ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that freelance stars attained increased creative agency and entrepreneurial autonomy in their careers by collaborating with independent prestige producers who made films for United Artists in 1930s Hollywood. Using archival materials from the David O. Selznick collection, this chapter highlights how the freelance stars Ronald Colman, Janet Gaynor, Carole Lombard and Fredric March, negotiated deals to make the prestige films A Star is Born, Nothing Sacred, and The Prisoner of Zenda for Selznick’s production company, Selznick International Pictures, which released their films at UA in 1936–37. These artists negotiated deals with Selznick that either expanded their screen personae in new ways, provided new artistic opportunities in prestige productions, or bestowed financial incentives, like earning a percentage of their films’ box office profits. Moreover, Colman, Lombard, and March, all later negotiated similar deals at rival studios that emulated their UA agreements. Hence, this chapter underscores that these stars and their work with Selznick illuminate how UA’s production practices epitomized independence in the studio system during the 1930s.
