would now call the "old studio system." while we complained about harry cohen or jack warner or whoever was running a studio with an iron fist, these guys knew film; they invented film. (narrator) the investments studios made in individual stars had to last long enough for the largest pay-off. there were straight seven-year contracts and you were owned body and soul. (narrator) the studios' goal with their iron-clad contracts was to test potential stars in roles the public might buy. boys... i'm still getting letters from people, i have no idea why. but... it's very nice. ♪ i'm looking for trouble ♪ ♪ and i don't care ♪ ♪ what people say ♪ ♪ it doesn't matter ♪ ♪ what the people say ♪ ♪ what the people say ♪ ♪ what the people say ♪ ♪

jane russell was a comic sexpot. and you see her, and you have funny ideas in, in more, in more ways than one. ♪ and though i'm riding ♪ ♪ for a fall ♪ ♪ it doesn't matter ♪ ♪ (jane russell) i would like to have done different characterizations. i was working with men as directors they were picking the pictures and did the casting, you know. (music playing) casting is a very, very important thing. when i was a kid i used to think, h---, if you're an actor you can play anything, you should be able to play anything! why won't they let me play lear? i may be only 26 years old but nevertheless give me a beard and i'll play lear. you know... nonsense. casting is very, very important there's going to be some actors that are better for that part. excuse me, the 27th please.

you're carrying precious cargo. 27. you may not realize it miss kirkaby but i am in the top ten, efficiency-wise, and this may be my day promotion-wise. you're beginning to sound like mr. kirkaby already. why not now that they're kicking me upstairs. couldn't happen to a nicer guy. you know, you're the only guy that ever takes his hat off. really? something happens to men in elevators. must be the altitude the blood rushes to their head. i could tell you stories that would -- i'd love to hear them. maybe we could have lunch in the cafeteria some time or some evening after work? 27, i hope everything goes all right. i hope so. calling me on a day like this, what with a cold? how do i look? fine. thank you. that's the first thing i ever noticed about you. when you were in the elevator you always wore a flower. good luck -- and wipe your nose.

it seems derogatory to say "oh, he's a personality actor," or "he plays the same thing all the time." how well does he do it? (man) all those in favor... (jack lemmon) tracy, when he's just sitting and listening to somebody, i would say the son of a b---- is hearing for the first time. he hasn't heard that before, he's thinking about it. gary cooper had such distinctive characteristics in his behavior pattern. well, jimmy, with, "ah, eh, ah, ooh, um, eh," you know, and the hesitations and this and that. but, god, you look back on some of those and how he used them. oh, i, i'm sorry gentlemen, i... i know i'm being disrespectful to this honorable body i know that, i... a guy like me should never be allowed

to get here in the first place i know that! and i hate to stand here and try your patience like this but i... either i'm dead right or i'm crazy! all of the big male hollywood stars clark gable, spencer tracy gary cooper, james stewart all of them don't seem to be acting very much and some of the later people william holden, rock hudson, and i think that effortlessness of masculinity is really quite important. a good example of that is duke wayne. well, i don't favor talking to vermin, but i'll talk to you just this once. you're not just getting started the line's been drawn. what billy did balanced the books so far. but if one of your men crosses my land, or even touches one of my cows or do anything to that store i'm not going to the sheriff the governor or the president i'm coming to see you.

mr. chisum that sounds like a threat. (smack!) wrong word: fact! most of hollywood, or art, is after authenticity. but yesterday's authenticity is today's artifice. so the whole history of hollywood is a new authenticity, and brando is clearly a new authenticity. watch "streetcar," watch "on the waterfront." he changed a whole style of acting. don't be afraid of me, i'm not going to bite you. i guess they don't let you walk with fellows, huh? you know how sisters are. yeah, you training to be a nun? it's just a regular college. it's run by the sisters of saint anne. where is that? in tarrytown.

where is that? the country. i don't like the country the crickets make me nervous. he was helpful he was charming, he would give me his coat on the waterfront. it was very cold at night. he was a prince. i think i can say this -- he was one of my favorite leading men. i want you to stay away from me. i ain't gonna do it so forget it. i don't want you to do anything. you let your conscience tell you what to do. shut up about that. conscience, that's all i've been hearing! i haven't mentioned the word before. you just stay away from me. edie, you love me! i never said i didn't love you. i said stay away from me! say it to me. stay away from me! very often what stars are doing is

kind of giving of humanity, an inflection, an individuality to what is still a stereotype. they seem to represent sex or integrity, or americanism or virtue, or whatever. it was not too difficult to play the frustration of the character in this scene. because marilyn was an incredibly attractive lady, there was no question about it. daphne daphne (thud) i wanted to thank you for covering up for me you're a real pal. sugar, it's nothing. i just thought that us girls should stick together. and if it wasn't for you they would have kicked me off.

i'd be in the middle of nowhere sitting on my ukelele. oh, it's freezing outside, i mean, when i think about you and your poor ukelele... if there's ever anything i can do for you. i can think of a million things. that's one of 'em! and i still like movie stars who are not like real people that you will go out all day and not see someone like that. all my life, i've been a symbol. a symbol as eternal and changeless, an obstruction. a human being is mortal and changeable, with desires and impulses. hopes and despairs. i'm tired of being a symbol, chancellor. i long to be a human being. (jeanine basinger) marlene dietrich, greta garbo, they're like some kind of ...

other. if you come closer i'll scream. it would be easier to scream without a straw in your mouth. (music playing) (jeanine basinger) it's a romantic kind of woman, that isn't one we connect to as easily as we do crawford wanting something for herself, and who's very realistic and down-to-earth. you don't own me -- nobody does. my life belongs to me. and you'll make one fine mess of it. it'll still belong to me. marian, you frighten me when you talk like that. if i were a man it wouldn't frighten you you'd think it was right to go out and get anything. use anything i had to get it. why should men be so different? all they've got is their brains they're not afraid to use them. neither am i. the key to the star image is that it is only an image, and yet we know there is a real person and that knowledge that we have that there is a real person

makes us believe in the image. you see, pictures have given me all the education i ever had since i never went beyond the fifth grade. no formal education whatsoever. i used to have to read scripts and then look up the words how to pronounce them and what they meant, before i could learn the lines. i left school when i was only twelve. never learned how to spell "regret." we'll be late. (richard dyer) she always managed to keep a fit between all the different parts of the image and that was always difficult for stars to keep a fit between what they were like off screen how they were sold what the pin-ups were like what roles they played. (man) the celebrities include joan crawford.

here's richard green arriving with actress wendy barry. (richard dyer) well, in the so-called golden age of hollywood, studios certainly did control the image of stars strongly, they determined what films they would make, how that would be advertised what they would wear what stories about them went to the press and so on. so in that sense they, they controlled the image very strongly, indeed. we would bring people together that worked at the studio, and insist that they date and send a photographer along and a reporter from a magazine along on the date. they went along with it. they did the fake dates once a week if they wanted to, and then they went out and took opium or did whatever they did on the side, and nobody would report that as long as they'd play the game as long as they'd talk to hedda and louella and mouth stuff that they wanted to

hear. (john waters) they would leave 'em alone if they did the other stuff. (sylvia wallace) fan magazines were "fanny-wanny," they catered to the children to the teenagers and to people who wanted to love these dream people. mmm... oh, boy. darling, how i love my darling! i love my beautiful... they didn't allow a photograph of anyone with a glass in hand. it might have been orange juice but it might be misinterpreted. because they never drank and they never smoked, and they never s----. in the old hollywood pictures they couldn't do anything. they couldn't have babies when they weren't married, they couldn't be gay they couldn't take drugs they couldn't do anything, had to live this fake life. but the publicity department took care of that;

if they had a life that wasn't acceptable they dreamed up a fake life for them. and the press knew it was fake but they reported it. it was completely a rigged game in the old days. (man) here is what it's like inside the cabin of the luxurious airliner. (arthur wilde) there isn't really too much news in hollywood and it has to be manufactured. if i had to guess how many were written in a year i would say 20 or 30 a day times 365. (man) must be getting near the big village... paulette's putting on her war paint. it was as important that they do the publicity as it was that they stand up in front of the cameras to act. (clark gable's wedding) (john waters) being a star... eventually, you could never go out of your house you could never have a good love affair all the things most people want you have to give up if you become that famous. and they gladly do it. and i admire those kind of people.

(john waters) i've always been a big fan of jayne mansfield. ♪ the best things ♪ ♪ in life are free ♪ ♪ but you can give them ♪ ♪ to the birds and bees ♪ ♪ (john waters) i mean, she just was publicity-crazed. she loved it and she fed on it, and she needed more and more, it was like a drug, publicity, to jayne mansfield. she used to drop invitations to her wedding from helicopter. i mean, she was truly publicity insanity. ♪ your love gave me ♪ ♪ such a thrill ♪ ♪ she was so over the top about being a movie star that it drove her crazy. she got a taste of publicity she wanted more and more where every day she would just be running around in bikinis she walked down hollywood blvd. in a bikini walking an ocelot, handing out signed pictures of her to startled passersby.

she was insane. and so i respect that. (jazz music playing) (jeanine basinger) one thing that happens is accessibility to stars grows. as you move into the 50's, and the studios are collapsing you have stars not being protected by the machinery of the studio any longer. they're out on the streets they're getting interviews that aren't controlled television is picking them up and showing them to you, so they become more known for who they really are. their private life was another role they were playing. (narrator) when lana turner's daughter stabbed her mother's lover

the public was avid for the lurid details of a star career seemingly in trouble. what they saw televised was tour-de-force performance. i said, don't, don't ever touch me again... i'm... i'm absolutely finished this is the end... and i want you to get out. and after i said that, i was walking towards the door and he was right behind me and i opened it... (john waters) with a million photographers and she's on the stand she is lana turner. you can't not be lana turner when you're lana turner. it was effective testimony; cheryl got off. it was so fast... i, i truthfully thought she had hit him in the stomach. but lana also was a major star that let her public life certainly, when it got out

she went along with it and used it. (narrator) public crucifixions were turned by superstars into resurrections of their star careers, recycled in star performances in movies. did your daughter ever tell you she saw lucas beating selina? no. now, don't you think if she had seen such incident, she would have mentioned it to you? i don't know. well, wouldn't she? (john waters) rather than let it kill her, she, she kept it up, and and used it. well, doesn't your daughter ever bring home her problems? how many times do i have to answer your questions? the public is really fickle, and can be vitriolic as far as their likes and dislikes with a movie star. that's why there are ups and downs in long careers. and they're the ones that survive it, that can survive a bad one and then good. then bad, then good. the audience likes to see comebacks and all that stuff. the star system is dangerous it takes a tremendous toll

on the minds and the emotions of people. (henry rogers) we lost james dean that way; he couldn't handle it. i have never done anything right. i've been going around with my head in the sling. i dn't want to drag you in but i can't help it. see, i think that you can't just go around proving things, pretending like you're tough. and you can't -- even though you look a certain way you can't-- that's right you're absolutely right. you're not listening to me! (henry rogers) clift was a perfect example. he was emotionally disturbed. he would have been better off running a grocery store in some little town in the midwest where the public wouldn't pay any attention to him than he would as a film star.

(scary music playing) (henry rogers) he was a fine outstanding actor, but emotionally, he couldn't stand the strain. ♪ i wanna be ♪ ♪ loved by you ♪ ♪ just you and ♪ ♪ nobody else but you ♪ ♪ i wanna be ♪ ♪ loved by you alone ♪ ♪ (jane russell) marilyn was very fragile. god, if i'd lived in 7 different foster homes, i would have been a totally different person. do you think 3 sleeping pills are enough? three's quite a lot, that's pretty potent stuff. if a thing's worth doing it's worth doing well. well, there were a lot of tragedies of people in, so involved in the business and not having the home life. there are still tragedies now, but it's, it's different

and i think it would be a terrible life to have to be in a cocoon as a star without... not having your life. does fame ruin people's lives, are you saying? well, maybe, but why did they become actors? i don't understand that. people that don't want fame shouldn't go into the business. that's part of it, that's what you get... if it works. if it doesn't work you never get jobs; if it works, you get famous. so you have to sort of choose between the two. i had an agent once who always made me cry because he wanted me to do film after film after film. and he kept telling me "you won't be a superstar unless you work constantly." i kept saying to him "i don't want to be a star i don't want to be a superstar i'm a working actress." and he never really understood me. i had 2 children at the time he didn't understand i was -- every time i got on a plane to go somewhere, i was torn. and i always took my children with me.

when i made "exodus," i took my children my husband, my mother-in-law and my parents. but that was my choice so i worked about once a year. so "superstar"... i, i, i do not know what that would be like. i think the aspects of it that interferes with my life is people's inability to accept what i have to offer which is, i, i make movies and i make movies for you. so i make a movie and i give you heart, soul blood and guts the whole nine yards as much as i can do, the best that i can do it; and that's a lot. (narrator) in hollywood today, the stars, make the major decisions. stars are no longer employees, but independent artists operating through powerful agencies. asta la vista, baby.

(shattering glass) everything now is a package, it has to be a package and very often that package will start with a star that commands an incredible salary. (machine gun firing) aaaahhhhh! knock this s--- off! i have been having a very bad day. i just got out of jail today already i have been shot at, i was on a bus that flipped over 17 times been stabbed in the bathroom and somebody blew up my porsche. i am in a bad d--- mood. when the studios broke down, they lost their power

and gave it to the artists as independent contractors so then the artists, in turn gave it to the agents by enabling them to do it. (orchestra song using touch-tone phone sounds) okay, so monday we get a script and an offer, meaning it's his. (rick nicita) all the agents in town are scrambling to get an offer for their client. have you read it? it's not bad. it's not bad. but first-time director is gonna be the big problem. hello. yeah. (rick nicita) the most difficult thing is advising the client "you've got these to pick from here's the one to pick." yes, yeah, be -- yeah, yeah, let's, yes. (rick nicita) that's the difference between agents. when you're representing stars there are many opportunities. bye. it's my, you know, it's ultimately my choice. it doesn't matter how many people say,

"do it, you should do it it's perfect, it's great." if i don't want to do it i'm not gonna do it, no matter how many people are telling me to. i think the key is the agents don't have power in themselves their power is ceded to them by who they represent. when the actor has that much control, then he really now is taking on more than just the performance; he's taking on the whole load. and i think all too often that can affect the performance because he's carrying this massive thing there's this, there's that or whatever. it very often can lead to his having control beyond that way beyond that of the producer or the director or the writer about what happens to a film: the writing, the rewriting how it's directed, et cetera. the studios have no security there's nobody to count on; they're just they're just waiting in line.

whatever their relationship really was with a given star in the absence of a contract it's at ground zero again. "here's our script please take a look." i certainly read scripts and i make my choices, and all the choices have been "no," but i think that they will agree with me that i say to people who say, "why haven't you worked in two years?" well, show me a movie in the last year and a half i should have been in? in my opinion, the agent's role isn't making the most money. i'm not a business manager i'm not a financial advisor, i'm not their banker -- i'm giving them the choices. because i really love acting you want to be able to do as many different parts as -- and be challenged by roles and different types of movies as you can. as soon as the studios see you in a certain way that doesn't enable you to do the different types of roles that you would like to do. (shattering glass)

hi, charlie. ray. ray has made a real strong mark in a certain kind of part; edgy, violent, or near violent or capable of violence. and he, he's doing great and very well respected, the movies are, are, are doing well. he is so much more than that in terms of the guy he is, and the performance that he can deliver. you were born first. 12 minutes later i was born. you're the big brother. and our mother died when we were born. there's a few projects now i want to do that aren't edgy. it's just getting in the room with these people.

"out of sight, out of mind," they don't remember some of the softer things, they remember the successes so that's where they stay. i would think it's the same as anyone who does comedy and wants to do something more serious. (lip syncing to woman's voice) ♪ if i should wake ♪ ♪ and find your arms ♪ ♪ around me ♪ ♪ i know i'll never ♪ ♪ have to dream again ♪ ♪ if i should wake ♪ ♪ and feel your lips ♪ ♪ surrender to mine ♪ ♪ i'd just be ♪ ♪ wasting time ♪ ♪ in dreaming ♪ ♪ all the pressure in this business on actors is to put them into as small a box as possible and absolutely caged in, where they only do one thing.

i don't think that i'm playing the same character over again, that would be boring i hope i'm not doing that. but i think that there there is truth in that and i think that that has as much to do with it's what i think is the best of what's there. do i look okay? something's missing. well, nothing else is going to fit into this dress i'll tell you that. maybe something in this box. don't get too excited, it's only a loan. julia roberts is someone who has played a similar role.

i mean, there are some obvious differences between "pretty woman" and "sleeping with the enemy," but nonetheless there's this continuity of character. look, at this point, every character that i play is gonna be sort of a young, nice, whatever, white, they're all gonna have certain things that are gonna be there that just is inevitable, you know. and it's my job to make it different and more interesting. did i mention that my leg is 44 inches from hip to toe? we're talking about 88 inches of therapy wrapped around you for the bargain price of -- $3000.00. yeah. julia, of course we want her to be sexy and beautiful but we don't want her to be naughty. you know, i mean the only virgin prostitute in, not in american films, there are dozens but the latest version of that is julia in "pretty woman." and it works and works and works and works.

(playing upbeat music) (richard dyer) society has lots of ideas about what it is to be a person what it is to be a male, a female, and so on, and stars are simply giving a kind of twist to that, which is either finding a new dimension to it, humanizing it, individualizing it but very often in a sense affirming it. hollywood wants the sure thing the star, the genre and so on. but, the sure thing -- not exactly the same thing. they want the same only different. and that's the really, really difficult thing to do. come quickly. i've just killed an intruder. (multiple gunshots fired)

(gunshot) (dramatic music playing) (gunshots) david! david! david! david! here you are making your 74th picture a picture that will be seen by millions all over the world many of the people that you have worked with, talented as they have been have not survived. it's interesting, i think, to consider why you have what it is you have, what quality for the public, that makes it go on wanting to see your pictures? first of all, i'm stagestruck and i think they all know that. secondly, i try to get a film with audience identification. some stars, like joan crawford did develop an awareness that because she had learned the business that she had to keep reinventing herself

to a degree as she aged, and as times changed without losing what it was that appealed to people. joan crawford, at the time i represented her in 1945, had just had her contract dropped by mgm. l.b. mayer, the head of mgm, had just branded her as one of a number of actresses who was box-office poison. and she was at a turning point in her film career. just at that time, a man named jerry wald who was a producer at the warner brothers studio decided that despite what l.b. mayer had said he was going to put her in the starring role of a movie called "mildred pierce." mildred. (announder) "mildred." a name gasped in the night.

the one last word of a dying man. but one word that tells a thousand stories of a woman who left her mark on every man she met. (henry rogers) the morning of the awards, she called me and said "henry, i have a terrible cold i'm in bed... i won't be able to go to the awards." and sure enough, she was announced the winner a half-hour later this horde of photographers and reporters were all walking into her house and up to her bedroom, where there she was, the queen holding her oscar. (stephen schiff) in terms of career management, the joan crawford story is a great shining example at every stage of her career as she grew older, as what she was doing faltered and the next thing took over she could be the woman scorned in "mildred pierce" and come back and win the oscar.

she could adjust her morality in a way, to her looks, to her image. you know, that face changed more than any face in movie history. she knew how to keep an audience going madonna-like. we think of madonna as being kind of immortally in touch with the public pulse; not like joan crawford that was decades. i think once the public has embraced you unless you're a momentary fad or you physically change a lot or you've done something ... loathsome, that will forever turn them off -- one of those three which are all rare. other than that, once a star you can probably be one again. you're just orbiting around the dark side of the moon. you just have to find the intersection between what you want to do and what the public accepts. (jeanine basinger) so she goes from shop girl to grand lady to gargoyle.

at a certain point the public wanted her to be a gargoyle. (crashing of dishes) what their image becomes gets very complicated because it's also drawing on what they used to be. please try to understand. i married you because i was knocked silly, and... (jeanine basinger) when you get out to whatever happened to baby jane you have a movie in which joan sits in a wheelchair, looking at herself playing in her old movies. oh, he should have held that shot longer. i told him that when we were rehearsing also when we shot it. he wouldn't listen. (stephen schiff) that sense of the changing is important in star images. they're not just one thing for all time.

star images themselves have a history. a successful star career was finding a new reflection to their image. something that was the same yet different enough to be interesting. (julia roberts) i don't look for any particular character. i don't look for something that's funny or dramatic. it's just what appeals me. i read it and i know that's what i want. nobody ever goes "i've got it all i want to stay right here." it's not human nature. this business is human nature exponentially amplified. (rick nicita) they all are looking for something.

critical acceptance. public acclaim. industry respect. they're all looking for respect. that will always be there. it's not going to disappear.

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