The conversion to sound and the ordeal of the Depression left the star system firmly in the grip of the producers. As Alexander Walker put it, "the star system in the 1930s gradually took on the reality, if not the appearance, of a star serfdom. Glamour was its camouflage and fame its dazzling illusion. But behind the grandeur of being a movie star in these years lay all the gradations of servitude".1 As Hollywood's most treasured assets, stars were among the most highly paid people in the country, but within the pecking order of the studio, they had to conform to the dictates of the front office.
Describing his treatment as a contract player at MGM, Clark Gable said,
I have been in show business for twelve years.... They have known
me in Hollywood but two. Yet as picture-making goes, two years is a
measurably long time. Nevertheless, my advice has never been asked
about a part in a picture.... I found out I was going into SUSAN LENOX
[1931, with Greta Garbo] in Del Monte. Read it in the paper....
When I walked on the set one day, they told me I was going to play RED
DUST [1932, with Jean Harlow] in place of John Gilbert....
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