Michael Curtiz ISN'T an auteur

• he was part of the Studio System, so was unable to have much creative freedom in terms of his films
• reminder of what the Studio System was:

  • during the Classic Hollywood era (1930s-1950s)
  • Hollywood movie studios controlled EVERYTHING - production, distribution, and exhibition
  • they often owned their own movie theatres, and offered block booking to independent theatres
• films in the Classic Hollywood era were often:

  • non experimental
  • simple narrative (equilibrium, disequilibrium, new equilibrium)
• • The Hayes Code (1934-1968) also set massive restrictions on what could be shown in films
• • Michael Curtiz's career is very diverse
  • with a wide variety of genre for his films
• • the fact that he worked for the Studio System means that he can't really be considered as an auteur since his filmmaking style was very tightly controlled by his studio Warner Bros.
• due to his diverse career his filmmaking techniques aren't consistent across all of his films.