WI No Hollywood star system?

While some level of individual fame on the part of movie actors was almost certainly inevitable, it was greatly encouraged by the Hollywood studios, who promoted individual movie stars. But at first, the studios were reluctant to do this because they assumed (correctly) that the stars would eventually demand more money for doing movies once they became stars. What if that attitude had prevailed, and particular actors (and maybe later musicians) became relatively well-known but not "stars" per se? What would that even look like? Is it imaginable?
 
With the absence of individual "stars", I imagine the emphasis would be more on studios as a whole. Particular people could be contracted to work exclusively for this studio or that studio (forgive my ignorance if that's already how it works), and the attention would then be on them as a collective instead of individual people. This could lead to the public potentially seeing any individual actor who demanded more pay, on threat of quitting, as greedy people who wanted to ruin the successes of great movie producers.

Edit: It almost makes me think of a Soviet-style Hollywood. The individual identities of actors, musicians, etc. are less important than what they contribute to the collective (in this case, the studios they belong to). Their contributions are important, but they're not seen as personally of great importance.
 
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Particular people could be contracted to work exclusively for this studio or that studio (forgive my ignorance if that's already how it works)
Yeah, that is exactly how it worked. In fact, that was a key component of the star system, since certain actors would be promoted by that studio in particular.
 
I think the lack of a Star system would lead to a greater emphasis on the Producers and Directors of a film or on the quality of a "Troupe." This largely mirrors other branches of entertainment (mostly live) such as Theatre, Ballet, and Symphonies. Certainly, you get the occasional performer who really stands out and achieves some level of independent success but the vast majority of productions are driven by the creative team behind it rather than the performers themselves. When you go to see the London Symphony Orchestra or the Royal Shakespeare Company you know you are seeing the best whether they have a guest "star" or not.

Ultimately, I think this would also lead to higher quality films.
 
We tend not to think of the film industry in this way, but there's a reason why the studios, especially during the Studio Era, as were referred as dream factories. That's exactly what they were. They were factories whose output was entertainment, as opposed to cars or toasters. If you butterflied the studio star system, the emphasis might be on the material, as opposed to the actors or the director.
 
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