![]() Romantic Comedy (The Philadelphia Story & Adam’s Rib). Prestige drama (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof & Boys Town). Science Fiction (Forbidden Planet & The Time Machine). The breath of films in various genres is impressive. The two most popular MGM films are Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, but you can’t overlook classics like Singing in the Rain, Meet Me in St. The proof of MGM’s dominance was up on the silver screen. Combining that star power with the talent behind the camera from directors George Cukor, Victor Fleming, King Vidor, Vincente Minnelli, and Stanley Donen gave the studio an enormous creative edge. Before World War II, the studio was close to signing Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant. At one point, MGM had on exclusive contract Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Spencer Tracey, Katherine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Debbie Reynolds, Carole Lombard, and Elizabeth Taylor. ![]() MGM boasted “more stars than there are in heaven,” and they weren’t kidding. Mayer and Thalberg smartly invested in the most important currency of classic Hollywood: a large stable of bankable stars. Mayer’s right-hand man was the much-respected head of production Irving Thalberg who, at only 24 years old, was nicknamed the “Boy Genius.” The pair would set a template of the MGM style: big productions that exemplified glamour and sophistication along with crowd-pleasing films. MGM was run by the infamous Louis B Mayer, who ruled the studio with an iron fist and was loved and loathed by the studio’s stable of stars and directors. Eventually, the goal was to build a “dream factory” assembly line where a film could be created on a weekly basis.Ī nervous Greta Garbo poses with Leo the Lion in 1926 And Marcus Loew’s plan was for MGM to create high-quality product for his extensive chain of movie theatres. This was when the studios owned or partially owned most of the big theatre chains throughout the country. With the new moniker of MGM and its massive collection of sound stages and backlots, the new studio quickly became the dominant player in the nascent studio system. Ironically, MGM itself would be created through a series of buyouts in 1924 when movie theatre magnate Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. And he would be the king for the next 30 years. At first, the roar was silent, but Leo made his presence known with the advent of talkies in 1927. ![]() It was fitting that Leo the Lion was the studios’ mascot, appearing before each MGM picture roaring through a masthead that read in Latin “ars gratis artis” (art for art’s sake). There was also a little animation studio from Walt Disney. Back in the 1920s, that jungle included the big five: MGM, Paramount, 20 th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, and Warner Bros. The whole scenario is sad for fans of the golden age of Hollywood since MGM was the king of the film studio jungle. Now we have Amazon/MGM added to the wreckage. When you throw in the Silicon Valley giants of Apple and Google into the mix, this unholy alliance has produced a streaming lineup of Hulu/Disney +, Paramount +, Peacock (Universal), and Warner/Discovery (HBO MAX), all vying to take down the “Queen of Dragons” called Netflix. We’re also in an unprecedented time of mergers and acquisitions, with AT&T unloading Warner Media only to be scooped up by Discovery, Disney buying out 20 th Century Fox (another storied film studio), and Viacom/Paramount merging with CBS Corp. The scenario is not unlike “Game of Thrones,” with Disney, Warner Media, and Netflix fighting over the iron throne of the seven kingdoms. The entertainment industry is undergoing a metamorphosis, with streaming services upending how we consume our film and television shows. When the news hit that Amazon was buying MGM, I was sad that another classic Hollywood studio had bit the dust.
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