Because of this, the films of this period were largely formulaic, cycling between a set of genres such as musicals, detective stories, and comedies. Today, films are often centered on a single performance by a dynamic actor or actress, taking on a role that is quite different from what they've done in the past, but classical Hollywood preferred the "name brand" performances of Humphrey Bogart and Gene Kelly. As a result, audiences knew what to expect when they went to the cinema and primarily went for reaffirmation of the cinema they knew and loved.
For instance, in Singin' in the Rain, Gene Kelly's brand of musical was highly acclaimed and beloved by all, even though it was stylistically no different from what he had been marketing for years. A modern actor like Daniel Day Lewis, however, is renowned for his diversity of characters, from the misanthropic oilman of There Will Be Blood to his turn as an Italian writer full of sexual issues in Nine. The public taste, as well as the industry conventions, has shifted far from what was normal in the Golden Age.
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