I've always loved learning more about the classic Hollywood studio system. The other thing I love is a good old-fashioned movie musical. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly just made life look incredible in those movies. So what better studio to learn a little more about than MGM - the leader in movie musicals in that classic Hollywood studio era.
This is Part One of a series I will be doing on MGM. This studio had a lot going on and too much to just put into one post. So here's how the studio got started, all twists and turns included.
The basics:
MGM.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro Pictures. Goldwyn Pictures. Louis B. Mayer.
Metro Pictures had Richard Rowland and Louis B. Mayer from 1915-1918, when Mayer decided to leave the studio. Rowland continued on for a few more years before heading over to Fox. Marcus Loew (yes, Loew's Theatres) then bought out Metro Pictures.
Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was founded by Samuel Goldfish and Edgar & Archibald Selwyn in 1916. (Samuel Goldfish had his name legally changed to Goldwyn shortly thereafter). Goldwyn was forced out of his company, when Lee Shubert (Broadway) and Marcus Loew took it over, combining Goldwyn Pictures with Metro Pictures.
Louis B. Mayer (who will have to have his own post one of these days - one of the key players in classic Hollywood), after leaving Metro Pictures, formed his own Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation. Shortly thereafter (1924) Loew made the decision to combine Goldwyn, Metro and Louis B. Mayer's Pictures together, finally forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Mayer at the head of it.
The famous roaring "Leo the Lion" at the beginning of any MGM picture's opening credits came from Goldwyn Pictures. After the formation of MGM the enscription "Ars Gratia Artis" (Art for Art's Sake) was made a staple above the lion.
Up Next:
"More stars than there are in heaven." The stars that brought MGM Studios to the forefront of Hollywood.
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