This question began forming while watching my DVD of 1938's "The Adventures of Robin Hood." Among its commentary was that Errol Flynn became Warner Brothers' top star. But what does that mean?

- Flynn's movies were selling the most tickets of all the studio's star players?

- Flynn's movies were making the most dollars each? (I don't know whether "A" class movies priced tickets differently as I believe occurs today)

I am informed that Shirley Temple was the #1 star during several years in the 1930s, yet Clark Gable was referred to as the king of Hollywood.

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So obviously I have no idea how leading players of "A" class motion pictures were to have been identified for rating. Nor am I able to discriminate factual data from public relations hyperbole.

I would hazard a guess that since the studio's main goal is the bottom line then I would opt for tickets sold to give him that distinction.

Clark Gable made more than one flop. A Studio’s top star is the lead that produces the biggest gate at the Theatre.

Clark Gable weathered the storm of his flops to become a high grosser. Want to insure a good gate have Clark Gable. In any given year he may be the lead that brought in the biggest gate, but his films would turn profit even if he was not the highest ticket seller. That is box office folks. That is also the reason he gets run as the King of Hollywood.

Clark Gable also started making films in 1925 with silent films and was the face of he transition as film evolved into the art/entrainment forum we recognize today. His last film Misfits was released in 1961. This film was a flop. It’s budget was 4 million and made maybe 4.1 million. It was considered the disaster of its day. This film ended Clark Gable’s career.

Look for the highest grossing films for each year to answer your question. For example Gone with the Wind was the highest grossing film for 1939. The lead was Clark Gable. So, in 1939 Clark Gable is the highest grossing actor in ticket sales.

Then you can look up there studio contracts for who in what year was the highest paid.

Duke Wayne in 1970s was paid 750,000.00 dollars per picture.

The Misfits had the distinction of being Gables + Monroes last movie. The 1934 movie 'It happened one night' with Gable + Lombard; interesting tidbit; the scene where they are hitchhiking + sitting on the fence, Gable is munching on a carrot, that was the idea for the character of Bugs Bunny.

That is cool and not NormanConquest. Always enjoy your post. My love of firearms is suppressed by my love of movies. Hence, I have had a lot of disappointment in both the firearms industry and movie studios. Say what you want about Ted Turner, but I just watched Glen Ford’s Big Heat on TCM.

I can relate. I'm the guy who USED to pop off + say things like, "That gun hadn't been invented yet,etc.,ad nauseum". No one cared + one just makes a nuisance of oneself. Another case in point, next time you watch McClintock, when the Indians are stealing the rifles off the train, they're Krags.

I noticed that also! I also hate those fake bending swords you see in films like Lion and Winter.

Then of course Duke’s trusty Model 1892.

In my previous post I meant to type cool info. Not cool and not. Tech issues of the old films aside at least they had adult story development. We are half way through July and not one decent fil yet in 2019.

One of the reasons that I liked 'Lawrence Of Arabia' was as well as being a great movie, it followed T.E. Lawrence's book Seven Pillars of Wisdom better than any other movie from a book that I can recall.

The OP may want to look up Wallace Barry of Treasure Island fame. I have heard for years he had the largest contract of any studio lead.

Speaking of old-time actors were you aware that Charles Laughton (Capt. Bly) was married to Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein)?

No I was not. I liked his Capt Bly.

Mister CHRISTIAN!!!. Although I find Anthony Hopkins a very fine actor I am still impressed with the original. Were you aware that the 2 authors that wrote 'Mutiny On The Bounty' were veterans of the Lafayette Escadrille? After war 1 ended they moved to the Pacific + if memory serves they wrote the book in 1926. They also wrote a book called 'Falcons Over France' that I HIGHLY recommend about their exploits in the air war over the trenches.

Just finished watching “The Harder They Fall”.Boggie’s last film. Man, I love that movie. I had not seen it in over 14 years.

I don't think I've seen that one + I'm a big Bogart fan. I'll look for it in my movies unlimited catalog.

It is Boggie’s last film. He is dying from cancer and shot in black and white.

Boogie plays a down and out sports writer hired by the mob to shepherd and build up a heavy weight from South America who looks great, but can’t break an egg.

After a couple of fixed fights the boys throw him to the wolves. Boogie objects. The boy goes on with the fight and gets beat badly.

Boogie gets him out of the country with Boogie’s cut if the take bets and gate.

Boogie then writes a true piece of journalism called The Harder They Fall exposing the racket.

Former Heavyweight Champ, who lost the title to Rocky Marciano, Jersey Joe Wilcot plays George the punchy, cornerman.

The antagonistist and his racket is based on Frank Constello.

Much interesting stuff that doesn't get me to what I had hoped was a simple answer.
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One facet of nearly all swashbuckler films - since I don't watch "sword and sandal junk" - is the artificial sound of duralumin swords clashing. To put this annoyance into perspective, view the 1990 version of "Treasure Island," starring Charlton Heston (far and away the closest to its novel as well as being the best) when Black Dog and Billy Bones fight. Another example is the duel between "Laugher" viking and "the Redhead" (Angus) in the "Thirteenth Warrior" . In both examples you hear the clash of steel with steel. Ooops, I omitted the movie's title.
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The film I have viewed that is essential interchangeable with its novel is "Silence of the Lambs." I saw the movie first, then read the novel to find out that which rendered novel superior. When I finished, I realized one or the other was superfluous.
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"It Happened One Night's" female lead is Claudette Colbert.

You're right about Claudette Colbert. Gable was married to Lombart. I just got to typing too fast.

If this does not make any sense, please tell me. If you want to know who the Number 1 film star of a given year is who have to;

A) Look up who was the lead in the highest grossing film of that year. For example 1939 was Clark Gable (top billed) Gone with the Wind.

Or

B) Look up who had the largerest, most lucrative contract from a Studio in a given year. Whoever, has the biggest contract is your number for that year. Think NFL quarterbacks. Nominally the more successful the more than can demand on a contract. Whoever a studio had given the largest contract is that studio’s Number 1 actor.

I prefer Column A in answering the question. A history PHD friend of mine who makes Hollywood film history his hobby swears to me for years Wallace Barry was paid the most of any male lead by any studio.

Doing either of the above will give you your list.

Please, tell me if that gives you direction.

On another note, if I had any chance of making it into one of these new superhero movies anywhere near the top of the bill, I would take a relative small payout 300k or so for a piece, royalty, of the merchandise sold. I can’t believe no one has done this yet. George Lucas did that with Star Wars. I think for the first film he retained all the rights to merchandise. Just think how many Iron Man mask and whatevers have sold.

In 1969 Dennis Hopper got divorced from his wife who took him to the cleaners; basically got everything but what he would retain was anything he made off the new movie he was filming: "Easy Rider". He came out O.K.

I read an interview a few years ago from David Morrell, who wrote "First Blood". He wrote the book as a college thesis + got the idea when watching T.V. one night + switching from the live Viet Nam coverage to student protests. He thought what if some really badass warrior came back from Nam, how would he fit in, etc. Anyway, before he turned it in he had a wild hair to see a lawyer for advice. It cost him $500.00. A lot of money for a college kid.The lawyer set up the paperwork etc. that retained him all the rights on any Rambo product, anything from movies + sequels to children's toys. Morrell said "Sequels, how can you have sequels? He dies at the end of the book". The lawyer said Trust Me. He said "Children's toys? He's a cold-blooded killer". The lawyer said Trust me. Morrell said in looking back that was the best $500.00 I ever spent.

I was mistaken on the date that Nordhoff + Hall wrote Mutiny On the Bounty. It was 1932, + considering that the Gable/Laughton movie came out in 1935 it must have been very popular. It did get Best Picture Oscar.

Hawks wanted Clark Gable as Number 2 on the bill to Duke for Hatari. He died during the negotiating the deal.

Also, the head German officer in Casablanca (that Bogie gets at the end, I forget his name) was the 1st pick over Bela Lugosi as Dracula but he couldn't find the time. Also, the Sundance Kid was originally supposed to be Steve McQueen but he turned it down + Redford's star shot up over that one.

The major was played by Hans Conrad Veidt. He was German, but played Jafar in one of the the Technicolor Arabian Nights. The one with the little boy and Green Genie.

That sounds right. I've got Casablanca (who doesn't?) I just was too lazy to go downstairs + pull it off the shelf to check.

LHeym500:

I think you pointed me in the right direction. The one thing to which I hadn't paid attention was that all major studios ran vertical organizations - that is, Paramount Studios had a bazillion Paramount theaters, and so on. The exceptions were United Artists, Columbia, and Universal. So the verticals controlled distribution; and that included ticket prices. So the only way all production companies could have leading actors' value to be accurately compared with other leading actors was the gross dollar sales per tax year of each. It didn't matter about ticket prices since the production company created ticket prices for each of their movies - that is, if "Gone With The Wind" was selling out all MGM (Lowes) theaters every showing, MGM could see what happens to ticket sales when ticket prices were arbitrarily increased. The verticals could experiment until the pips squeaked.

I think totaling gross dollars in ticket sales for all movies made by an actor per tax year will yield the correct information. Wouldn't matter that Flynn made nine movies in 19xx while Gable made two, Bette Davis made six, and so on. Wouldn't matter that Flynn's tickets prices were 35¢ while Gable's were 42¢. The dollar totals yield results about which I queried.
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Now that that's taken care of, we can have fun.

FYI: It was the vertical organization that was the basis for the "studio system" that was able to develop and nurture leading actors, character actors, and the myriad staff required to crank out a movie a week 50 weeks a year. When an antitrust suit forced production companies to divest their theater chains, the "studio system" disappeared within a decade.

The breaking of the Studio System is often cited as allowing actor RST to gain drastic increase in salaries.

I do regret the loss of the theater/studio relationship in the Studio System. I do think it made the industry stronger, may have kept down the price of a ticket.

In my home town a family of four with drinks and popcorn is pushing 60 dollars to go the movies. The ceniplex makes almost nothing on the tickets. The bulk of revenue comes from food sales.

Never buy anything, just the ticket.

Good luck with your list. It is a true Hollywood, historical endeavor. Do not over look Wallace Barry. Folks tell me his films always made box office, artistic merit notwithstanding.

If you do the work, please try to get it published. I would pay to see it.

I just finished reading an article in the current Military History Quarterly about Clark Gable's place in the AAC as a tail gunner on the B-17's. Seems that wife Carol Lombard was a real patriotic gal + was constantly on him to enlist. After her tragic plane crash in Las Vegas, he took it to heart, enlisted in the air corps. + kept volunteering for dangerous missions. Good article.

TCM reported that Borgart in 1947 under contract from Warner Brothers was paid $450K which was the highest Studio contract in 1947.

That's a lot of money now. It damn sure was in 47. And not one cent of it could save him from cancer. What a pity. At one point in time, I thought that the cancer scare could be cured but there was too much money being made in not curing totally. That line of thought came to a halt when Linda McCartney + then George Harrison died of the disease (both having more gold than Croesus). My dad died from it but although well off he was not in the same category of wealth as those others. Sorry to get off the subject. Back to you LHeym.

I keep typing T.C.M and the damn thing keeps changing it. When I type it wo periods.

The boys at T.C.M would know what the RKO, Warrner, and MGM contracts were in a given year bc that is how T.C.M was started. Uncle Ted bought MGM which owned RKO and Warrner. How much of it he bought I am not sure.

I still think gross ticket sales (as that was the index used for granting contracts) in a given year is a better indicator.

Did Humphrey Bogart die in 1954? It was a quick decline. Even Duke could not beat the “Big C.” His words when he first disclosed his first diagnosis. In all my reading on Duke and cancer it is amazing at the time the stigma attached to his diagnosis. The PR battle to keep it out of general knowledge. I guess the fear was the disease would destroy his imagine and hence draw.

In the end it kind of did. I love The Shootist with the perspective of a 1990s eye. But at the time the film was received well by the press, but did not do well in theaters. I think the reason was those who were Duke Wayne fans did not want to see Superman dying as he clearly was. There may have been something of fatality of if Duke is dying then I the viewer will surely die.

I like the dying or at least washed up old hero character. It is always my favorite character. The Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. The writer Humphrey Bogart plays in so many films. Old Duke in the The Cowboys and The Shootist. Sean Connery in The League of E. Gentleman, Finding Foster, and Untouchables. Peter O’Toole in Lion and Winter, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and My Favorite Year. Oh! and my favorite Anthony Hopkins role the Col. Ludlowe in Legends of the Fall.

But I am strange.

I think the Studio System created better actors or found more talent. My not been the best environment to get paid, but there did seem more work for those in bc they wanted to get pics made with folks under contract.

My brother and I cuss all the time that there is not a decent American actor under 50.

Think about it. At best or at least box office: Robert Downey Jr, Brad Pitt, Johnny Deep, Tom Cruise, Clooney, Tom Hanks, Val Kemmer (essentially retired), Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Matthew McConaughey, Samuel L. Jackson, all over 50.

My favorite of the new class Bradley Cooper is 44.


What are we left with: James Flacco, Chris Prat, and whose knows what else.

real movies are dying out.
there just isn't the incentive to make them since the bottom line isn't there.

throw some costumes out there, CGI blow up some stuff, have a bad guy, and run with it..
meh a few mil to make, a few mil made week one.
push the merchandise in the wal-mart.


anyway the shootist was Wayne's best role and his best performance.
maybe too easy for him to play that part?
dunno, but it was his best on screen performance.

Those ivory revolvers were Great Westerns + John Wayne's personal revolvers. In the last scene when Ron Howard throws that pistol across the room you KNEW that that one was a prop gun!

Another cool fact about The Shootist is everyone but Henry Morgan, the guy who plays Ron Howard’s boss, and Rob Howard took significantly less than their value to be in that film with Duke Wayne.


One of the best lines, “I am an old man scared of the dark.”

Duke’s production company bought movie rights to one more novel. I forget the name. However, sadly maybe poetically, he was unable to film it.

I liked the line at the beginning when he gut shoots the highwayman. "You need to pick another line of work, this one sure doesn't suit your pistol."

Oh + in the book he goes one step further. He kicks the guy into the icy water + says "Try not to rob anybody else before you die."

Although the whole movie was great, I think my fondest remembrances were the opening scenes when you were just watching his hands with the custom pistols in a 'pan in' with the dates. I went to see the movie in the theatre when it came out with friends who were also fans of the Duke. + Brian talked the ticket puncher to sell him the movie poster from the frontal display for $10.00. It remained a place of honor on his wall for years.

I watched the MalteseFalcon last night at the Lexington Theater. I have seen four films at the Cineplex this year. Theee were made before 1942. The other was released before 1965.

Here in Austin during the 3 summer months, they play a plethora of classics at the Original 'Paramount Theatre' on Congress avenue. Well worth getting a season ticket. Great theatre w/ an open bar + 19th-century finesse. You can look at the ceiling + see a hole that was put there by Harry Houdini when he played there in the '20s. A theatre with a lot of heritage. So goes Austin. Hells Bells, it is/was the most beautiful city under the sun. The current implants are totally ruining this once pure city. Ces La Vie.

Effin Norwegian cable deliverers turned off TCM a year back, oddly they were at last few months showing vintage movies from 2006ish and 07ish. Wth, thats not vintage at all, amd must hage been a mix up and not original TCM showinga.