JOURNAL ARTICLE Incorporating the Star:The Intersection of Business and Aesthetic Strategies in Early American Film Catherine E. Kerr The Business HistoryReview Vol. 64, No. 3, ServiceIndustries (Autumn, 1990), pp. 383-410 Published by: The President and Fellows ofHarvard College DOI: 10.2307/3115734 Stable URL:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3115734 Page Count: 28
[size=13.3333px]Incorporating the Star: The Intersection of [size=13.3333px]Business and Aesthetic Strategies [size=13.3333px]in Early American Film [size=13.3333px]
[size=13.3333px]Scholars generally have studied the emergence of American [size=13.3333px]film stars in one of two ways: as an aesthetic, cultural [size=13.3333px]phenomenon or as part of the larger story of corporate con[size=13.3333px]solidation in the film industry. This article combines these [size=13.3333px]approaches, arguing that the early film star played two over[size=13.3333px]lappingroles. Within thenewlongfeamrefilms, surssenred [size=13.3333px]as focal points ibr continuity across complex narratives; within [size=13.3333px]the new vertically integrated film corporations, they bwame [size=13.3333px]fixal points for the coordination ofproduction, distribution, [size=13.3333px]and promotion. The article concludes by suwesting that the [size=13.3333px]interconnections between aesthetic practice and industrial [size=13.3333px]organization bear further examination.
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