According to the American Film Institute (1997 list) seven of the top ten films of all time were produced during the Hollywood studio era that took place between the 1920’s to the mid 1950’s. These are impressive numbers considering that America’s film history goes back more than one hundred years. Why do so many of America’s greatest films come from this era? Why is this time period called the golden age of Hollywood? The reason is the Hollywood studio system is the best method ever developed for making quality film and no other system has been able to produce as many quality films in such a short time. One of the key reasons that films from the studio era are great is their staying power. Films like Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain, All Quiet on the Western Front, Gone With the Wind and many other were produced within the studio system and are still identified with today. John Belton states one of the top reasons the studio era films have such staying power “The industry that makes motion pictures also manufactures movie stars”(89). What Belton is referring to is the fact that it was no accident that many of the stars of the past could sing, dance and act. The stars of the time were groomed for stardom and trained in multiple forms of entertainment. It is not only the stars that gave these films their staying power it was also their narrative style and how they were presented to the audience. The narrative techniques of the studio era not only created