Studio System - Genre

One aspect of the Hollywood studio system that I found particularly interesting is the fact that certain studios focused on specific genres. Universal focused on Horrors, Warner Brothers focused on Crime films, which eventually developed into Detective films, and MGM focused on Musicals. This focus on genres led people to expect certain things when going to see movies made by certain studios. It also provided studios an opportunity to concentrate all their efforts on a certain genre, so that they could make the best possible film of that genre at that time. Rather than spreading themselves thin and trying to perfect several different genres, they could focus all their energies in one place. An example of a film in this company-controlled genre would be MGM's musical, Singing in the Rain. Starring MGM's top dancing star, Gene Kelly, this is a perfect example of how genre shapes film. This film could not be made nearly as well, with the same quality stars, or may have not even been received as well, if it had come out under any studio other than MGM. Since MGM was known for their musicals and their star, Gene Kelly, was known for his dancing, going into this film, audiences knew what genre to expect and what quality to expect. MGM continued their Musical reign with other films, like An American in Paris and The Band Wagon among others. These films further solidified MGM's role as the Musical genre champion.