The Star Machine (Vintage)
by Jeanine Basinger
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jeanine BasingerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-01-06
ISBN: 0307388751
Number of pages: 608
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Star Machine (Vintage)
Book Review: A Fifteen Pages Concept Stretched into an Endless Book
Summary: 2 Stars
Frankly a big disappointment. The beginning is pretty good, infact Basinger states her point in a very interesting way. Unfortunately once you get started, you actually get nowhere: there' s no information on deals, contracts, fees, rules, policy differences among the several studios. The author keeps repeating that stars were manufactured during the studio era, that some of them made it quite big, some happened to be just stars, some were leads and some of them got nowhere. Basinger sticks to her guns - the concept of manufacture and typecasting- , but in the process she forgets a few things on some of the biggest stars ever :
- Carole Lombard, for one. At her home studio, Paramount, Lombard was a mere leading lady - she achieved superstar status outside her studio ( with Twentieth Century at Columbia, My Man Godfrey at Universal and Nothing Sacred for Selznick). And once a superstar she avoided typecasting as a plague.
- Barbara Stanwyck went from leading lady to star to superstar to legend without the support of any studio, simply as a serious actress who worked film after film building up a career that spanned over 30 years.
- Cary Grant, like Carole Lombard, was a Paramount contractee, a mere leading man, used to play beaus in support of female stars (Mae West, Dietrich, Nancy Carroll, Sylvia Sidney). Free from his contract, he starred in Topper (Hal Roach) and the Awful Truth (Columbia), became a superstar and freelanced for the next 30 years...
This is to mention just three cases that are overlooked in Basinger's volume. Why? Because they would contradict her theory.
Also irritating is her point on what she thinks are second string stars - she speaks of Dennis Morgan, Ann Sheridan, Walter Pidgeon and Linda Darnell as studio assets good for every purpose. Does she really think that Sheridan and Morgan were thought of the same way at Warners? Sheridan was second only to Bette Davis back in the forties. She was big. Really big, and talented. Not just manufacture. I think ms. Basinger should watch Come Next Spring....
Ultimately, the star machine is a waste of time.
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