About the time that "The Birth of a Nation" came out in 1915 by Griffith, movie companies were developing a "star system" similar to those of other performing arts, such as theater and opera. Publisizing performers became the best way to promote movies and attract a large audience. The first highly paid and most popular motion-picture stars included dramatic performers Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and Mary Pickford, cowboy actor William S. Hart, and comedian Charlie Chaplin.
Before World War I broke out, foreign-made films were strong competition for American movies in the United States, especially mystery serials from France and historical epics from Italy. But during the war, European governments used the raw materials from their film industries for military needs. American movie companies jumped at the opportunity to become the world's strongest film industry. Their successes made producers able to spend money on lavish costumes and expensive sets. The studios created a sense of glamour around American movie stars that appealed to audiences throughout the world.
Within the United States, the competition among movie companies took the most powerful studios toward what is called "vertical integrigation". This means that the system in which a studio owned production facilities, distribution channels, and also movie theaters. Vertical integrigation gave the studios control of all three major elements of filmmaking: production, distribution, and exhibition.
Before long, a few movie companies came to dominate the industry - Columbia, Fox, Metro-Goldin-Mayer, Paramout, RKO, United Artists, Universal, and Warner Brothers. These companies came up with a system which said that a producer could supervise a movies developement from script to post-production. Producers, who were usually business men instead of film artists, kept a close watch on budgets and schedules. As far as possible, all of the people working on the film - the director, writers, designers, crew and cast - were drawn from the studio payroll.
Vertical integrigation enabled the companies to use their studio stages efficiently and maintain a high volume of production. This system also placed an even greater emphasis on movie stars and other, repeatable genre movies. A genre film is a specific type, such as a Western or melodrama.
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