Louise Lovely, Bluebird Photoplays, and the star system

Focusing on Australian silent actress Louise Lovely, this paper outlines some complex and ambiguous attitudes toward the star system in early Hollywood. This exploration takes as its starting point the poster in figure 1 and examines the importance of Lovely's name, which was linked to her contract with Universal and her prominent roles in "expensive" Bluebird Photoplay productions. Universal surrounded Lovely with star hype at exactly the same time that its sutio heads were publicly critical of the star system and were devising strategies to control stars.