jeanine basinger is the best!

she is a scholar with a conversational tone. it makes her books inviting and invaluable.

i enjoyed 'a woman's lot' and 'silent stars' so much, that reading this book was a no-brainer. and, being heavy in to classic musicals, my favorite aspect of 'the star machine' is her use of eleanor powell's career as a model for the tone of the book about the making of stars in the studio system.

i wrote her a fan letter but she didn't respond--boo hoo! but i'm still going to read her books.

and i know this review has a lame title. i can't think right now!

As a previous reviewer said, Basinger makes her point in the introductory section (the movies weren't the product, the performers were!) and repeats it again and again--often within a single paragraph--much to our annoyance. She also has some peculiar hang-ups on performer's heights. Apparently, tall women are unattractive. Eleanor Powell is desribed as gangly ("a full five foot six!"). Barbara Lawrence didn't become a star BECAUSE she was tall (specifically, "string-beanish.") Granted, people have gotten taller over the last 50 years, but I doubt that women taller than 5' 4" were considered freakish Amazons during the studio era. Even stranger, she describes Clark Gable as "short," though the shortest I've ever seen him described is 5' 11", hardly a short man, even today. She also disses performers, apparently for her own enjoyment: Vera-Ellen is inexplicably said to be a mediocre dancer and Doris Day is described a buck-toothed! A very strange book by an author who clearly has some axes to grind regarding physical attractiveness!

The sheer amount of detailed information in this study of the star system during the Golden Age of Hollywood filmmaking (roughly 1930-1960) means that this book from Jeanine Basinger is an indispensable read for anyone seriously interested in the era. There are probably few people alive who know as much about the period or who have seen as many studio films from that era who also have as scholarly a background as Basinger's, and as such the book is a real treasure trove. There's not much new here in terms of ehr thesis--that most of the stars of the time were heavily "engineered" by the studios to fill certain niches that were apparent to everyone at the time but are now less clear to those who did not live then--but the pleasure of this book is Basinger's uncovering of what those niches were and how the studios remade certain stars to fill them. Why was everyone in the early Forties so crazy about Veronica Lake's peekaboo curl and why did so many women try to emulate it? Why was someone who seems today so plain-looking and unextraordinary as June Allyson such a giant star in the glamorous period of the late 40s and early 50s? Why is such a glamorous and gifted star as Loretta Young, who was so popular in her day, so largely forgotten today? Basinger provides very satisfying answers for all these questions which actually had puzzled me over the years: for example, with Allyson she demonstrates how MGM carefully played down her beauty to make her look as quotidian as possible (even providing her with a wardrobe carefully designed to look ready-made) so she would appeal to women sick of the glamour gals like Elizabeth Taylor and Rhonda Fleming who wanted someone more like themselves (and to men who longed for "The Perfect Wife," Allyson's studio appellation in the early 1950s).

Although she is a professor of film studies at Wesleyan College, Basinger does not adopt a particularly scholarly tone for the book: indeed, it's very clear from her style that she has spent quite a lot of time poring over the gossip magazines and studio publicity material from the time, and that their tone has seeped into hers. While sometimes it's refreshing to see a scholar who is so upfront about her enthusiasms, at other times her extreme fondness for certain stars (particularly, as others here have noted, Tyrone Power) borders a bit on the gushy and actually interferes with your enjoyment of the text, and also leads you to question her judgment. (Why does she feel so compelled to defend Lana Turner's mothering of Cheryl Crane? What on Earth possesses her to defend Turner's laughably bad performance as Milady in THE THREE MUSKETEERS?) Yet at other times you're very grateful for her biases because they help you understand why certain actors were as beloved as they were: I've never seen anyone, for example, make it clear to someone who wasn't alive in the 1940s why Deanna Durbin was one of the biggest stars of the day, or why she turned her back so definitively on Hollywood. I get the suspicion this is a book I will keep going back to for information about the period, if only to see some of the very unusual films Basinger keeps recommending.

I was extremely disappointed in this lengthy book which makes its point very quickly and then makes it again and again. Ms. Basinger doesn't offer any insight worth reading or writing about. The studios manufactured their stars, admitted that they did, we all know that they did and we all bought into it. End of story. The rest is just a boring, poorly written attempt at creating something out of nothing. I could not get through it.

I bought this book thinking I'd get a detailed look at how the star machine worked. That information is there, but with footnotes sometimes spanning half a page and hundreds and hundreds of asides, it's tough to follow the narrative of this book unless you're a film historian. It's hard to imagine having enough time in a life to see all the movies the author commentates, most of them out of print and impossible to see. If you're a hardcore cinefile, I'm sure you'll be into this. It's rare for me not to finish a book, and I still go back to it from time to time. But I skip large sections of text that refer to movies I could never see even if I wanted to. There are fascinating elements here, and interesting photos of stars before and after the starmaking process. But this book should have been edited down. Much of the commentary is raw opinion, not fact-based, making it tough to stay interested unless one agrees with the author's point of view at every turn.

I purchased this book because it billed itself as a a look at how "the studios worked to manufacture star actors and actresses" and the description said it would "become an invaluable part of the film canon."

Wrong, and wrong again. It is a collection of biographies, based on information that appears to come from other books and fan magazines, plus a liberal serving of the author's own opinions. She seems to have had no access to unpublished information. The biographies are mostly long lists of the films in which the stars appear, punctuated with commentary from the author's viewings of these films, but very little insider knowledge of how the human beings who became those stars were "remade" by the studio or "made" themselves. Here's an example in her section on Loretta Young:

"She studied every aspect of filmmaking, asking serious questions about lighting and camera angles, making herself the master of her own makeup and costuming."

That's very general information I probably could have found on Wikipedia or in any biography of Young. How, exactly, did she influence her makeup and costuming - could we have some examples? Aren't there any details available about how she worked with the lighting and camera crews to get a certain effect? I wanted the author to show, not tell, how Young used her demands to manage her performance or the film as a whole, and how the studio reacted.

Another irritant is that Basinger has a huge crush on matinee idol Tyrone Power, who died in 1958, and in addition to a long section about his career, she compares everyone else to him. A few sample quotes (there were many more): "Robert Taylor, Metro's most beautiful hero (was) their answer to Fox's Tyrone Power." "Errol Flynn was put to the test even more rapidly than Tyrone Power." "Colin Farrell REALLY looks like Tyrone Power." "Antonio Banderas is the ethnic truth of what Tyrone Power was often asked to play - an authentic Spanish hero." "Early in his career, Johnny Depp...looked like he might turn out to be a watered-down Tyrone Power." Even Loretta Young gets a whirl: "Three screwball comedies paired her with her partner in exquisite good looks, Tyrone Power."

Okay, okay, you like Tyrone Power - fine. We all have our favorites. But please, get a blog, or write a book just about him. There is a reason this actor is nearly forgotten.

It is possible to write a book about how stars are "made" - Robert Hofler's "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson" is a good example, with details about how rough-diamond Hudson was drilled in good manners, carefully taught how to move in a less effeminate fashion (Hudson was gay), and even made to scream until his vocal cords scarred, lowering the pitch of his speaking voice. I expected "starmaking" information like this in the book I was buying.

What I got was a highly personal commentary on known facts - a printed version of a blog. I read the whole thing, and I feel as if I learned very little.

Basinger writes with a gossipy acuity that is informal, fun and insightful. I also thought she did a great job choosing well-known stars that were second tier, showing the tension between what they wanted to do with their careers and what the studios allowed.

Warning: this is not about the "star machine" as such. There is an opening chapter that explains the rise and development of the studio created stars, the role of public opinion in the process and the tools and how they used them to build up their star products. The book would have been better if she had weaved these themes more thoroughly throughout the portraits of the various stars. Instead, these portraits tend to discuss the star's career in light of the image the studio projected and the star's struggle with that image. This is really interesting but it is only a piece of a much richer story that involves the studio side of how they developed and sold star as products to the movie-going public.

The other thing that Bassinger does really well is honor these stars as talented, inventive and real individuals while showing shortcomings and personal issues. My favorite sections were on Tyrone Power, Loretta Young and Deanna Durbin. In all three cases she revealed these stars and their careers as more complex that I'd ever given them credit for. That may also be her downfall as far as showing a star machine because she is so enamored with her stars that she forgets to show them as products of the machine. What is that machine? That question was never fully answered to my satisfaction.

I also thought the structure of the book was odd. She starts out with romantic leads and provides smaller and mostly less insightful essay on the stars not fitting into that category. She makes a point about how these lesser stars were categorized as supporting players or character players but she doesn't develop this idea. The book ends less as an illumination of her star machine theme and more as a fun, readable encyclopedia of Hollywood actors.

The Star Machine by Jeanine Basinger tells the story of how Hollywood movie studios produced stars from the 1930s through the 1950s by running them through a machine of sorts. Stars were assigned a type: star, character, or supporting, and then placed in movies that fit their type. Names were changed, teeth capped, hair cut, bodies shaped, biographies written, articles planted in the papers, and stars were born. I cannot gush enough about this book. Basinger fills it with over 200 photos of the stars that capture the era with their soft lighting and fabulous fashions. She picks specific stars and follows their journey through the star machine to show how it succeeded and how it just as often failed. She also uses stories of stars who broke the mold and made the machine unnecessary. The book feels decadent, like a box of good chocolate or fluffy slippers. But the way Basinger talks about movies is anything but fluffy. She's the chair of film studies at Wesleyan University, and reading the way she describes films, I would absolutely pay money to hear her teach a class on the subject. She gives even the flimsy, frothy comedies of the 1930s depth by discussing how a character is developed before they even walk onscreen. This is a book that demands a class or TV special filled with clips. I discovered stars I'd never heard of and fell back in love with long time favorites. My too see list has expanded exponentially.Two small notes: Johnny Depp's singing was dubbed in CryBaby, but he's proven he can sing since in Sweeney Todd. And, why the hatred toward Abbot and Costello? They are two of my family's favorites! Those points aside, if you are a fan of old movies, this is a must read. Charmingly written with insight and witty asides, Basinger's love for film shines on every page.

In the 1930s and 40s, the U.S. movie industry pumped out hundreds of titles annually - an efficient factory serving the needs of millions of people requiring diversion from the trauma of depression and then war. The evaluation of this system forms the basis of Ms Basinger's interesting and very readable book.

To create the end product, the studio system needed inputs of every kind, most particularly the actors that would "sell" the product to the public. One of the theses the book makes is that the studios could not just foist anyone on an audience and expect that person to be a star, but rather spent a great deal of time identifying who would connect with the audience and making sure that they were cast in vehicles that would initiate and then sustain that connection. To that end, studios would also create false names, embellish biographies, plant stories in a compliant press, and "spin" events (divorce, criminal charges, etc) that were inconsistent with that actor's image.

Though movie stardom during this time is portrayed as very glamourous, actors worked long hours and were narrowly cast by the studios in the way that didn't always permit career growth. Once an actor achieved star status, they signed long term contracts and when the public tired of them, or they got older (particularly women), or were too troublesome, they were unceremoniously replaced by others groomed to take their place. Once this happened, without the system to sustain him or her, the actor would often fade into obscurity. (We are lucky that the Internet and DVDs give us an opportunity to once again appreciate these forgotten actors' performances.)

In terms of the structure of the book, Ms Basinger first reviews how the system worked, and then she looks at the careers of various actors in terms of how they coped (or failed to cope) with the demands that the system made. She spends some time looking at how the star system evolved with the coming of WWII, and ends by contrasting the stars of today with those of what some call the `golden age of Hollywood'. There is also some space dedicated to individuals who functioned as "character actors" and "supporting players" (and there was a difference).

Those that want to develop an understanding of how the movie business functioned in its heyday will find this book very rewarding. If you also like movies, you'll appreciate it all the more.

Basinger is a master at maintaining an excellent pace on what could have been a very tedious subject in lesser hands. Her grasp of an era now long gone is remarkable. She brings to vivid life the sturcture of the studios and how they manufactured their "products." And in some cases how they simply allowed the "product" to dictate its own existence. It has been years since I've read such a fascinating book on the movie industry.

THE STAR MACHINE - A terrific look into the history of the movies and the people that made it what it was.

"The author of A Woman's View tells all about who became a star and what men and women had to do to succeed in during the 1930's, 40's and 50's."

This book is a great read for fans of the movies.The author is a great writer with a witty,lucid style.All her books are eminently readable(I wish there were more!)The author is never mean spirited and writes as a knowledgable fan.A must read!

Ms. Basinger has captured a fascinating aspect of Hollywood's studio system, the star making machine, and gone into detail where it worked, on who and most notably, who failed under it. I found the chapters on Tyrone Power, Lana Turner and Errol Flynn very well done and am so thankful the wonderfully talented Ms. Turner has her underrated talented eruditely detailed for those unfamiliar with her films. This is proving to be a good read, but not a quick one for with all the detail, this book deserves a slow, studious reading.

I've only just started this book, but I can already tell I'm going to like it. I'm a big fan of this era. One thing, however, really stood out. The author couldn't get past page 13 without injecting her own political agenda. Just couldn't help herself! The quote to which I'm referring is on page 13, where Basinger mentions unsavory personalities and personal scandals then says, "...the distribution of motion pictures into the small towns of America never destroyed local economies the way the arrival of a Wal-Mart store can do today."

Well, how 'bout this, Ms. Basinger? Why not just limit the sales of your book to mom and pop stores? Remove all copies of your book from major retailers' sites and shelves, and we'll see how your sales are!

Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions

I had a great time reading this book, but found myself constantly agreeing and disagreeing with the writer which was very frustrating. Also frustrating were the many obvious omissions when certain points were being made. In my former comment for instance:the writer refers to Vera-Ellen's dancing as "mediocre". An unbelievable statement. On the other hand she says Lana Turner was a fine dancer???? As for my latter comment, the writer didn't refer to some historic examples of why the "star machine" didn't work for some: the great one being Louise Rainer who won oscars for two consecutive years and then went downhill to obscurity. Further, it seems the author "lifted" directly from other books on the subject; especially in her chapter about Lana Turner.However her in depth studies of such rarely written about actors such as Charles Boyer, Carmen Miranda, Maria Montez etc are a delight.

Jeanine Basinger's "The Star Machine" treats us to a review of movieland. where movies were MOVIES and movie stars were STARS. Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Lana Turner, Norma Shearer, Charles Boyer, Deanna Durbin, Jean Arthur, Loretta Young, Irene Dunne, William Powell: products of a picture-making factory that gave the country a golden age of cinematic pleasure. One could wish that the book contained more of Ann Sheridan and Hedy Lamarr (and maybe less of Norma Shearer and Loretta Young); but one must definitely be grateful for a thoroughly enjoyable work of impeccable scholarship that is free of pretentiousness and modernistic jargon.

Contained interesting information on many actors but I was expecting it to cover a broader time frame and a larger selection of people.

Read this quote: "Although she does not invoke any specific golden era star, she has become our only modern female legend of their wattage. ... She can play cute, icy, daffy, sexy, ... jealous, upscale, downscale, without becoming defined by any of them. In a sense, Julia Roberts, the ultimate modern female star, is possibly the ultimate modern female actor. She has displayed a flexibility from film to film that Meryl Streep can only envy."

Julia Roberts, the ultimate modern female actor. Better than Streep? Roberts cannot act, even if she is a star. This comparison is LAUGHABLE.

a tight book that covers 1930's through 1960's era Hollywood. the thing about this Book is that it uncovers how the Hollywood system creates personalitys, names and re-invents alot of the Stars of Yesteryear. this Book drops alot of interesting tidbits and how and why certain actress and actors careers turned out how they did. Hollywood has always been the land of selling make believe and this Book un-masks that and so much more. very compelling read and book.

This is a very interesting book. I love reading about stars from the golden era. It's so sad that many of them are forgotten.This book is a must read.

The cover of Basinger's book The Star Machine is gorgeous; it is iconic in its expression of the Golden Age of Hollywood when Tyrone Power and Loretta Young were two of its most beautiful and talented stars. Too often Miss Young is ignored when the great stars are mentioned. Basinger's chapter on Loretta correctly describes Young's longevity, from the silent movies, to the talkies and finally as a pioneer in TV, with her legendary program, The Loretta Young Show. There are not many movies stars who were lucky enough to enjoy such a long career. The only female star I can think of is K. Hepburn. And why did she survive? She was a figher, ahead of her time, and without doubt one of the most beautiful women ever to appear on the silver screen. Again, back to the cover: it's one by Hurrell, and it says it all about Holywood in the 1930's. Ty Power's carrer took off after making three pictures with Loretta, both of them exqusitely beautiful. You don't see stars like that any more. Thank goodness we still have their movies.

The Star Machine operated in Hollywood during the Golden Age of American Cinema for a little over 30 years. With the introduction of sound
recording, technological wizadry and a focus on the "star" among the public the major studios carefully groomed men and women for stardom.
The process took raw talent as well as theatre professionals through the wringer of a seven year contract; appearing in B films and moving through the hoops to appear in major roles in important movies. Not everyone, of course, made it or were happy when they were on the top of the motion picture ladder. Nevertheless, MGM, RKO, 20th Century-Fox, Columbia, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal and the minor studies continued to produce about 450 movies per year at the height of the golden age. MGM was the best studio with excellent cameramen, directors, producers, makeup artists and set designers to produce lavish entertainment for the millions who made movie attendance a two or three trip event during the 30s and 40s.
Basinger delves into detail on how the stars were selected, groomed and functioned within the system. Some people like Joan Blondell and Norma Shearer who married Irving Thalberg the MGM boy boss-wizard did well.
Others became disillusioned as did the good actor Tyrone Power who was typecast as a romantic/adventure hero. Deanna Durbin the musical teen walked away forever in 1948 disgusted by the business as did the reclusive Jean Arthur. Errol Flynn and the wild Lana Turner were disobedient and raised all kinds of hell without the approval of studio bosses. One of the most fascinating tales she spins is that of Eleanor Powell an average looking girl who was a great dancer.
Basinger tells these people's interesting stories while we learn about how and why movies succeed. Money was and is the bottom line with the Hollywood moguls. Today there is no system as stars have to negotiate their own contracts; run production companies and labor on a movie for a much longer time than was the norm in the studio era.
Jeanine Basinger teaches Film at Wesleyan University; is often seen on Turner Classic Movies and evinces an evident love for popular films.
Her book is well written, entertaining and informative. Recommended for movie buffs,young people wanting to become familiar with how movies were made in an earlier era and anyone interested in Hollywood history and how film has been important in American popular culture.

Basinger also discusses character actors and how Hollywood produced escapist entertainment during World War II.

Ms. Basinger is the most incisive, readable and entertaining writer working in the field today. Period, the end.