Contract Player News Today

♪ >> harrison ford has been over and over again named the biggest star in the world. >> harrison ford would be the quintessential leading man indiana jones, consolo. >> he loves to rescue people with his helicopter. >> charismatic. >> and icon. ♪ >> harrison ford might be the biggest movie star ever. he was on in the trash compactor, indian the snakepit, doctor richard kimble diving down the waterfall but if you think you know the leading man with a lopsided grin, think again. his ...

joining us now, nbc news chief political analyst, chuck todd, the man behind the article and nbc news correspondent, vaughn hillyard. chuck, when you go back and look at 2020, and why donald trump lost, is there a definitive answer for why he lost? >> i think if you surveyed political strategists and political scientists, you wouldnt get a definitive answer. i think he lost simply because of covid. theres a lot of people because of what happened after the election with january 6th, the...

Stories and they ran it like a factory and roll those things out four or five, 600 of them a year. >> there were only a few large studios and those studios made the movies, period. it was sort of like the mafia in that they controlled everything. >> studio system operated a pool of aspires talent, what they called stock contract players. >> being a contract player didnt mean youre going to be a star. you were shuffled from one movie to the next. and often you werent glorified extra essentially. ...

Monsters and tough, tough businessmen. they knew that the things the public wanted were stars and stories and they ran it like a factory, and they rolled those things out 400, 500, 600 of them a year. >> there were only a few large studios and those studios made the movies, period. it was sort of like the mafia in that they controlled everything. >> studio system operated a pool of aspiring talent, what they called stock contract players. >> being a contract player didnt mean youre going to be a...

>> reporter: mickey rooney grew up in show business, a product of hollywoods golden age. by the time he played puck in the 1935 film "a midsummer nights dream" rooney was already a veteran. hed made his acting debut before he was 2 in his parents vaudeville act. vaudeville would serve him well. he would sing and dance his way through hundreds of films. >> i dont know why and i dont want it. >> reporter: in 1970, his versatility landed him the role of andy hardy, a witty character and one he woul...