1POPULAR CINEMA

which included the racialized discourses of the body as the presumed locus
of German identity. During the early years of the regime, the star system
was frequently attacked as the manifestation of an industrialized mass culture
preoccupied only with external appearances and spectatorial pleasures.
Speaking out against these excesses, commentators demanded: “No
more stars—we want to see human beings.” 25 Their repeated calls for popular
(volkstümlich) actors “connected to the people” (volksverbunden) were
motivated not only by artistic concerns about a pernicious tendency toward
typecasting and stereotyping but also by growing financial problems allegedly
caused by skyrocketing star salaries. 26 Similarly, the extensive wartime
writings about a renewed “commitment to the ensemble film” 27 reflect
both the obvious need for powerful symbols of national community and a
more hidden message to UFA’s leading stars about the ethos of teamwork.
Even Rühmann at one time provoked the critical remark that he would
reach the full “articulation of his abilities” 28 only as the supportive member
of a strong ensemble.
Notwithstanding the polemical treatises on the dangers of typecasting,
the demand for young, talented actors able to fill the gaps left by the exiles
and émigrés remained undiminished throughout the 1930s. That is why
critical attention shifted to the sociopsychological importance of the star
phenomenon in producing social consensus and maintaining the status quo.
Even Reichsfilmintendant Fritz Hippler overcame his initial opposition and
emphasized the importance of stars in propagating new programs and policies,
if through the detour of everyday behavior. Interestingly, Hippler
makes no references to specific character traits or mental attitudes. Instead
he speaks of casual gestures and mundane situations and evokes the ordinary
things that, in the form of clothes, accessories, and utensils, convey a
sense of being in the world and implicate even the more abstract (or politicized)
terms of identity in the rituals of self-presentation sustained by fashion
styles and consumerist choices:
In addition to the personal connection to a leading actor during the
screening, film creates the desire in the audience to be like him. How
he clears his throat and spits, how he is dressed, how he carries himself,
what he drinks (if he drinks), what he smokes and how, whether
he behaves like a philistine or a bon vivant—all of this has not only
an effect in the film but also in the life of the audience. 29
Stars 101