Golden Age of Hollywood - Essay Example

Golden Age of Hollywood Introduction The studio system, which is popularly known as the Golden Age of Hollywood, was a major success in classical era. The system was influential between 1920s and early 1960s with highest success recorded in 1920s and 1930s. In these early days, the five major studios focused on locating, developing, and grooming potential stars to their liking. It is evident many actors and actresses stem from the Golden Age of Hollywood and one of them is Katharine Hepburn. Katharine Hepburn was one of the liveliest starts with a career of unparalleled success during the studio system. Her success is credited in seven decades, while she appeared in more than fifty movies and consequently won four Best Actress Oscars (Edwards 23). Katharine Hepburn was born in May 12, 1907, growing up in Hartford environs, Connecticut in a loving family, she attended her primary education at the Kingswood-Oxford School located in Hartford and later she attended college at Bryn Mawr. She in history and philosophy in the year and it is here she knew and later married Ludlow Ogden Smith, Katharine’s acting interest developed from college by participating in plays. Immediately after graduating, the next day she travelled to Baltimore where she met a producer, Eddie Knopf who cast her to play in various local routine productions. This marked as her start in professional acting and by 1928; she began to be known in Broadway in the plays like “These Days.” During this period, Katharine appeared in several plays but she developed a reputation of arguing with directors and was therefore, dismissed from several productions (Edwards 125). Katharine’s success in the studio system came in 1932 when she played Amazon princess in a lead role in the play “The Warrior’s Husband.” George Cukor a director from Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) pictures was excited on how she played this role and decided to give her first role in a movie. She accepted to work with him and demanded a high salary in the film “A Bill of Divorcement” where Katharine’s performance was highly praised. She worked with Cukor in many other movies and therefore, raising to stardom. In 1933, Katharine won her first Oscar in the film “Morning Glory” because of her role as Eve Lovelace who pursues a career instead of romance. That same year she had an astounding performance as Jo in the successful screen adaptation of “Little Women.” Further, she had her second Oscar nomination in 1935 after appearing in the film “Alice Adams” and she became a rising star (Edwards 177). However, after her success, Katharine had a series of box-office failures threatening her career. The films “Spitfire,” and “Break of Hearts” in 1934 failed in box office while in 1935 “Sylvia Scarlett” did not do well. Further, “Mary of Scotland” in 1936 and “Quality Street” made in 1937 failed to succeed. It is was disappointing that even the film “Bringing Up Baby” created in 1938 that paired Katharine with the star Cary Grant as a comedy was not appreciated by the public although today it is honored as a comedy classic. In 1938, Katharine failures continued as she was voted “Box Office Poison” in 1938, which was largely because of her reputation of failing to follow the behavior expected of super stars. She often refused to put on makeup, she wore trousers at the time when they were not fashionable for women, she did not want to give autographs or pose for photographs, and refused to talk to reporters (Edwards 224). Katharine fought to bring back her career success and she left Hollywood to find a stage project. She accepted an offer to star in Philip Barry’s play “The Philadelphia Story” that highlighted a character incorporating humor, aggression, nervousness, and vulnerability. She financed part of the play together with Howard Hughes and bought the film rights that were used in its creation. The play came out in 1940, it was an immediate success going for two fruitful tours, and Katharine stardom became evident. The play became crucial in earning Katharine another Best Actress Nomination and subsequently leading to the revival of her career. In 1942, she starred in the movie “Woman of the Year” which was directed by George Stevens and it performed well. Adding to her success, Katharine received her fourth Best Actress Oscar nomination from the movie paired alongside Spencer Tracy. It is clear that Tracy and Katharine fell in love on the set of “Woman of the Year” and their romance became famous and secret in Hollywood. The two never married because Tracy was a staunch Catholic and therefore, did not believe in divorce but remained a couple though living separately. Katharine and Tracy chemistry in the “Woman of the Year” saw the beginning of a partnership and romance that went on for 25 years as they acted together in eight more films (Edwards 301). The next films that Katharine made during the 1940s were average by standards but she kept on going. The film “Adam’s Rib” in 1949 brought her to heights of success again while coupled with Tracy for a third time. Her success continued in the films as she co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in “The African Queen” where she played prissy and formal single missionary in African in the era of World War I in which she persuades a drunkard (Bogart) to use his boat to target a German ship. Her presentation in the movie saw her nominated for the fifth Best Actress but the award went to Vivien Leigh from the motion picture “A streetcar Named Desire.” She then went back to her theater performances in 1952 where she was cast in London in the adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s “The Millionaires.” In the fifties she was cast in various Shakespeare plays such as “The Merchant of Venice,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Twelfth Night” and even in “Anthony and Cleopatra.” In other films, Katharine also had success in various roles similar to Rose Sawyer from the “The African Queen” as an independent single woman longing for a man. She received various Academy Award nominations from films like “Summertime” in 1955, “The Rainmaker” released 1956 and “Suddenly, Last Summer” which premiered 1959 (Edwards 344). Katharine came back from a break in acting towards the collapse of the studio system of the Golden Age of Hollywood in 1960s. She gave a mesmerizing performance in the movie “Long Day’s Journey into Night” in which she played Mary Tyrone and to no one surprise she was nominated for Best Actress Academy Award. While the studio system had collapsed in the early sixties, Katharine took a break from acting because the love of her life Tracy was ailing. The next five years she focused on taking care of him as his illness was prolonged. Tracy got better and he made a final film with Katharine, an emotional movie titled “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” that was released in 1967. The role won Katharine her second Best Actress Oscar Award but she just dedicated it to honor Tracy who died immediately after the film was completed (Edwards 398). The year 1968 was a great success for Katharine as she received many nominations and winning other awards. It was apparent that her role in “The Lion in Winter” was amazing, and together with Barbra Streisand in the film “Funny Girl,” she won her third Oscar. The following year she went back to Broadway and starred in the play “Coco” where her performance led to a nomination in Tony for Best Actress in the musical. The later years of Katharine were spent in television performances especially with her trusted director George Cukor; in 1975, she was fascinating in the movie “Love Among the Ruins” and this presentation won her an Emmy award. Katharine dedicated her life to other television movies in the subsequent two decades such as “Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry” in 1986, “The Man Upstairs” made in 1992 and “This Can’t Be Love” that was released in 1944. By this time, her health was declining but she forged ahead with creating movies and television. In this regard, she won her fourth Best Actress Oscar for the role she played in “On Golden Pond” alongside Henry Fonda. Her final films include “One Christmas” and “Love Affair” in 1994 and her autobiography is titled “Men Stories of My Life.” Katharine finally died on June 29, 2003 from old age in her home of Old Saybrook, Connetticut at the age of 96 (Edwards 434). Conclusion Katharine Hepburn is an actress to reckon from her successful career in the studio system in the famous Golden Age of Hollywood. She played amazing roles in theater and movies raising her to heights of stardom. It is through her performances that she was able to win four Oscars, other awards and many nominations. She was a successful actress who continued her career to old age without failing to amaze the audience. Work Cited Edwards, Anne. Katharine Hepburn: A Remarkable Woman. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. Print. Read More