ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the imbalance in the ability of stars to achieve an international or transnational level of fame, focusing on France as a country with a thriving film industry and indigenous star system and yet a poor record in the export of its stars. The star-system began, in the silent era, as a worldwide phenomenon with stars such as Max Linder, Lillian Gish, Sessue Hayakawa, Pola Negri and Rudolph Valentino reaching the four corners of the globe, unhindered by language. The movement of actors across the globe has long been a subject of fascination in journalistic and scholarly writing on stars. An important current within studies of Hollywood focuses on its import of foreign stars, notably European actors, as a result of industrial patterns or political exile, or both. The traditional route for European stars to make an impact on the world stage is through their connection to art cinema, via an association with film movement or an auteur.
