Classic Hollywood

One aspect of the studio system in Hollywood that was interesting was how the studios would contract the stars of their films. The studios would use actors from their stock to make what ever movie was in the works. This would limit the different types of films and roles certain actors could have. Most of the time if you were an actor you would only make movies with your studio and you could only play the roles they  wanted you to. This kept the public very divided into what films they enjoyed. MGM at the time had a lot of the top young actors like Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Katharine Hepburn. One example of how films in the past would have been different if the studios did not control the actors was the choice for Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. MGM originally offered Shirley Temple, who was the hot young star at the time, the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, but 20th Century Fox would not lend her out to film this movie. Instead MGM used an actress from their stock, Judy Garland, and this film helped launch her career.

http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2009/11/05/‘the-wizard-of-oz’-and-yellow-brick-roads/