As the son of a movie star - Alan Ladd was a Hollywood staple in the 1940's and 1950's - and as a longtime executive with a number of studios, Mr. Ladd has seen just about everything in Hollywood.

If this evaluation of public tastes is indeed correct, it bodes ill for dark gangster films that have been a Hollywood staple for years.

Although aerial shots had been a Hollywood staple since well before the 1927 silent movie "Wings" won the first Academy Award for best picture, Mr. Jones was regarded as a modern pioneer.

Courtroom dramas are a Hollywood staple.

Boxing movies have been a Hollywood staple since the 20's; in fact, there have been times when the movies were more popular than the sport itself.

The Russian/Ukrainian film The 9th Company, for example, became a blockbuster in the former USSR earning millions of dollars and also representing a new trend in Russia in which some domestic films are "drawing Russian audiences away from Hollywood staples."

Which Hollywood staple will add her name to the best dressed list at the 2012 Golden Globes with a splash of color or a bit of sizzle-pop?

The combat picture has been a Hollywood staple for so long - since before the actual combat was over - that it can sometimes seem as if every possible story has already been told.

Sword-and-sandals epics have become familiar Hollywood staples ... and those expecting something that takes up where the legendarily decadent BBC/PBS series I, Claudius left off may be in for something of a disappointment.

The Dark Knight, has been a Hollywood staple for many years.