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1
00:01:03,342 --> 00:01:06,778
Over that rainbow was a land of dreams.
2
00:01:06,945 --> 00:01:07,969
I never went there...
3
00:01:08,146 --> 00:01:12,276
...except when the rainbow was
the turnstile of my local movie theater...
4
00:01:12,451 --> 00:01:14,612
...and there, in the darkness...
5
00:01:14,786 --> 00:01:18,586
...a lionโs roar would freeze time...
6
00:01:18,757 --> 00:01:21,021
...suspend reality...
7
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...and introduce a world of adventure
and beauty and romance.
8
00:01:26,465 --> 00:01:28,365
That lionโs domain...
9
00:01:28,533 --> 00:01:33,095
...was the grandest motion-picture studio
the world has ever known:
10
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
11
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There's magic in the very name.
12
00:01:39,678 --> 00:01:43,079
MGM meant escape,
extravagance, glamour.
13
00:01:43,248 --> 00:01:45,944
Garbo, Gable, Crawford...
14
00:01:46,118 --> 00:01:49,645
...Tracy, Garland.
15
00:01:50,989 --> 00:01:52,923
But there was more.
16
00:01:53,091 --> 00:01:54,786
There was much, much more.
17
00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:59,624
Power struggles, corporate intrigues...
18
00:01:59,998 --> 00:02:02,865
...shifting alliances, driving ambition.
19
00:02:03,035 --> 00:02:05,469
L.B. Mayer, the founding father.
20
00:02:05,637 --> 00:02:08,868
Irving Thalberg, the boy wonder.
21
00:02:09,041 --> 00:02:12,704
The spectacular rise of an empire...
22
00:02:14,646 --> 00:02:16,637
...and its lamentable fall.
23
00:02:16,815 --> 00:02:19,807
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was
a turbulent kingdom with its own rules...
24
00:02:19,985 --> 00:02:21,885
...its own mythology.
25
00:02:22,888 --> 00:02:25,322
But they're all gone now.
26
00:02:26,425 --> 00:02:29,758
all that remain are the memories...
27
00:02:29,928 --> 00:02:33,329
...dreams, the movies...
28
00:02:33,498 --> 00:02:39,266
...where the dreams that they dared
to dream really did come true.
29
00:02:46,378 --> 00:02:49,745
all we've got is cotton
and slaves and arrogance.
30
00:02:49,915 --> 00:02:51,678
Maggie the Cat is alive!
31
00:03:09,101 --> 00:03:10,693
Why don't you ride him, Mi?
32
00:03:11,136 --> 00:03:12,501
Now, Dorinda!
33
00:03:21,079 --> 00:03:22,740
These are my boys.
34
00:03:28,086 --> 00:03:29,781
Come on, you...
35
00:03:30,522 --> 00:03:31,955
I'm as mad as hell.
36
00:03:33,992 --> 00:03:36,290
I can't think. I can't do it.
37
00:04:04,623 --> 00:04:08,389
The gates first opened
on April 26th, 1924.
38
00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,326
On that day, Louis B. Mayer
and his young partner, Irving Thalberg...
39
00:04:12,497 --> 00:04:16,729
...inaugurated a motion-picture studio
capable of producing and releasing...
40
00:04:16,902 --> 00:04:20,429
...one full-length feature film
each and every week.
41
00:04:20,605 --> 00:04:24,063
Following the untimely death
of the boy wonder in 1936...
42
00:04:24,242 --> 00:04:26,039
...Louis B. Mayer carried on alone.
43
00:04:26,211 --> 00:04:31,205
And now he reigns over Culver City
as an absolute monarch...
44
00:04:31,383 --> 00:04:34,682
...and his kingdom,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
45
00:04:34,853 --> 00:04:38,414
...is in a class by itself.
46
00:05:40,552 --> 00:05:44,545
The date is August 14th, 1945.
47
00:05:45,357 --> 00:05:49,088
Yesterday, the emperor of Japan signed
the articles of unconditional surrender...
48
00:05:49,261 --> 00:05:52,458
...and World War II came to an end.
49
00:05:52,631 --> 00:05:54,861
During those terrible years of war...
50
00:05:55,033 --> 00:05:59,527
...Americans needed refuge
from the anxiety of global conflict.
51
00:05:59,704 --> 00:06:05,643
L.B. Mayer, who viewed MGM
as the custodian of Americans' dreams...
52
00:06:05,810 --> 00:06:09,473
...mobilized the formidable resources
of the studio to meet that need.
53
00:06:09,648 --> 00:06:10,979
The result:
54
00:06:11,149 --> 00:06:14,846
The most prosperous period
in Metro's history.
55
00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:18,683
Responsible for this success
is Culver City's roster of talent...
56
00:06:18,857 --> 00:06:24,454
...for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is the studio
with more stars than there are in heaven.
57
00:06:25,997 --> 00:06:28,363
I came to MGM in 1945.
58
00:06:28,533 --> 00:06:34,802
MGM was considered, I think, the best
and most distinguished studio in the world.
59
00:06:34,973 --> 00:06:39,774
From Mexico, to look at MGM
was like looking at heaven, you know.
60
00:06:39,945 --> 00:06:41,810
Oh, there is Clark Gable.
61
00:06:41,980 --> 00:06:43,447
Katharine Hepburn.
62
00:06:43,615 --> 00:06:47,949
And there's little Elizabeth Taylor
and Jane Powell and Esther Williams...
63
00:06:48,119 --> 00:06:51,987
...and Cyd Charisse, you know,
and Spencer Tracy and the Barrymores.
64
00:06:52,157 --> 00:06:54,648
And I tell you, it was...
65
00:06:54,826 --> 00:06:56,521
I had to do this to myself.
66
00:06:56,695 --> 00:06:59,994
Am I dreaming, you know?
Am I really living this?
67
00:07:00,165 --> 00:07:03,100
They had all the big movie stars,
all the big movies...
68
00:07:03,268 --> 00:07:05,930
...all the big movie directors.
They had everything.
69
00:07:06,104 --> 00:07:10,268
It was a fascinating factory
for making movies.
70
00:07:10,442 --> 00:07:13,639
And there were over 5000 people
that worked there every day.
71
00:07:13,812 --> 00:07:17,543
I don't think I really realized
how incredible it was...
72
00:07:17,716 --> 00:07:19,911
...to be in the middle
of that kind of activity.
73
00:07:20,085 --> 00:07:23,111
There used to be between
50 and 60 movies made a year.
74
00:07:23,288 --> 00:07:27,691
To be under contract
to a studio like MGM...
75
00:07:27,859 --> 00:07:30,327
...was that they ran your life.
76
00:07:31,129 --> 00:07:34,565
Gosh, if you married somebody, even if you
dated somebody they didn't like...
77
00:07:34,733 --> 00:07:36,064
...It was a big deal.
78
00:07:36,534 --> 00:07:42,632
MGM, as far as L.B. Mayer was concerned,
was one big happy family.
79
00:07:42,807 --> 00:07:46,299
Now, he used the word "happy."
A lot of people weren't happy.
80
00:07:46,478 --> 00:07:48,571
He thought he was our father.
81
00:07:48,747 --> 00:07:49,907
First of all...
82
00:07:50,081 --> 00:07:55,519
...he was the son
of a pushcart junk dealer.
83
00:07:55,687 --> 00:07:59,555
And here he has all this power.
84
00:07:59,724 --> 00:08:02,659
What does he come up with
so that he can get by with it...
85
00:08:02,827 --> 00:08:06,820
...and his lack of education and culture?
86
00:08:06,998 --> 00:08:09,990
Intimidation.
87
00:08:10,568 --> 00:08:14,231
That was his number one tool.
88
00:08:14,806 --> 00:08:17,707
He was such an actor.
He was the biggest ham on the lot.
89
00:08:17,876 --> 00:08:20,674
How he'd throw himself on the floor
and foam at the mouth.
90
00:08:20,845 --> 00:08:23,746
I always wondered what he put
in his mouth so he could do that.
91
00:08:23,915 --> 00:08:25,439
It's said of Louis B. Mayer:
92
00:08:25,617 --> 00:08:28,643
He believes in God,country, free enterprise...
93
00:08:28,820 --> 00:08:30,219
...and the Ten Commandments.
94
00:08:31,990 --> 00:08:34,185
Even the ones he doesn't obey.
95
00:08:34,359 --> 00:08:37,385
Some love the benevolent patriarch.
96
00:08:37,562 --> 00:08:39,757
Others fear the vindictive tyrant.
97
00:08:39,931 --> 00:08:44,391
But all agree that he is a shrewd,
if sentimental, showman...
98
00:08:44,569 --> 00:08:49,029
...who gives full reign
to his formidable array of talents.
99
00:08:49,207 --> 00:08:54,907
Talents that will usher in the golden age
of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals.
100
00:09:15,533 --> 00:09:18,195
The reason MGM's musicals
were so wonderful...
101
00:09:18,369 --> 00:09:20,701
...I think was simply the fact that,
as they say...
102
00:09:20,872 --> 00:09:23,966
...Mr. Mayer surrounded himself
with the best choreographers...
103
00:09:24,142 --> 00:09:27,634
...and the best writers
and the best musicians.
104
00:09:27,812 --> 00:09:31,077
The MGM Orchestra
could rival any symphony orchestra.
105
00:09:31,249 --> 00:09:33,342
He insisted on getting the best.
106
00:09:33,518 --> 00:09:34,712
The best in Hollywood.
107
00:09:35,286 --> 00:09:38,778
And I think that's what contributed
to the success of the MGM musical.
108
00:09:39,791 --> 00:09:43,887
One of Mr. Mayer's most gifted producers
is a man who started his career at Metro...
109
00:09:44,062 --> 00:09:47,190
...in 1929 as a studio lyricist.
110
00:09:47,365 --> 00:09:49,560
His name is Arthur Freed.
111
00:09:54,739 --> 00:09:57,071
It was Mr. Freed who wrote"Singin' in the Rain"...
112
00:09:57,242 --> 00:09:59,710
...for MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929.
113
00:10:06,017 --> 00:10:09,077
Following his invaluable contributionsto The Wizard of Oz...
114
00:10:09,254 --> 00:10:13,520
...he was made a full-fledged producerand then launched a successful series...
115
00:10:13,691 --> 00:10:17,388
...of barnyard musicalsstarring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.
116
00:10:17,929 --> 00:10:21,456
Over the next two decades,Arthur Freed will be largely responsible...
117
00:10:21,633 --> 00:10:25,433
...for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer'sglorious musical renaissance.
118
00:10:25,603 --> 00:10:28,470
The power had been given largely
to Arthur Freed...
119
00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:30,767
...to do more or less what he wanted.
120
00:10:30,942 --> 00:10:36,244
And in a funny way, he was
the sort of spark plug of the MGM musical.
121
00:10:36,414 --> 00:10:40,908
Because L.B. Mayer loved him
and thought he knew what he was doing...
122
00:10:41,085 --> 00:10:45,317
...he let Arthur just run.
123
00:10:45,490 --> 00:10:51,053
And Arthur had this tremendous enthusiasm
for movie musicals and for talent.
124
00:10:52,130 --> 00:10:55,861
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's greatest musicalsuccess during the Second World War...
125
00:10:56,034 --> 00:10:59,299
...is Arthur Freed's Meet Me in St. Louis.
126
00:11:16,955 --> 00:11:21,756
The picture is directed by Mr. Freed'sbrilliant new discovery, Vincente Minnelli.
127
00:11:21,926 --> 00:11:25,453
With this film,the young director breaks new ground...
128
00:11:25,630 --> 00:11:28,929
...a movie musicalwhose protagonists sing and dance...
129
00:11:29,100 --> 00:11:32,831
...without the traditional constraintsof a Broadway setting.
130
00:11:33,004 --> 00:11:35,370
Minnelli:
The sky's the limit in movies, you know?
131
00:11:35,540 --> 00:11:36,871
You can do anything.
132
00:11:37,041 --> 00:11:40,636
And for that reason, you have to have
great discipline in what you do with it.
133
00:11:40,812 --> 00:11:43,542
So I spent a great deal of time
on research...
134
00:11:43,715 --> 00:11:46,149
...and finding the right things
for a picture.
135
00:11:46,317 --> 00:11:52,517
Because I feel that
a picture that stays with you...
136
00:11:52,690 --> 00:11:56,649
...is made up of a hundred
or more hidden things.
137
00:12:08,306 --> 00:12:10,570
Vincente Minnelli is the ideal director...
138
00:12:10,742 --> 00:12:14,041
...to guide Judy Garlandthrough Meet Me in St. Louis.
139
00:12:14,212 --> 00:12:17,113
He's a gentle, although exacting artist.
140
00:12:17,282 --> 00:12:22,049
She is one of Culver City's greatest starsand the most vulnerable.
141
00:12:22,220 --> 00:12:26,714
By the time they finish shooting the picture,they have fallen in love and are married.
142
00:12:26,891 --> 00:12:29,519
Minnelli: The surface wasn't scratched
with Judy at all.
143
00:12:29,694 --> 00:12:31,855
She had great potential.
144
00:12:32,030 --> 00:12:34,055
She could have done
anything she wanted to.
145
00:12:34,232 --> 00:12:37,599
As great as Duse
or Bernhardt or Garbo.
146
00:12:37,769 --> 00:12:42,638
You could tell her 20 things.
147
00:12:42,807 --> 00:12:46,800
And you'd never know if you
were getting through to her or not...
148
00:12:46,978 --> 00:12:53,178
...because people were messing with her
and making her up and so forth.
149
00:12:53,351 --> 00:12:55,945
And, uh...
150
00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,681
By God, everything would be in place,
you know?
151
00:13:00,358 --> 00:13:01,757
Wouldn't forget a thing.
152
00:13:22,347 --> 00:13:25,908
She was without a doubt
the greatest natural talent...
153
00:13:26,084 --> 00:13:27,984
Mm-hm.
-...I've ever worked with.
154
00:13:28,152 --> 00:13:30,746
She would pick up a script...
155
00:13:31,622 --> 00:13:34,750
...and read it for the first time
like she'd studied it for two weeks.
156
00:13:34,926 --> 00:13:38,487
- Mm-hm.
- She was just incredible.
157
00:13:38,663 --> 00:13:43,157
RAYE: I remember her telling us one time
that if she had it to do again...
158
00:13:43,334 --> 00:13:46,098
...she would like her life
to take her the way it had...
159
00:13:46,270 --> 00:13:48,568
...except she would have liked
a childhood.
160
00:13:48,740 --> 00:13:51,732
This was the one thing that
she regretted for Margaret O'Brien...
161
00:13:51,909 --> 00:13:55,401
...when we were on Meet Me in St. Louis.
Because Margaret was a little girl.
162
00:13:55,580 --> 00:13:58,413
And she said, "This poor child
is not having a childhood."
163
00:13:58,583 --> 00:14:03,486
And she said, "That's the one thing
I would change in my life."
164
00:14:12,363 --> 00:14:14,627
Ziegfeld Follies is conceived
as a celebration...
165
00:14:14,799 --> 00:14:17,097
...for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's
20th anniversary.
166
00:14:17,268 --> 00:14:21,261
Mr. Mayer tells Arthur Freed
to create an all-star extravaganza...
167
00:14:21,439 --> 00:14:25,102
...and he gives him
an astronomical $3 million to do so.
168
00:14:25,276 --> 00:14:26,538
The film has no plot...
169
00:14:26,711 --> 00:14:29,509
...but rather a seriesof musical numbers and comedy skits...
170
00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,774
...featuring everyonefrom Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly...
171
00:14:32,950 --> 00:14:35,384
...to Lucille Ball and Judy Garland.
172
00:14:59,277 --> 00:15:02,804
After numerous production delaysand a constant stream of directors...
173
00:15:02,980 --> 00:15:05,244
...Arthur Freedcalls in Vincente Minnelli...
174
00:15:05,416 --> 00:15:09,546
...who is finally able to bringthis unwieldy production to the screen.
175
00:15:12,290 --> 00:15:18,160
Of all the directors that I ever worked with,
he was the most exacting...
176
00:15:20,331 --> 00:15:23,630
...in every area of motion-picture making.
177
00:15:28,005 --> 00:15:29,802
He had very definite ideas.
178
00:15:29,974 --> 00:15:31,601
He was a fine artist himself...
179
00:15:31,776 --> 00:15:35,337
...and insisted on perfection
no matter how long it would take.
180
00:15:35,513 --> 00:15:38,038
He would rehearse extensively...
181
00:15:38,216 --> 00:15:41,413
...but then he would do all of this
in one camera shot...
182
00:15:41,586 --> 00:15:46,216
...in one camera movement,
which kept the cameraman on his toes.
183
00:15:46,390 --> 00:15:50,258
I don't think he could work in pictures today
with practical sets...
184
00:15:50,428 --> 00:15:53,522
...because there would be
no place to put the boom.
185
00:16:00,304 --> 00:16:02,966
Vincente was a marvelous
director. He had a wonderful eye.
186
00:16:03,140 --> 00:16:07,201
He knew what he wanted
and he worked very hard until he got it.
187
00:16:07,378 --> 00:16:10,108
So Vincente was so particular,
you know, so artistic...
188
00:16:10,281 --> 00:16:12,181
...and everything had to be so perfect...
189
00:16:12,350 --> 00:16:15,547
...that it would take us half the day
before he would be satisfied...
190
00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:19,019
...with just what the set looked like,
before he could even get to us.
191
00:16:19,190 --> 00:16:22,557
But in this particular instance,
all these beautiful showgirls...
192
00:16:22,727 --> 00:16:26,026
...that were in Ziegfeld Follies
were on a winding...
193
00:16:26,197 --> 00:16:29,325
I'm sure you've seen that staircase
that comes down, so marvelous.
194
00:16:29,500 --> 00:16:34,267
And as I came down, the bubble machine,
which made real bubbles...
195
00:16:34,438 --> 00:16:36,872
...was supposed to come
and envelop these girls...
196
00:16:37,041 --> 00:16:40,772
...until it looked absolutely beautiful,
like we were floating on a cloud.
197
00:16:40,945 --> 00:16:43,470
However, the bubble machine broke...
198
00:16:43,648 --> 00:16:47,175
...and suddenly everybody
was in bubbles over their heads.
199
00:16:47,351 --> 00:16:48,909
And these girls were hysterical.
200
00:16:49,086 --> 00:16:52,487
We were all fighting our way
just to get out of the bubbles.
201
00:16:52,657 --> 00:16:55,717
Faintings and ambulances,
and you have no idea.
202
00:17:00,565 --> 00:17:02,658
You can't direct bubbles.
203
00:17:02,833 --> 00:17:06,394
Vincente Minnelli said that,
but it didn't stop him from trying.
204
00:17:06,571 --> 00:17:09,870
In an MGM musical,
innovation is encouraged.
205
00:17:10,041 --> 00:17:14,569
And there are few song-and-dance men
more innovative than Gene Kelly...
206
00:17:14,745 --> 00:17:17,771
...and his behind-the-scenes collaborator,
Stanley Donen.
207
00:17:23,921 --> 00:17:26,014
- You see?
- It's easy.
208
00:17:26,190 --> 00:17:30,388
The idea came to me that it was
possible to combine live action and cartoon.
209
00:17:30,561 --> 00:17:34,827
My idea was that Gene dance
with Mickey Mouse, not Jerry Mouse.
210
00:17:34,999 --> 00:17:39,936
So we then went to the studio,
and they said:
211
00:17:40,104 --> 00:17:43,039
"Well, we'll make an appointment
with you with Walt Disney."
212
00:17:43,207 --> 00:17:45,505
And Gene and I went over
to see Walt Disney...
213
00:17:45,676 --> 00:17:48,110
...about Gene dancing
with Mickey Mouse.
214
00:17:48,279 --> 00:17:52,181
So when we told him the idea, he said:
215
00:17:52,350 --> 00:17:54,978
"Let me get this straight.
216
00:17:55,152 --> 00:17:58,417
You want Mickey Mouse
to be in an MGM picture?"
217
00:17:58,589 --> 00:18:00,056
And we said, "Yes." He said:
218
00:18:00,224 --> 00:18:03,489
"Mickey Mouse will never be
in an MGM picture."
219
00:18:03,661 --> 00:18:06,186
So that's how Jerry Mouse got the job.
220
00:18:21,479 --> 00:18:23,242
The main thing was how to do it.
221
00:18:23,414 --> 00:18:27,214
You had to storyboard it,
then we did a cutout of the mouse.
222
00:18:27,385 --> 00:18:30,377
Kelly would rehearse the sequence
looking at this cutout.
223
00:18:30,554 --> 00:18:34,581
Then he would take it away
and you'd shoot that film with him alone.
224
00:18:34,759 --> 00:18:37,626
Now you then took that film...
225
00:18:37,795 --> 00:18:43,529
...and laboriously traced off
every single frame on animation paper.
226
00:18:43,701 --> 00:18:48,138
And then you took the mouse
and put him on that same piece of paper...
227
00:18:48,305 --> 00:18:50,000
...and photographed them together.
228
00:18:50,174 --> 00:18:52,199
Look at me, I'm dancing.
229
00:18:52,376 --> 00:18:53,843
And the net result, again...
230
00:18:54,011 --> 00:18:56,036
...at a preview that I went to
of Anchors Aweigh...
231
00:18:56,213 --> 00:19:00,240
...that sequence
just blew them out of the theater.
232
00:19:07,258 --> 00:19:09,988
Anchors Aweigh
is a Joseph Pasternak production.
233
00:19:10,161 --> 00:19:14,154
The colorful Hungarian producerarrived in Culver City in 1942...
234
00:19:14,331 --> 00:19:17,300
...after a successful careerat Universal Studios.
235
00:19:17,468 --> 00:19:21,199
Mr. Pasternak's musicals may beless sophisticated than Arthur Freed's...
236
00:19:21,372 --> 00:19:23,340
...but they're just as popular.
237
00:19:23,507 --> 00:19:26,499
Smart old Joe Pasternak,
the only man in the world I ever knew...
238
00:19:26,677 --> 00:19:29,202
...that ate spaghetti with his hands.
239
00:19:29,580 --> 00:19:33,038
It was a sight to see. Everybody came
to the commissary to see it.
240
00:19:33,217 --> 00:19:36,448
And he liked spaghetti a lot,
so, you know, it was a show.
241
00:19:36,620 --> 00:19:38,611
Joe did Anchors Aweigh...
242
00:19:38,789 --> 00:19:44,125
...and the pictures
with Josรฉ Iturbi and Kathryn Grayson...
243
00:19:44,295 --> 00:19:46,160
...where people were just people...
244
00:19:46,330 --> 00:19:50,494
...and then all of a sudden,
wonderful things happened to them.
245
00:19:50,668 --> 00:19:53,193
It isn't long beforeJoe Pasternak's success...
246
00:19:53,370 --> 00:19:57,739
...sparks a friendly rivalrybetween himself and Arthur Freed.
247
00:19:57,908 --> 00:20:00,741
The Arthur Freed films had more dancing...
248
00:20:00,911 --> 00:20:04,074
...many more dance numbers,
than the Pasternak films.
249
00:20:04,248 --> 00:20:09,618
They were the two producers who were
doing the top musicals at the time...
250
00:20:09,787 --> 00:20:14,850
...and so each one thought his musical
was more important than the other one...
251
00:20:15,025 --> 00:20:16,253
...so there was a rivalry.
252
00:20:16,427 --> 00:20:18,395
We kind of whirled
between the two of them.
253
00:20:18,562 --> 00:20:19,586
That's right.
254
00:20:21,232 --> 00:20:23,530
Anchors Aweigh is not onlya major contributor...
255
00:20:23,701 --> 00:20:26,864
...to Metro's considerable profitsin 1945...
256
00:20:27,037 --> 00:20:31,064
...It is also notable asthe first major MGM screen appearance...
257
00:20:31,242 --> 00:20:33,403
...of Frank Sinatra.
258
00:20:34,445 --> 00:20:37,471
You've gotta have a pass
to get in, sailor.
259
00:20:39,383 --> 00:20:42,443
For the skinny Italian croonerfrom Hoboken, New Jersey...
260
00:20:42,620 --> 00:20:46,488
...the picture's success lands hima lucrative studio contract.
261
00:20:46,657 --> 00:20:48,818
"My only claim to fame," he quips...
262
00:20:48,993 --> 00:20:51,860
... "is that girls swoonwhen I open my mouth."
263
00:20:52,029 --> 00:20:54,691
Frank Sinatra was like
all the Beatles rolled into one.
264
00:20:54,865 --> 00:20:57,629
He was the biggest thing
that had ever hit show business.
265
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,781
Sinatra, of course, was one of the
biggest musical entertainers in the world.
266
00:21:20,958 --> 00:21:23,950
So it was MGM collecting
the best they could get.
267
00:21:24,128 --> 00:21:27,256
And if you knew these people,
you were interested in these people...
268
00:21:27,431 --> 00:21:30,025
...you sat and talked with these people
day after day.
269
00:21:30,201 --> 00:21:31,998
You talked about nothing but pictures.
270
00:21:32,169 --> 00:21:37,300
So that generated
a tremendous sort of energy...
271
00:21:37,474 --> 00:21:38,805
...in what was happening.
272
00:21:38,976 --> 00:21:44,778
And as I say, we were all thrown
into this large hopper and let swim.
273
00:21:44,949 --> 00:21:47,179
When a young San Franciscoaquacade starlet...
274
00:21:47,351 --> 00:21:50,184
...is first brought to L.B. Mayer's attention,he asks:
275
00:21:50,354 --> 00:21:53,721
"How on earth can you possiblymake movies in a swimming pool?"
276
00:21:53,891 --> 00:21:56,621
He's told, "The same way Darryl Zanuckmakes movies...
277
00:21:56,794 --> 00:21:59,319
...with Sonja Henie in ice-skating rinks. "
278
00:21:59,496 --> 00:22:01,487
Much to Mr. Mayer's delight...
279
00:22:01,665 --> 00:22:04,259
...finding reasonsfor Esther Williams to get wet...
280
00:22:04,435 --> 00:22:09,202
...will keep Metro's screenwritersbusy for a dozen years.
281
00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:26,121
I thought every movie I made
was gonna be the last one.
282
00:22:26,290 --> 00:22:29,782
And then we made 26.
Twenty-six of them.
283
00:22:48,879 --> 00:22:52,713
The first time I went to a preview
and I had a long underwater number...
284
00:22:52,883 --> 00:22:56,546
...I was amazed to find out
that my audience did not applaud.
285
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,483
Everybody just breathed.
286
00:22:59,556 --> 00:23:02,457
When we did those numbers,
we had a storyboard...
287
00:23:02,626 --> 00:23:04,423
...and each one was timed.
288
00:23:04,595 --> 00:23:07,621
By 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon...
289
00:23:07,798 --> 00:23:11,962
...I began putting
those storyboard takes together.
290
00:23:12,136 --> 00:23:15,196
And I'd stay longer
and longer and longer...
291
00:23:15,372 --> 00:23:18,205
...because I knew
It was gonna save time.
292
00:23:18,375 --> 00:23:20,843
And one day I discovered
the thing I'd always heard...
293
00:23:21,011 --> 00:23:24,037
...about underwater work
and scuba divers talk about.
294
00:23:24,214 --> 00:23:26,409
It's called the rapture.
295
00:23:26,583 --> 00:23:29,677
And of course, the guys filming me
in an underwater window...
296
00:23:29,853 --> 00:23:32,686
...in this diving bell
that was in my underwater tank...
297
00:23:32,856 --> 00:23:36,087
...they're all sitting there drinking coffee
and smoking cigarettes...
298
00:23:36,260 --> 00:23:37,852
...and talking on the phone.
299
00:23:38,028 --> 00:23:40,997
And I'm drowning.
300
00:23:41,165 --> 00:23:44,191
And Mervyn LeRoy,
who was shooting the sequence, said...
301
00:23:44,368 --> 00:23:47,132
...on a microphone,
because they had an underwater speaker:
302
00:23:47,304 --> 00:23:50,296
"Esther, what the hell are you doing?
303
00:23:50,474 --> 00:23:54,171
We can't keep you in the camera lens
at the bottom of the pool.
304
00:23:54,345 --> 00:23:55,937
We're not lit for that."
305
00:23:59,116 --> 00:24:04,179
TIME magazine reviewed that picture,
and said:
306
00:24:05,022 --> 00:24:09,220
"I'm really lost about Esther Williams' work
in the movies...
307
00:24:09,393 --> 00:24:12,021
...but I have to admit,
even if I don't like them...
308
00:24:12,196 --> 00:24:15,529
...if nothing else,
they had to be very dangerous."
309
00:24:33,884 --> 00:24:36,182
As the guns of the Second World War
fall silent...
310
00:24:36,353 --> 00:24:39,789
...Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is more than ever
the envy of Hollywood.
311
00:24:39,957 --> 00:24:42,755
Its personnel are amongst
the highest paid in the industry...
312
00:24:42,926 --> 00:24:46,692
...and a great many of their pictures
are given lavish budgets.
313
00:24:52,870 --> 00:24:56,670
Arthur Freed's remake of Good News
is the quintessential college musical.
314
00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:01,038
The film had been a 1927 Broadway showand an early MGM talkie.
315
00:25:01,211 --> 00:25:03,611
Given the success of the remakeupon its release...
316
00:25:03,781 --> 00:25:06,477
...Mr. Mayer believes thatthe end of World War II means...
317
00:25:06,650 --> 00:25:09,278
...a return to the heady daysbefore the conflict.
318
00:25:09,453 --> 00:25:12,980
But the world has changedand so has Hollywood.
319
00:25:13,157 --> 00:25:17,093
Like so many businesses,
they become too successful.
320
00:25:17,261 --> 00:25:18,853
Where, for so many years...
321
00:25:19,029 --> 00:25:21,827
...everything made money,
during World War II particularly.
322
00:25:21,999 --> 00:25:26,129
People were crying for entertainment
and television hadn't made inroads...
323
00:25:26,303 --> 00:25:29,397
...into any of the motion-picture business
at all at that point.
324
00:25:30,140 --> 00:25:33,075
Money didn't seem to be an object.
If you needed it, you got it.
325
00:25:33,243 --> 00:25:35,336
If it needed to be improved,
let's improve it.
326
00:25:35,512 --> 00:25:37,707
If it costs a little more,
don't worry about it.
327
00:25:37,881 --> 00:25:41,146
And I guess they felt that
L.B. Mayer was too extravagant.
328
00:25:41,318 --> 00:25:44,913
And then of course,
there was this rub with the Schencks.
329
00:25:45,089 --> 00:25:47,353
That was quite obvious.
330
00:25:47,524 --> 00:25:50,584
They felt that he was spending
too much time with his racehorses...
331
00:25:50,761 --> 00:25:53,821
...and wasn't paying too much attention
to the studio.
332
00:25:53,997 --> 00:25:56,227
L.B. fell in love with horses.
333
00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:01,030
And he was courting a very glamorous lady
named Lorena Danker.
334
00:26:01,205 --> 00:26:05,039
And he'd go to the races.
And he owned most of the horses.
335
00:26:05,209 --> 00:26:09,236
So for 18 months,
nobody ran that studio.
336
00:26:09,413 --> 00:26:15,249
I knew L.B. was doing all kinds of things
that might get him broomed someday.
337
00:26:15,419 --> 00:26:19,947
And I wanted to meet the main man,
and the main man was Nicholas Schenck.
338
00:26:20,124 --> 00:26:24,060
And he called himself "The General."
I said, "Can you fire L.B. Mayer?"
339
00:26:24,228 --> 00:26:27,254
He said, "I am the stockholders."
340
00:26:27,431 --> 00:26:29,365
Ego was the other thing they had.
341
00:26:29,533 --> 00:26:34,197
Intimidation, giant egos and good tailors.
342
00:26:34,371 --> 00:26:36,862
The constant bickering and conflict...
343
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:40,498
...between the New York office
and the West Coast...
344
00:26:40,677 --> 00:26:42,304
...I mean, that's also fascinating.
345
00:26:42,479 --> 00:26:47,382
I'm sure the world thought that
MGM was the parent company...
346
00:26:47,551 --> 00:26:49,075
...you know, the holding company.
347
00:26:49,253 --> 00:26:50,277
They weren't at all.
348
00:26:50,454 --> 00:26:54,117
Loew's incorporated, the theaters,
put MGM into business.
349
00:26:54,291 --> 00:26:57,658
MGM was the blades
that went into the razor...
350
00:26:57,828 --> 00:27:01,025
...the razor being the Schencks.
351
00:27:01,665 --> 00:27:05,567
L.B. Mayer is fond of callingNicholas Schenck "Mr. Skunk. "
352
00:27:05,736 --> 00:27:08,296
The two men have been quarrelingsince the late 1920s...
353
00:27:08,472 --> 00:27:11,805
...when Mr. Schenck conspiredto sell Loew's and MGM...
354
00:27:11,975 --> 00:27:14,341
...to his then rival, William Fox.
355
00:27:14,511 --> 00:27:17,708
Seeing his growing empireabout to experience a coup d'รฉtat...
356
00:27:17,881 --> 00:27:22,648
...Mr. Mayer used his considerable contactsin Washington and killed the deal.
357
00:27:22,819 --> 00:27:24,309
Nick Schenck was furious.
358
00:27:24,488 --> 00:27:27,013
But given the successof the studio at that time...
359
00:27:27,191 --> 00:27:29,682
...there was little he could do about it.
360
00:27:31,662 --> 00:27:33,095
This is a different story.
361
00:27:34,464 --> 00:27:38,025
Sold her at $135,000.
362
00:27:38,802 --> 00:27:41,327
Mr. Schenck tells Mr. Mayerin no uncertain terms...
363
00:27:41,505 --> 00:27:45,373
...that he can no longer run the studiofrom his box at the racetrack.
364
00:27:45,542 --> 00:27:49,308
It's rumored he orders L.B. Mayerto sell his prized stable of thoroughbreds.
365
00:27:49,479 --> 00:27:51,470
It is a bitter pill, made all the worse...
366
00:27:51,648 --> 00:27:56,176
...when most of the horses are purchasedby rival movie mogul, Harry Warner.
367
00:27:56,353 --> 00:27:59,880
And it's sold at 135,000.
368
00:28:00,057 --> 00:28:03,026
Mr. Harry M. Warner.
369
00:28:06,597 --> 00:28:10,499
Over the years,
Metro has had its share of Oscars.
370
00:28:11,501 --> 00:28:16,404
Cedric Gibbons, the studio's distinguished
art director, designed the statue...
371
00:28:16,573 --> 00:28:20,009
...and Mr. Mayer is one of
the Academy's founding members.
372
00:28:20,444 --> 00:28:23,277
But from 1946 to 1948...
373
00:28:23,447 --> 00:28:25,438
...not a single major Academy Award...
374
00:28:25,616 --> 00:28:29,382
...is bestowed upon
a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release.
375
00:28:30,387 --> 00:28:31,513
Worse still...
376
00:28:31,688 --> 00:28:35,249
...the studio's annual output of films
has dwindled to half of what it was.
377
00:28:35,425 --> 00:28:39,759
And in 1948, profits are the lowest
since the Depression.
378
00:28:39,930 --> 00:28:44,526
By all appearances, Mr. Mayer's
dream factory is running out of steam.
379
00:28:45,302 --> 00:28:48,738
A glaring example of the malaisethat is enveloping Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
380
00:28:48,905 --> 00:28:53,103
...is Joe Pasternak's ill-advised productionof The Kissing Bandit.
381
00:28:53,277 --> 00:28:58,442
It proves to be the biggest misfireof Frank Sinatra's MGM career.
382
00:28:59,983 --> 00:29:05,080
You see, in those days,
the studios owned theaters.
383
00:29:05,255 --> 00:29:09,453
And that was, to me, wonderful,
because owning those theaters...
384
00:29:09,626 --> 00:29:12,151
...they could afford
to do sometimes pictures...
385
00:29:12,329 --> 00:29:14,194
...that if they flopped, they flopped.
386
00:29:14,364 --> 00:29:17,822
It wasn't, you know,
an earth-shattering event.
387
00:29:24,374 --> 00:29:26,001
How do you do?
388
00:29:26,443 --> 00:29:27,501
I'm terribly sorry.
389
00:29:27,678 --> 00:29:30,340
I haven't owned the horse very long
and I...
390
00:29:30,747 --> 00:29:32,874
They could also afford to do films
that they thought:
391
00:29:33,050 --> 00:29:36,349
"Well, this will not make money
but it's good prestige. It's a lovely story."
392
00:29:37,220 --> 00:29:42,055
It was a wonderful way to experiment
and to do exciting things.
393
00:29:46,196 --> 00:29:49,324
Macoco!
394
00:29:51,335 --> 00:29:54,827
The Pirate is a noble experimentin the musical genre.
395
00:29:55,005 --> 00:29:59,635
Arthur Freed's parody of the swashbucklingyarns of yesteryear is a cinematic feast.
396
00:29:59,810 --> 00:30:03,610
Unfortunately, the picturesinks like a stone at the box office.
397
00:30:03,780 --> 00:30:05,907
Nicholas Schenck is determinedto put a stop...
398
00:30:06,083 --> 00:30:09,746
...to these lavish and costly productions,and orders L.B. Mayer to abandon...
399
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:15,449
...his top-heavy executive-producer systemand find a new Thalberg.
400
00:30:15,892 --> 00:30:20,454
I think that Mr. Mayer had taken
a very competent care of the studio.
401
00:30:20,630 --> 00:30:22,655
They made some fine films...
402
00:30:22,833 --> 00:30:28,237
...but it wasn't entirely his doing
and he needed a Thalberg.
403
00:30:28,972 --> 00:30:31,668
The head of the company
was persuaded that Dore Schary...
404
00:30:31,842 --> 00:30:35,039
...who had been making pictures at RKO,
was the proper man...
405
00:30:35,212 --> 00:30:37,305
...and I think Dore helped persuade him.
406
00:30:37,481 --> 00:30:41,645
Dore was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy.
I had some very pleasant times with him.
407
00:30:41,818 --> 00:30:44,753
But he was the most ambitious man
I ever knew.
408
00:30:44,921 --> 00:30:46,980
It is July 1st, 1948.
409
00:30:47,157 --> 00:30:49,557
This morning,Dore Schary assumes the position...
410
00:30:49,726 --> 00:30:53,992
...of vice president in charge of productionfor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
411
00:30:54,498 --> 00:30:57,023
The relationship between
L. B. Mayer and Dore Schary...
412
00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:58,827
...seems doomed from the start.
413
00:30:59,002 --> 00:31:02,699
In matters of cinematic taste
as well as national politics...
414
00:31:02,873 --> 00:31:04,636
...they're at opposite poles.
415
00:31:04,808 --> 00:31:09,575
Dore Schary is a liberal democrat
steeped in the New Deal philosophy...
416
00:31:09,746 --> 00:31:13,580
...whereas the archconservative
L.B. Mayer openly supports...
417
00:31:13,750 --> 00:31:16,275
...the House Un-American
Activities Committee.
418
00:31:16,787 --> 00:31:21,884
It is my earnest hope that this committee
will perform a public service...
419
00:31:22,058 --> 00:31:27,428
...by recommending to the Congress
legislation establishing a national policy...
420
00:31:27,597 --> 00:31:31,294
...regulating employment of communists
in private industry.
421
00:31:31,468 --> 00:31:34,995
Mr. Mayer had been always,
as far as I knew, a conservative.
422
00:31:35,172 --> 00:31:39,666
And I think Dore Schary
was what became known as a liberal.
423
00:31:39,843 --> 00:31:43,006
And "liberal" is a word of many meanings.
424
00:31:43,580 --> 00:31:47,380
It is my belief
they should be denied sanctuary...
425
00:31:47,551 --> 00:31:51,009
...of the freedom they seek to destroy.
426
00:31:51,188 --> 00:31:54,624
I know Mr. Mayer
used to object to it. He said, "Murphy."
427
00:31:54,791 --> 00:31:58,420
"Yes, Mr. Mayer."
He said, "What is this new thing now?
428
00:31:58,595 --> 00:32:00,927
If a fellow's hungry,
you give him some food.
429
00:32:01,097 --> 00:32:02,257
Is that being liberal?
430
00:32:02,432 --> 00:32:05,094
Nothing new about that.
We've been doing this for years."
431
00:32:05,302 --> 00:32:09,329
And he didn't have much patience
for this new approach.
432
00:32:09,940 --> 00:32:14,468
L.B. Mayer has always favoredsentimental stories that idealize America.
433
00:32:14,644 --> 00:32:17,204
Dore Schary, on the other hand,is a staunch advocate...
434
00:32:17,380 --> 00:32:19,746
...of reality-based motion pictures.
435
00:32:19,916 --> 00:32:23,010
His first project at MGMis Battleground.
436
00:32:23,186 --> 00:32:27,122
A grim, realistic depictionof the Allies' battle for Bastogne.
437
00:32:27,290 --> 00:32:29,986
It is a film that Dorehas been trying to make for years.
438
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,994
When it is completed,Mr. Mayer declares it depressing.
439
00:32:34,164 --> 00:32:38,032
The rest of the world calls it magnificent.
440
00:32:42,472 --> 00:32:48,638
Battleground was, I think,
the best, truest war picture ever been made.
441
00:32:48,812 --> 00:32:53,943
The director was Billy Wellman,
who was a flying sergeant in World War I.
442
00:32:58,955 --> 00:33:02,550
A real tough director,
a good director for men.
443
00:33:02,726 --> 00:33:08,961
They had 21 men, I think, or 22
from the original 82nd Airborne Division...
444
00:33:09,132 --> 00:33:13,000
...that had jumped into Normandy
before the invasion.
445
00:33:13,169 --> 00:33:15,228
And we trained for three weeks...
446
00:33:15,405 --> 00:33:18,772
...out on a parade ground
out here on Wilshire Boulevard.
447
00:33:18,942 --> 00:33:23,504
And we used to start the day going across
the parade ground on our stomachs...
448
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:26,808
...and finish the day
by going back on our backs.
449
00:33:27,017 --> 00:33:29,508
And, boy, I wanna tell you,
we were in shape.
450
00:33:29,686 --> 00:33:33,645
And finally,
a general came out to look us over...
451
00:33:33,823 --> 00:33:37,520
...and they couldn't tell the actors
from the soldiers.
452
00:33:37,694 --> 00:33:40,822
And Billy Wellman says,
"Great, that's the way I want them."
453
00:33:40,997 --> 00:33:44,023
Well, Wild Bill Wellman
was an unusual man.
454
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,668
He was a tough hombre.
455
00:33:51,141 --> 00:33:55,475
To create the atmosphere
of desolation and extreme cold...
456
00:33:55,645 --> 00:34:00,844
...we had one of the big stages at MGM,
and it was refrigerated to such an extent...
457
00:34:01,017 --> 00:34:04,145
...that when you talked, you could see
the breath out of your mouth.
458
00:34:04,321 --> 00:34:06,346
It was freezing cold...
459
00:34:06,523 --> 00:34:10,118
...and always full of mist.
It was an eerie feeling.
460
00:34:10,293 --> 00:34:14,195
It was a very realistic experience
for all of us.
461
00:34:14,364 --> 00:34:16,889
I really felt that
I was in a different world...
462
00:34:17,067 --> 00:34:21,470
...a world of danger, suspense
and camaraderie at the same time.
463
00:34:21,638 --> 00:34:22,798
We all commented on it...
464
00:34:22,973 --> 00:34:29,071
...how beautiful they re-created this
atmosphere from the battle of Bastogne.
465
00:34:34,551 --> 00:34:35,575
Come on!
466
00:34:35,752 --> 00:34:38,983
Battleground was
a wonderful story and a wonderful part.
467
00:34:39,155 --> 00:34:41,851
Mr. Mayer had a different kind of taste.
468
00:34:42,292 --> 00:34:45,659
He had the Garbo,
the Jean Harlow, the Myrna Loy...
469
00:34:45,829 --> 00:34:48,059
...the Gable-Tracy taste in those days.
470
00:34:48,231 --> 00:34:50,495
When they did the Boom Towns
and all the others...
471
00:34:50,667 --> 00:34:54,865
...with Hedy Lamarr
and also Claudette Colbert.
472
00:34:55,038 --> 00:34:58,530
Whereas Dore
was more for the common man.
473
00:34:58,708 --> 00:35:01,575
I think he did a picture like
The Next Voice You Hear...
474
00:35:01,745 --> 00:35:04,771
...with Nancy Davis,
who is now Mrs. Reagan.
475
00:35:04,948 --> 00:35:08,577
And the voice-over was God speaking.
476
00:35:08,752 --> 00:35:10,879
GOD:
Are you afraid because you believe...
477
00:35:11,054 --> 00:35:14,512
...that you have earnedanother 40 days and 40 nights of rain?
478
00:35:14,691 --> 00:35:19,355
Must I perform such miraclesin order to make you believe?
479
00:35:20,363 --> 00:35:22,558
That is the end of the message.
480
00:35:22,732 --> 00:35:25,792
This station will continueto stand by for--
481
00:35:35,378 --> 00:35:39,644
The Next Voice You Hear
is purely a message picture.
482
00:35:39,816 --> 00:35:43,912
all the pictures he did,
he tried to put messages in.
483
00:35:44,087 --> 00:35:46,954
And sometimes the message
got in the way of the entertainment.
484
00:35:47,123 --> 00:35:50,320
And I think Dore was addicted
to message pictures.
485
00:35:50,493 --> 00:35:53,121
I don't think L.B. ever thought
of a message picture.
486
00:35:54,597 --> 00:35:57,623
It's just a coincidence.
It's all right, son, it's just a coincidence.
487
00:35:57,801 --> 00:36:00,235
I don't know whether it's God, Pa.
I'm scared.
488
00:36:00,403 --> 00:36:03,270
Don't be afraid. It's just a coincidence.
489
00:36:06,876 --> 00:36:08,605
He had a strong feeling...
490
00:36:08,778 --> 00:36:13,579
...against pictures that tried to convey
messages of one sort or another...
491
00:36:13,750 --> 00:36:16,082
...whether they were political
or religious.
492
00:36:17,053 --> 00:36:20,022
The only kind of messageL.B. Mayer likes to hear is:
493
00:36:20,190 --> 00:36:21,885
There's no place like home.
494
00:36:22,525 --> 00:36:23,753
He often remarks:
495
00:36:23,927 --> 00:36:28,023
"The only pictures I like arethe ones I can take my daughters to. "
496
00:36:28,198 --> 00:36:31,998
Metro's remake of George Cukor's1933 classic Little Women...
497
00:36:32,168 --> 00:36:34,432
...is just such a film.
498
00:36:34,604 --> 00:36:37,971
We were known as the studio who made...
499
00:36:38,141 --> 00:36:40,371
...the family pictures,
the lovely pictures...
500
00:36:40,543 --> 00:36:43,535
...the pictures that
people talk about today.
501
00:36:43,713 --> 00:36:47,149
I can understand why he'd wanna make--
Remake Little Women.
502
00:36:47,317 --> 00:36:50,548
It's the ideal family film.
503
00:36:51,221 --> 00:36:55,715
I think every child should see it today.
504
00:36:57,494 --> 00:37:01,157
- Oh, this looks too good to eat.
- It isn't, Meg made it. She's the oldest.
505
00:37:01,331 --> 00:37:04,357
- She is? Brooke and I were wondering--
- Why?
506
00:37:04,534 --> 00:37:06,798
I mean, why should he wonder?
507
00:37:06,970 --> 00:37:09,564
Well, he seems quite taken
by your sister's beauty...
508
00:37:09,739 --> 00:37:12,264
...and he wondered
if there was anybody...
509
00:37:12,442 --> 00:37:15,240
Well, that is, anybody she liked.
510
00:37:15,411 --> 00:37:18,175
- Did he ask you to find out?
- No, no, I just--
511
00:37:18,348 --> 00:37:21,249
Well, you may tell him that
we don't like anybody in our house.
512
00:37:21,417 --> 00:37:24,580
That is, we like a great many people,
but we don't like young men.
513
00:37:24,754 --> 00:37:27,314
We like young men too,
but we don't like young men...
514
00:37:27,490 --> 00:37:29,549
...who wonder about who else we like.
515
00:37:29,726 --> 00:37:33,162
Meg is too young and far too clever
to bother about who wonders about her.
516
00:37:33,329 --> 00:37:37,060
It's ridiculous, that's all. Ridiculous.
517
00:37:37,734 --> 00:37:41,101
- You're on fire.
- Fire? Oh!
518
00:37:46,676 --> 00:37:51,306
I think most studio heads
were more business.
519
00:37:52,081 --> 00:37:55,949
Papa-- Pops was more of a family man.
520
00:37:56,119 --> 00:37:58,110
You were his family.
521
00:37:58,288 --> 00:38:00,916
Mr. Clark Gable.
522
00:38:03,359 --> 00:38:05,054
1949.
523
00:38:05,228 --> 00:38:07,890
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayeris celebrating its silver jubilee.
524
00:38:08,064 --> 00:38:10,692
Fifty-eight of the studio's80 contract players...
525
00:38:10,867 --> 00:38:16,237
...sit together, break bread and are servedL.B. Mayer's famous chicken soup.
526
00:38:16,406 --> 00:38:20,137
This gathering represents the largestassembly of world-famous entertainers...
527
00:38:20,310 --> 00:38:23,609
...ever controlledby a single motion-picture studio.
528
00:38:23,780 --> 00:38:26,112
Mr. Mayer and Mr. Scharypreside over the dinner...
529
00:38:26,282 --> 00:38:29,046
...like a proud patriarchand his favorite son.
530
00:38:29,219 --> 00:38:31,517
Yet beneath the festive smiles...
531
00:38:31,688 --> 00:38:35,283
...the studio is slowly beginningto divide itself into two factions...
532
00:38:35,458 --> 00:38:38,586
...with very, very different creative ideas.
533
00:38:38,761 --> 00:38:41,491
Just as at one point early in our lives...
534
00:38:41,664 --> 00:38:44,861
...there was a Mayer group
and there was a Thalberg group...
535
00:38:45,034 --> 00:38:49,266
...there was a very definite Mayer group
and a Schary group.
536
00:38:49,439 --> 00:38:52,306
In other words,
a big organization was shaken...
537
00:38:52,475 --> 00:38:55,808
...by what was going on up at the top.
538
00:38:59,983 --> 00:39:02,850
The days when Hollywood's studiosare the primary suppliers...
539
00:39:03,019 --> 00:39:05,715
...of the world's entertainmentare beginning to disappear.
540
00:39:05,889 --> 00:39:08,949
A new and more exciting mediumis emerging, and it's free.
541
00:39:09,692 --> 00:39:13,253
By the 1950s, theater attendancewill fall by half...
542
00:39:13,429 --> 00:39:16,193
...as America stays hometo watch Uncle Miltie...
543
00:39:16,366 --> 00:39:19,802
...Dave Garrowayor Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
544
00:39:19,969 --> 00:39:22,597
At MGM, Mr. Mayer doeseverything in his power...
545
00:39:22,772 --> 00:39:25,468
...to stop this impending disaster.
546
00:39:26,910 --> 00:39:30,277
I begged Mr. Mayer
to let me go on television.
547
00:39:30,446 --> 00:39:33,313
I went to his office, I said,
"It'll be terrific.
548
00:39:33,483 --> 00:39:36,077
Because I'm brand-new in the movies
and people don't know me.
549
00:39:36,252 --> 00:39:39,380
If I went on that television thing...
They call it television."
550
00:39:39,555 --> 00:39:43,321
He said, "That's a little black box
that'll never amount to anything...
551
00:39:43,493 --> 00:39:44,858
...and you can't do it."
552
00:39:45,028 --> 00:39:46,723
And he wouldn't let me do it.
553
00:39:46,896 --> 00:39:48,693
So MGM, they were very old-fashioned.
554
00:39:48,865 --> 00:39:53,393
Mr. Mayer really did not see
the end of the golden era.
555
00:39:53,569 --> 00:39:57,300
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing
America's number one television star:
556
00:39:57,907 --> 00:39:59,772
Your June bride...
557
00:40:00,743 --> 00:40:03,644
Mildred Berle.
558
00:40:08,651 --> 00:40:11,211
People often ask
what happened to that era.
559
00:40:11,387 --> 00:40:12,411
It's simple, you know?
560
00:40:12,588 --> 00:40:16,684
In 1948, there were a million
television sets sold in this country.
561
00:40:16,859 --> 00:40:21,592
In 1950, there were more than 3 million
television sets sold in this country.
562
00:40:22,065 --> 00:40:25,626
And at that period in time,
people started staying home.
563
00:40:25,802 --> 00:40:28,168
You had to make a damn good movie
to make it work.
564
00:40:37,447 --> 00:40:39,642
like it or not, television is here to stay...
565
00:40:39,816 --> 00:40:44,276
...and Metro's filmmakers begin to searchfor ways to expand their horizons.
566
00:40:44,454 --> 00:40:48,618
MGM had an idea that
you had to make movies in a studio.
567
00:40:48,791 --> 00:40:51,282
Not only musicals,
but musicals more than any.
568
00:40:51,461 --> 00:40:54,828
And On The Town,
being a movie about sailors...
569
00:40:54,998 --> 00:40:56,522
...24 hours in New York...
570
00:40:56,699 --> 00:41:00,567
...It seemed to Gene and to me
that we had to be in New York.
571
00:41:28,498 --> 00:41:30,898
What it really took was,
Gene was such a big star...
572
00:41:31,067 --> 00:41:34,594
...that he was adamant that we film
part of the picture in New York.
573
00:41:34,771 --> 00:41:39,140
They reluctantly,
extremely reluctantly, agreed.
574
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:48,207
We tried to think of places
where we could control those crowds.
575
00:41:48,384 --> 00:41:52,081
Because it wasn't just those artists,
but this music was playing...
576
00:41:52,255 --> 00:41:54,280
...blasting off the soundtrack.
577
00:41:54,457 --> 00:41:57,824
And if they heard Frank Sinatra's voice
and they saw Kelly and Sinatra...
578
00:41:57,994 --> 00:42:01,657
...and they saw people moving and singing
and dancing and cameras and lights...
579
00:42:01,831 --> 00:42:04,197
...It collected thousands of people.
580
00:42:04,367 --> 00:42:05,391
It was hell.
581
00:42:05,568 --> 00:42:08,366
And the soundtrack was blasting
and the people were watching.
582
00:42:08,538 --> 00:42:10,563
You can see it in the movie, actually.
583
00:42:10,740 --> 00:42:12,367
Behind the statute of Prometheus...
584
00:42:12,542 --> 00:42:15,170
...you'll see thousands of people
behind the wall.
585
00:42:26,522 --> 00:42:29,218
In 1950,the ground around him is crumbling.
586
00:42:29,625 --> 00:42:32,389
Louis B. Mayer is presentedwith an Academy Award...
587
00:42:32,562 --> 00:42:35,326
...in recognitionof his lifetime achievements.
588
00:42:35,698 --> 00:42:38,929
This is truly a thrilling experience.
589
00:42:39,102 --> 00:42:43,300
I've been very fortunate
in being honored in many ways...
590
00:42:43,473 --> 00:42:47,967
...but this stands out above all because
it's from the men and the women...
591
00:42:48,144 --> 00:42:52,604
...in the industry I loved
and have worked so hard in.
592
00:42:52,782 --> 00:42:56,183
He loved running his studio.
It was like an empire.
593
00:42:57,120 --> 00:42:59,588
Louis B. Mayer could make a star.
I mean, literally.
594
00:42:59,755 --> 00:43:02,189
That can't be done anymore.
The people make the star.
595
00:43:02,358 --> 00:43:05,725
But in the motion-picture business,
Louis B. Mayer could take somebody...
596
00:43:05,895 --> 00:43:09,058
...off the street and make them a star.
There was a machine there.
597
00:43:09,665 --> 00:43:11,929
He'd take people,
he'd give them voice lessons...
598
00:43:12,101 --> 00:43:14,797
...he'd give them singing lessons,
dancing lessons...
599
00:43:14,971 --> 00:43:16,495
...he'd give them French lessons.
600
00:43:16,672 --> 00:43:19,106
He had the best songwriters,
he had the best writers.
601
00:43:19,275 --> 00:43:22,608
You take a look at the list of people
that were under contract to him...
602
00:43:22,778 --> 00:43:24,075
...it's frightening.
603
00:43:24,247 --> 00:43:25,874
You just can't do that anymore.
604
00:43:26,048 --> 00:43:28,812
There isn't anybody in this business
that can make a star.
605
00:43:28,985 --> 00:43:31,044
Not anymore, I don't think.
606
00:43:31,220 --> 00:43:32,619
Mayer could.
607
00:43:46,936 --> 00:43:49,996
One of Mr. Mayer's greatest discoverieswas Judy Garland.
608
00:43:50,173 --> 00:43:54,940
As her star rose at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,her personal problems did as well.
609
00:43:55,111 --> 00:43:57,511
To many, it seemsas if she's at war with herself...
610
00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:00,581
...and her inner tormentsand frequent absences...
611
00:44:00,750 --> 00:44:03,913
...make her an increasinglyhazardous risk to any production.
612
00:44:10,326 --> 00:44:13,193
Judy and I used to laugh all the time
when we worked together.
613
00:44:13,362 --> 00:44:16,297
She used to be a very gay
and gloriously funny girl.
614
00:44:16,465 --> 00:44:20,925
I like to say that, because now everybody,
after her death, is always calling me up...
615
00:44:21,103 --> 00:44:23,367
...some journalist, and saying,
"What a tragedy."
616
00:44:23,539 --> 00:44:25,439
She usually brought joy to everybody...
617
00:44:25,608 --> 00:44:30,170
...and in her early days,
was a very glorious, gay girl.
618
00:44:41,490 --> 00:44:44,982
Minnelli: She got a hold of pills
and when we married...
619
00:44:45,161 --> 00:44:47,425
...she was taking very many of them.
620
00:44:47,597 --> 00:44:48,621
I didn't know it.
621
00:44:48,798 --> 00:44:51,426
And then we went to New York
for our honeymoon...
622
00:44:51,601 --> 00:44:55,537
...and she threw the pills
in the East River.
623
00:44:55,705 --> 00:44:58,299
Said she was through with them.
624
00:44:58,474 --> 00:45:01,534
But the minute we got back,
anything that happened at the studio...
625
00:45:01,711 --> 00:45:05,340
...she would take the pills.
626
00:45:05,514 --> 00:45:11,248
L.B. Mayer would get a hold
of these psychiatrists, you know...
627
00:45:11,420 --> 00:45:14,048
...and send them up and so forth.
628
00:45:14,223 --> 00:45:18,091
And I would wait...
629
00:45:18,261 --> 00:45:21,628
...and they'd always come out the door
and say:
630
00:45:21,797 --> 00:45:25,324
"But there's nothing wrong with her,
you know.
631
00:45:25,501 --> 00:45:28,095
She's a charming girl."
632
00:45:28,271 --> 00:45:29,966
And I would say, "Wait."
633
00:45:30,139 --> 00:45:33,768
They would be called for,
4:00 in the morning...
634
00:45:33,943 --> 00:45:36,741
...and they'd run away screaming,
you know.
635
00:45:44,654 --> 00:45:47,487
At the time of Annie Get Your Gun...
636
00:45:47,657 --> 00:45:50,820
...when we had to stop production
and recast the picture...
637
00:45:50,993 --> 00:45:52,324
...we took her out of the picture.
638
00:46:08,444 --> 00:46:10,071
And then we said to her:
639
00:46:10,246 --> 00:46:14,774
"We'll take care of you for an entire year.
We'll spend all the money that's needed.
640
00:46:14,950 --> 00:46:18,852
You've got to get over
whatever your problems are."
641
00:46:23,526 --> 00:46:24,584
How!
642
00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:27,786
And she refused.
643
00:46:29,165 --> 00:46:31,065
But she said
she would take care of herself.
644
00:46:31,233 --> 00:46:34,293
She said, "I know I need some help."
645
00:46:34,470 --> 00:46:38,372
And apparently,
she went away by herself.
646
00:46:39,809 --> 00:46:44,246
And when she came back,
It started all over again.
647
00:46:55,057 --> 00:46:58,959
After Summer Stock,
she said she was all prepared...
648
00:46:59,128 --> 00:47:01,255
...to go into Royal Wedding.
649
00:47:01,430 --> 00:47:04,922
And as soon as she started that,
the same things took place.
650
00:47:05,101 --> 00:47:06,693
She didn't show up for rehearsals.
651
00:47:06,869 --> 00:47:09,667
She complained about this,
she complained about that...
652
00:47:09,839 --> 00:47:11,864
...and we had to finally make a decision.
653
00:47:12,041 --> 00:47:16,410
And the decision was, she obviously
couldn't work with Fred Astaire anymore.
654
00:47:16,579 --> 00:47:18,012
Fred wouldn't put up with it.
655
00:47:18,180 --> 00:47:20,171
And we put Jane Powell in it...
656
00:47:20,349 --> 00:47:23,409
...and we told Judy
that was the end of the line.
657
00:47:34,597 --> 00:47:39,398
Judy Garland was never given
any drugs by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
658
00:47:39,802 --> 00:47:44,034
Mr. Mayer didn't sanction anything
for Judy.
659
00:47:44,473 --> 00:47:50,673
No one on that lot was responsible
for Judy Garland's death.
660
00:47:50,846 --> 00:47:57,649
Unfortunately, Judy chose that path.
661
00:48:36,859 --> 00:48:39,623
I think Judy just got lost somewhere.
662
00:48:39,795 --> 00:48:43,697
And I think there were
too many demands on Judy.
663
00:48:43,866 --> 00:48:48,963
I get so mad when people say
unkind things about Judy.
664
00:48:49,138 --> 00:48:51,868
They just seem to remember
all the unfortunate things...
665
00:48:52,041 --> 00:48:53,440
...that happened to Judy.
666
00:48:53,609 --> 00:48:57,477
Judy was one of the warmest,
most loyal...
667
00:48:57,646 --> 00:49:02,379
One of the funniest ladies
I have ever known.
668
00:49:02,551 --> 00:49:05,987
You know, just talking to you
about it makes me cry.
669
00:49:06,155 --> 00:49:08,248
It was just absolutely beautiful.
670
00:49:08,424 --> 00:49:14,886
She had a magic all of her own that...
671
00:49:15,064 --> 00:49:17,999
Itโs hard for me to talk about her.
672
00:49:40,356 --> 00:49:42,847
Of all the stars
in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's heaven...
673
00:49:43,025 --> 00:49:46,791
...few burned quite as brilliantly
as Judy Garland.
674
00:49:46,962 --> 00:49:50,022
In many ways,
Judy's dramatic struggles...
675
00:49:50,199 --> 00:49:53,862
...foreshadow
the end of MGM's golden age...
676
00:49:54,036 --> 00:49:57,130
...for the creative
and ideological differences...
677
00:49:57,306 --> 00:50:01,242
...that separate Mr. Mayer
and Mr. Schary are growing.
678
00:50:02,311 --> 00:50:05,041
When Dore Scharybrings in director John Huston...
679
00:50:05,214 --> 00:50:08,513
...to make The Asphalt Jungle,
Mr. Mayer is aghast.
680
00:50:08,684 --> 00:50:11,118
He protests,"It's full of nasty, ugly people.
681
00:50:11,287 --> 00:50:14,051
I wouldn't walk across the roomto see something like that. "
682
00:50:14,223 --> 00:50:18,421
Only the author of
Little Caesar could tell so dramatic a story.
683
00:50:18,594 --> 00:50:21,188
Only the director of
The Treasure of Sierra Madre...
684
00:50:21,363 --> 00:50:23,763
...could film it with such power.
685
00:50:23,933 --> 00:50:26,299
Only once in a decadedoes the screen come up...
686
00:50:26,468 --> 00:50:28,732
...with such absorbing characters.
687
00:50:28,904 --> 00:50:31,464
Sam Jaffe as Doc.
688
00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:34,473
He's got a million dollarsin that little black bag...
689
00:50:34,643 --> 00:50:37,737
...and a jitterbug cost himevery dime of it.
690
00:50:37,913 --> 00:50:42,043
The byword were message
pictures and everybody of my era was saying:
691
00:50:42,217 --> 00:50:44,583
"When are we gonna stop
doing message pictures?"
692
00:50:44,753 --> 00:50:48,519
It's rocking the boat, you know,
with the old-timers.
693
00:50:48,691 --> 00:50:52,252
Of course, the new ones that came in,
they didn't sense this at all.
694
00:50:58,534 --> 00:51:01,594
What's the big idea standing there
staring at me, Uncle Lon?
695
00:51:01,770 --> 00:51:03,397
Don't call me Uncle Lon.
696
00:51:03,906 --> 00:51:07,774
- I thought you liked it.
- Maybe I did.
697
00:51:08,344 --> 00:51:10,335
I don't anymore.
698
00:51:18,220 --> 00:51:20,882
I had the market send over
some saltmackerel for you.
699
00:51:21,056 --> 00:51:22,819
I know how you love it for breakfast.
700
00:51:23,525 --> 00:51:26,050
Some sweet kid.
701
00:51:29,598 --> 00:51:31,327
It's late.
702
00:51:31,500 --> 00:51:33,764
Why don't you go to bed?
703
00:51:38,874 --> 00:51:41,104
The people that were in these pictures...
704
00:51:41,276 --> 00:51:43,039
...and the people
who directed the pictures...
705
00:51:43,212 --> 00:51:44,839
...they all agreed with Dore Schary.
706
00:51:45,014 --> 00:51:47,574
It was just like turning the studio
upside down...
707
00:51:47,750 --> 00:51:50,947
...because there were certain things
that were countermanded.
708
00:51:51,120 --> 00:51:55,284
And one wanted it a certain way
and then Schary had it the other way.
709
00:51:55,457 --> 00:51:57,891
And I think that was brought out
pretty well...
710
00:51:58,060 --> 00:51:59,652
...with Red Badge of Courage.
711
00:51:59,828 --> 00:52:01,420
Fire!
712
00:52:07,336 --> 00:52:11,033
Whoop-a-dadee, here we are.
Everybody fighting.
713
00:52:11,206 --> 00:52:12,969
Blood and destruction.
714
00:52:13,175 --> 00:52:15,507
Huston's productionof The Red Badge of Courage...
715
00:52:15,678 --> 00:52:18,340
...is based on Stephen Crane's storyof a single battle...
716
00:52:18,514 --> 00:52:20,539
...during the war between the states.
717
00:52:20,716 --> 00:52:23,378
The film will come to symbolizethe civil war...
718
00:52:23,552 --> 00:52:26,715
...that has eruptedat Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
719
00:52:26,889 --> 00:52:28,982
The making of The Red Badge of Courage...
720
00:52:29,158 --> 00:52:32,525
...became a kind of
cause cรฉlรจbre at MGM.
721
00:52:32,695 --> 00:52:38,691
And L.B. Mayer was very much against it
and Dore Schary wanted to make it.
722
00:52:38,867 --> 00:52:42,462
The contest became rather vituperative.
723
00:52:42,638 --> 00:52:45,004
It became a political affair.
724
00:52:45,174 --> 00:52:47,642
So I went to see L.B., and said,
"Look...
725
00:52:47,810 --> 00:52:52,679
...I'm not all that keen to be
the cause of a division in the studio.
726
00:52:52,848 --> 00:52:55,840
And if you don't like it,
why, I'd just as soon drop it."
727
00:52:56,018 --> 00:53:00,478
And he said,
"John Huston, I'm ashamed of you...
728
00:53:00,956 --> 00:53:02,480
...to hear you talk like that.
729
00:53:02,658 --> 00:53:04,649
Do you believe in this picture?"
730
00:53:04,827 --> 00:53:06,761
And I said, "Yes, I do."
731
00:53:06,929 --> 00:53:10,057
"Well, then," he said,
"you should fight for it.
732
00:53:10,899 --> 00:53:12,298
Regardless of what I think.
733
00:53:12,468 --> 00:53:15,164
I don't believe in it
and I'm fighting against you.
734
00:53:15,337 --> 00:53:17,328
But if you believe in it, you fight for it.
735
00:53:17,506 --> 00:53:19,770
Don't ever let me hear you
talk like that again."
736
00:53:19,942 --> 00:53:21,910
He was a marvelous showman.
737
00:53:22,077 --> 00:53:24,705
And he couldn't resist
even an audience of one.
738
00:53:25,981 --> 00:53:27,710
By the summer of 1951...
739
00:53:27,883 --> 00:53:30,647
...Louis B. Mayerhas reached the end of his rope.
740
00:53:30,819 --> 00:53:33,515
The heated disagreementsbetween himself and Dore Schary...
741
00:53:33,689 --> 00:53:35,156
...are now a daily occurrence.
742
00:53:35,324 --> 00:53:37,690
After one particularly violent argument...
743
00:53:37,860 --> 00:53:40,795
...Mr. Mayer confidently picks uphis direct line to New York...
744
00:53:40,963 --> 00:53:42,931
...and gives Nicholas Schenckan ultimatum:
745
00:53:43,098 --> 00:53:46,465
"It's either me or Schary. "
746
00:53:49,037 --> 00:53:52,165
The date is June 23rd, 1951 .
747
00:53:52,341 --> 00:53:56,277
This morning, Louis B. Mayer was fired.
748
00:53:57,579 --> 00:54:00,412
After 27 years as the undisputed ruler...
749
00:54:00,582 --> 00:54:03,483
...of the most powerfulmotion-picture empire on earth...
750
00:54:03,652 --> 00:54:07,247
...the old monarchis the victim of a palace coup.
751
00:54:07,422 --> 00:54:09,390
Mr. Mayer's ultimatumgives Nick Schenck...
752
00:54:09,558 --> 00:54:12,459
...the opportunityhe's been waiting over 20 years for:
753
00:54:12,628 --> 00:54:15,222
The chance to fire L.B. Mayer.
754
00:54:15,397 --> 00:54:16,887
I think it was disgraceful.
755
00:54:17,065 --> 00:54:20,091
One of the men who were members
of the board of directors...
756
00:54:20,269 --> 00:54:22,863
...was the head
of the Chrysler Corporation.
757
00:54:23,038 --> 00:54:26,405
And Louis B. Mayer
had been given a Chrysler car.
758
00:54:26,575 --> 00:54:29,942
On the day that he spoke to Nick Schenck
on the phone and said:
759
00:54:30,112 --> 00:54:32,740
"I'm afraid
you have to chose between us" ...
760
00:54:32,915 --> 00:54:36,373
...and Schenck said, "Well, in that case,
I'm gonna chose Schary" ...
761
00:54:36,552 --> 00:54:40,386
...L.B. packed up and got ready to go.
762
00:54:40,556 --> 00:54:43,889
During that short interval,
they took away the car.
763
00:54:44,059 --> 00:54:47,290
It was a struggle, they used to say,
between New York and Hollywood...
764
00:54:47,462 --> 00:54:49,555
...because Nick Schenck
was based in New York.
765
00:54:49,731 --> 00:54:52,825
I don't know that I was shocked,
but it's certainly a big surprise.
766
00:54:53,001 --> 00:54:55,196
The man whose name is there...
767
00:54:55,370 --> 00:54:58,498
It wasn't Metro-Goldwyn-Schenck,
It was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
768
00:54:58,674 --> 00:55:01,973
It wasn't between Mayer and Schary,
It was between Mayer and Schenck.
769
00:55:02,144 --> 00:55:05,307
And obviously Schenck won out
because Mayer left.
770
00:55:05,848 --> 00:55:08,646
There are many here...
771
00:55:08,817 --> 00:55:14,084
...to whom I owe a great vote of thanks.
772
00:55:14,923 --> 00:55:18,381
And I have appreciation in my heart.
773
00:55:19,161 --> 00:55:23,894
Without their aid,
their loyalty and devotion...
774
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:29,237
...I would not be standing here
taking the bow.
775
00:55:32,374 --> 00:55:35,468
Today Mr. Mayer walked out
of these gates for the last time.
776
00:55:35,644 --> 00:55:38,306
It's August 1951 .
777
00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:40,812
Over the next few years,
he will make an attempt...
778
00:55:40,983 --> 00:55:44,441
...to regain control of MGM
through a hostile corporate takeover.
779
00:55:44,620 --> 00:55:47,487
His former son-in-law, David Selznick,
advises against it...
780
00:55:47,656 --> 00:55:49,556
...urging him to consider public service.
781
00:55:49,725 --> 00:55:53,786
He says, "Eisenhower, Warren, Hoover,
all these men are your intimate friends.
782
00:55:53,962 --> 00:55:57,193
I'm not alone when I say
you're allowing your bitterness...
783
00:55:57,366 --> 00:56:00,824
...to color your thinking
to a dangerous extent."
784
00:56:01,003 --> 00:56:04,734
Louis B. Mayer is an angry
and a lonely man.
785
00:56:04,907 --> 00:56:08,843
His time, once a precious commodity,
is now spent gardening.
786
00:56:09,011 --> 00:56:10,638
Visiting the racetrack.
787
00:56:10,812 --> 00:56:13,144
It was a sad time around there.
788
00:56:13,315 --> 00:56:16,148
I used to see Mr. Mayer after that
at the track.
789
00:56:16,318 --> 00:56:20,277
I said, "How you doing, Mr. Mayer?"
790
00:56:22,090 --> 00:56:28,290
He said,
"Well, you see, they all came with me."
791
00:56:29,498 --> 00:56:35,095
All the producers there and the experts,
the people with power...
792
00:56:35,270 --> 00:56:38,205
...had evidently told Mr. Mayer...
793
00:56:38,373 --> 00:56:41,900
...if he leaves, they'll come with him.
794
00:56:42,077 --> 00:56:43,942
His box was empty.
795
00:56:44,112 --> 00:56:45,841
Nobody there.
796
00:56:47,649 --> 00:56:49,879
Now that Dore Scharyis running the studio...
797
00:56:50,052 --> 00:56:53,419
...and despite his personal affinityfor message pictures...
798
00:56:53,588 --> 00:56:55,988
...during his tenure,he will put into production...
799
00:56:56,158 --> 00:56:59,184
...such mainstream filmsas Scaramouche...
800
00:56:59,361 --> 00:57:03,058
...Mogambo, Ivanhoe,
The Bad and the Beautiful...
801
00:57:03,265 --> 00:57:06,098
...Julius Caesar, High Society...
802
00:57:06,268 --> 00:57:12,036
...and Vincente Minnelli's magnificentportrait of Van Gogh, Lust for life.
803
00:57:12,207 --> 00:57:17,144
Dore Schary was a great big teddy bear.
804
00:57:17,312 --> 00:57:20,179
He had a wonderful mind
and a beautiful soul.
805
00:57:20,716 --> 00:57:25,176
I just thought he was a great guy.
I loved him, he was a very simple man.
806
00:57:25,520 --> 00:57:29,183
But a lot of people thought he was
not heavy enough to handle a studio.
807
00:57:29,358 --> 00:57:30,382
I thought he was.
808
00:57:31,693 --> 00:57:34,992
Despite the many changesbuffeting Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
809
00:57:35,163 --> 00:57:36,528
...one thing remained sacred:
810
00:57:36,698 --> 00:57:39,326
The studio's commitment to musicals.
811
00:57:39,501 --> 00:57:43,096
And Arthur Freed's Show Boat
is one of the most profitable in years.
812
00:57:54,883 --> 00:57:56,578
Ladies and gentlemen...
813
00:57:56,752 --> 00:57:58,777
...It is with exhilarating gratification...
814
00:57:58,954 --> 00:58:02,981
...that I bring my theatrical offering
to your fair community.
815
00:58:05,394 --> 00:58:09,797
Arthur Freed's musicals are so popular,
he's given exceptional autonomy.
816
00:58:09,965 --> 00:58:13,366
Always eager to experiment,
he gathers together Vincente Minnelli...
817
00:58:13,535 --> 00:58:14,763
...Gene Kelly...
818
00:58:14,936 --> 00:58:18,599
...and a young Parisian discovery,
Leslie Caron.
819
00:58:18,774 --> 00:58:23,677
Together, they launch Mr. Freed's
most ambitious production to date:
820
00:58:23,845 --> 00:58:26,473
An American in Paris.
821
00:58:58,713 --> 00:59:01,807
I remember when Irving Berlin
was visiting...
822
00:59:01,983 --> 00:59:05,817
...and the sets were being built
and so forth...
823
00:59:05,987 --> 00:59:09,150
...Arthur Freed and Gene Kelly
and myself went with Berlin...
824
00:59:09,324 --> 00:59:12,589
...showed him all the sets and described
what would happen and so...
825
00:59:12,761 --> 00:59:14,160
And finally, he said:
826
00:59:14,329 --> 00:59:18,493
"Do I understand that you boys
are planning on ending this picture...
827
00:59:18,667 --> 00:59:22,865
...with a ballet, 20 minutes,
and no dialogue after that?"
828
00:59:23,038 --> 00:59:24,062
And we said, "Yes."
829
00:59:24,239 --> 00:59:26,298
He said,
"I hope you know what you're doing."
830
00:59:26,475 --> 00:59:29,239
I said, well, that's all we needed,
because we were--
831
00:59:29,411 --> 00:59:31,402
Our hearts were in our mouth.
We were...
832
00:59:31,580 --> 00:59:35,573
It was very daring in those days to do it.
833
01:00:30,005 --> 01:00:32,405
The difficult thing
about doing American in Paris...
834
01:00:32,574 --> 01:00:34,940
...and being tied down
to a particular piece of music...
835
01:00:35,110 --> 01:00:36,407
...was seeing that the--
836
01:00:36,578 --> 01:00:40,514
You saw what an American student
of painting on the Gi Bill of Rights...
837
01:00:40,682 --> 01:00:43,742
...would feel about the city,
and see it the way he would see it...
838
01:00:43,919 --> 01:00:46,285
...through the eyes
of these various painters.
839
01:00:46,454 --> 01:00:48,513
So it was a tough job
picking the painters...
840
01:00:48,690 --> 01:00:52,217
...and it was a tough job
not over-dancing the dance...
841
01:00:52,394 --> 01:00:54,157
...so that the dance took precedence.
842
01:00:54,329 --> 01:00:57,560
And I think we sort of pulled it off.
843
01:01:43,545 --> 01:01:46,412
After winning eight Academy Awardsfor An American in Paris...
844
01:01:46,581 --> 01:01:49,744
...Arthur Freed and Gene Kelly,along with Stanley Donen...
845
01:01:49,918 --> 01:01:53,820
...set out to create an affectionate lookat the early days of Hollywood.
846
01:01:53,989 --> 01:01:58,289
The picture will become oneof the most beloved musicals of all time:
847
01:01:58,460 --> 01:01:59,791
Singin' in the Rain.
848
01:02:02,230 --> 01:02:04,289
Now when we talk
about Singin' in the Rain...
849
01:02:04,466 --> 01:02:07,731
...It seems like the wonderful title
for the movie.
850
01:02:07,902 --> 01:02:11,531
But at the time, if you really look
at the movie, the only reason...
851
01:02:11,706 --> 01:02:15,073
...to call it Singin' in the Rain
is because that number turned out so well.
852
01:02:15,243 --> 01:02:18,440
But there's no real reason
that picture's called Singin' in the Rain.
853
01:02:18,613 --> 01:02:21,013
It's not sort of
the theme of the picture.
854
01:02:21,182 --> 01:02:24,174
The picture would have been better
to have been called Hollywood.
855
01:02:51,713 --> 01:02:55,444
I always laugh about
a Jean-Luc Godard comment...
856
01:02:55,617 --> 01:02:59,986
...that film is truth 24 times a second,
because in my opinion...
857
01:03:00,155 --> 01:03:02,180
...film is a lie 24 times a second.
858
01:03:02,357 --> 01:03:05,952
Everything is prearranged,
predigested, rehearsed...
859
01:03:06,127 --> 01:03:11,258
...thought out, worked out, written down
and then eventually photographed.
860
01:03:22,911 --> 01:03:27,780
No musical number is not organized
down to the last eyelash.
861
01:03:27,949 --> 01:03:29,712
And the puddles were even organized.
862
01:03:29,884 --> 01:03:32,409
The puddles had to be placed,
and we had to work out...
863
01:03:32,587 --> 01:03:35,681
...how far he was gonna be able
to move to splash in the puddle.
864
01:03:35,857 --> 01:03:38,325
And then we had to dig the cement
out on the street...
865
01:03:38,493 --> 01:03:40,427
...and make it hold the water.
866
01:03:40,595 --> 01:03:43,462
It's an appearance of truth
24 times a second...
867
01:03:43,631 --> 01:03:46,395
...but it's all organized.
868
01:03:46,568 --> 01:03:50,902
We are all working the strings.
869
01:04:22,470 --> 01:04:24,802
It's hard work. Dancing is hard work.
870
01:04:24,973 --> 01:04:28,409
It takes a long time to make it right,
to get it right, months and months.
871
01:04:47,695 --> 01:04:49,993
And I remember sitting
under the piano one day.
872
01:04:50,165 --> 01:04:52,326
Everyone was rehearsing,
I was so exhausted.
873
01:04:52,500 --> 01:04:55,560
I was sitting under the piano,
crying away, and all of a sudden...
874
01:04:55,737 --> 01:04:57,796
...legs walk by the piano,
and a voice says:
875
01:04:57,972 --> 01:05:00,406
"What's the matter, little girl?
Why are you crying?"
876
01:05:00,575 --> 01:05:03,043
I said, "I'll never learn how to dance,
it's too hard.
877
01:05:03,211 --> 01:05:05,941
I'll never learn how to keep up
with Gene Kelly and Fr--"
878
01:05:06,114 --> 01:05:07,411
And I'm very sad for myself.
879
01:05:07,582 --> 01:05:11,814
And so this hand reaches underneath
and pulls me out, and it's Fred Astaire.
880
01:05:11,986 --> 01:05:16,548
He said, "Now, Debbie, learning to dance
is the hardest thing you can do.
881
01:05:16,724 --> 01:05:18,021
But you have to work hard...
882
01:05:18,193 --> 01:05:20,457
...because that's the only way
you can be perfect.
883
01:05:20,628 --> 01:05:24,086
Come and watch me rehearse for a few
minutes." He never let anyone watch.
884
01:05:24,265 --> 01:05:27,063
Fred Astaire rehearsed with a guard
on the gate, on the door.
885
01:05:27,235 --> 01:05:30,534
And he had a drummer and a cane
and Hermes Pan.
886
01:05:30,705 --> 01:05:33,401
He would go through the steps,
he would create the steps...
887
01:05:33,575 --> 01:05:35,338
...with the cane and the drummer only.
888
01:05:35,510 --> 01:05:38,707
And he was brilliant,
you know, of course.
889
01:05:38,880 --> 01:05:40,347
So I got to sit on the floor...
890
01:05:40,515 --> 01:05:43,211
...and I watched Mr. Astaire rehearse
for about two hours.
891
01:05:43,384 --> 01:05:46,319
And he broke the cane, threw the cane,
he got so frustrated.
892
01:05:46,488 --> 01:05:48,956
He looked at me and said,
"This is how tough it is.
893
01:05:49,123 --> 01:05:52,251
This is how tough it is
to learn to do things really well...
894
01:05:52,427 --> 01:05:55,658
...and to be great.
If you can be, and you can be.
895
01:05:55,830 --> 01:05:58,526
Now, you get back in there
and practice some more."
896
01:06:26,194 --> 01:06:29,527
To compete with the increasingly
popular phenomenon of television...
897
01:06:29,697 --> 01:06:33,189
...Hollywood is engaged in a frantic race
to develop new technology...
898
01:06:33,368 --> 01:06:35,700
...to lure customers
back to the movie theaters.
899
01:06:35,870 --> 01:06:40,204
The most successful
of the many innovations is Cinemascope.
900
01:06:49,350 --> 01:06:53,878
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is a pioneerin the use of this new wide-screen format.
901
01:06:54,055 --> 01:06:56,489
The technique opens upa majestic new world...
902
01:06:56,658 --> 01:07:00,253
...for moviegoers and moviemakers alikeand makes a medium...
903
01:07:00,428 --> 01:07:04,125
...that is already larger than lifeappear even bigger.
904
01:07:19,914 --> 01:07:21,848
It is 1954.
905
01:07:22,016 --> 01:07:25,144
Arthur Freed celebrateshis 25th year at MGM...
906
01:07:25,320 --> 01:07:28,881
...by transporting Gene Kelly,Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse...
907
01:07:29,057 --> 01:07:32,686
...and director Vincente Minnellito Brigadoon...
908
01:07:32,860 --> 01:07:38,457
...the mythical Scottish village that comesto life once every 100 years.
909
01:07:44,172 --> 01:07:46,640
We were going from wide-screen
into Cinemascope.
910
01:07:46,808 --> 01:07:51,006
So when we got a print, take,
on the wide-screen, they said--
911
01:07:51,179 --> 01:07:54,740
Vincente would say, "Now we're
gonna do one for Cinemascope."
912
01:07:54,916 --> 01:07:57,180
So I watched as it took them
another 45 minutes...
913
01:07:57,352 --> 01:08:00,287
...to put this big camera on
and relight and widen the thing.
914
01:08:00,455 --> 01:08:02,889
So finally I said,
"I'm shooting two pictures."
915
01:08:03,057 --> 01:08:04,524
I went to Dore Schary and said:
916
01:08:04,692 --> 01:08:07,889
"I'm shooting two movies.
I should have two salaries."
917
01:08:08,062 --> 01:08:11,225
But Dore said, "Yes, you're shooting
two versions, that's right.
918
01:08:11,399 --> 01:08:14,835
And you're getting one salary, Van,
and be glad that you're getting it."
919
01:08:15,003 --> 01:08:16,994
And I walked out very meekly.
920
01:08:17,171 --> 01:08:18,468
I never did that again.
921
01:08:34,522 --> 01:08:36,012
They're calling all stars...
922
01:08:36,190 --> 01:08:39,990
...at MGM's Hollywood studios to gatheron Stage Number 27...
923
01:08:40,161 --> 01:08:43,221
...for the most costly single photographever taken.
924
01:08:43,398 --> 01:08:45,628
A group picturefor a Look magazine feature...
925
01:08:45,800 --> 01:08:48,462
...on "A Day With the Stars. "
926
01:08:48,636 --> 01:08:51,628
As Metro-Goldwyn-Mayercelebrates its 30th anniversary...
927
01:08:51,806 --> 01:08:56,334
...Dore Schary gathers Culver City's starstogether for a publicity photo.
928
01:08:56,511 --> 01:08:59,776
At the studio,It is a time of financial retrenchments.
929
01:08:59,947 --> 01:09:03,144
Despite the success of such picturesas An American in Paris...
930
01:09:03,317 --> 01:09:07,447
...and Singin' in the Rain,
expenses are up and profits are down.
931
01:09:07,622 --> 01:09:12,059
Nicholas Schenck demands that Metroreign in its expanding operating budget.
932
01:09:12,226 --> 01:09:14,820
Among the firstto feel the effects of this decision...
933
01:09:14,996 --> 01:09:17,294
...are Culver City's collection of stars.
934
01:09:17,465 --> 01:09:21,231
As astonishing as it may seem,within the space of two short years...
935
01:09:21,402 --> 01:09:26,203
...virtually every single onewill be released from their contracts.
936
01:09:31,012 --> 01:09:34,948
The seemingly indestructible
studio system has begun to crumble.
937
01:09:35,116 --> 01:09:40,748
The New York office orders Dore Schary
to prune Culver City's dead weight.
938
01:09:40,922 --> 01:09:43,550
The relentless economy drive cuts deep...
939
01:09:43,725 --> 01:09:48,890
...into production budgets,
technical departments, personnel.
940
01:09:49,063 --> 01:09:52,726
June Allyson, Clark Gable,
Greer Garson...
941
01:09:52,900 --> 01:09:58,998
...Van Johnson, Frank Sinatra,
Spencer Tracy, Esther Williams, gone.
942
01:09:59,173 --> 01:10:04,543
One by one, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's
brightest stars pack up and move out.
943
01:10:06,114 --> 01:10:09,208
We were raised to do as we were told.
944
01:10:09,383 --> 01:10:12,250
We're gonna do that movie,
we're gonna be there at 6 a.m...
945
01:10:12,420 --> 01:10:15,184
...we're gonna do our makeup,
we're gonna make that film...
946
01:10:15,356 --> 01:10:17,984
...we're gonna do the fittings,
we're gonna go on tour...
947
01:10:18,159 --> 01:10:21,219
...for that film for six weeks,
we're gonna ballyhoo every film...
948
01:10:21,395 --> 01:10:24,387
...we're never gonna refuse an autograph,
we're gonna do our job.
949
01:10:24,565 --> 01:10:28,092
We never questioned anything
because we were taught to say yes.
950
01:10:28,269 --> 01:10:31,705
But we were not aware of all of
the changing going on in New York...
951
01:10:31,873 --> 01:10:35,434
...that was going to ultimately
destroy all of our careers.
952
01:10:35,943 --> 01:10:40,471
All the stars, these great stars, sat home.
953
01:10:40,648 --> 01:10:43,344
I can almost compare it...
954
01:10:43,518 --> 01:10:46,954
...to having lost my late husband.
955
01:10:47,121 --> 01:10:51,717
You're suddenly stepping on emptiness...
956
01:10:52,994 --> 01:10:56,486
...after being on solid ground for so long.
957
01:10:56,664 --> 01:11:02,398
And you suddenly step out,
and it's not the same planet you were on.
958
01:11:02,570 --> 01:11:07,439
When they finally
dropped me, I was scared because--
959
01:11:07,608 --> 01:11:11,066
I mean, I had four children. You know,
a wife and four children to support.
960
01:11:11,245 --> 01:11:15,909
And all of a sudden, that check
every week was not coming in.
961
01:11:16,083 --> 01:11:19,143
I was almost naked, alone in the world.
962
01:11:19,320 --> 01:11:23,222
What am I going to do, you know?
Very frightening, very frightening.
963
01:11:23,624 --> 01:11:27,253
The changing times and the trendtoward realism in the cinema...
964
01:11:27,428 --> 01:11:29,487
...brings forth a new breed of performer.
965
01:11:29,664 --> 01:11:34,226
Actors who are hired by the studioon a picture-by-picture basis and trained...
966
01:11:34,402 --> 01:11:38,998
...not in the dream factories of Hollywood,but on the streets of New York.
967
01:11:39,173 --> 01:11:42,836
It was a very natural kind of acting...
968
01:11:43,010 --> 01:11:44,637
...that was coming out of the streets.
969
01:11:44,812 --> 01:11:50,944
The Actor's Studio in New York
was exactly that kind of place.
970
01:11:51,485 --> 01:11:57,014
The training that they had at that time
was from the streets.
971
01:11:57,191 --> 01:12:01,628
The stories and the plays they were doing
at that time were about the streets.
972
01:12:02,797 --> 01:12:06,096
James Dean was set to appear in
Somebody Up There likes Me...
973
01:12:06,267 --> 01:12:08,701
...when he was killed in a car accident.
974
01:12:08,870 --> 01:12:11,839
The role of the tormented prizefighter,Rocky Graziano...
975
01:12:12,006 --> 01:12:16,272
...makes a star out of a relativelyunknown actor, Paul Newman.
976
01:12:16,444 --> 01:12:19,880
You never ask nothing, you just tell things.
Why don't you ask me?
977
01:12:20,047 --> 01:12:22,015
like, how's Norma? How's--?
978
01:12:22,183 --> 01:12:25,619
What am I doing here in New York
when I got a fight in Chicago?
979
01:12:25,786 --> 01:12:29,278
- If you don't like it, get out of here.
- "Get out of here, get out of here."
980
01:12:29,457 --> 01:12:32,290
That's all you can do is talk tough,
but you ain't so tough.
981
01:12:32,460 --> 01:12:34,655
You wasn't tough
to take the decision from Ma...
982
01:12:34,829 --> 01:12:36,763
...when she told you to quit fighting.
983
01:12:36,931 --> 01:12:40,731
And you've been fighting that one
in your head ever since, haven't you?
984
01:12:40,902 --> 01:12:44,099
Yeah, and you still ain't won,
and you never will.
985
01:12:44,538 --> 01:12:48,668
Because it's all over for you,
no matter how much booze you take.
986
01:12:49,076 --> 01:12:50,737
But it ain't over for me.
987
01:12:50,912 --> 01:12:52,607
I got a wife, I got a kid.
988
01:12:52,780 --> 01:12:54,111
I got a home in Ocean Park...
989
01:12:54,282 --> 01:12:57,342
...where I'm fighting Tony Zale
for the championship of the world.
990
01:12:57,518 --> 01:13:01,284
I ain't gonna be decisioned
out of nothing, especially by you.
991
01:13:02,156 --> 01:13:05,592
It was a whole great new time
that was happening.
992
01:13:05,927 --> 01:13:09,419
Cameramen were coming off the streets.
993
01:13:09,597 --> 01:13:12,157
They were beginning
to shoot the real thing.
994
01:13:13,301 --> 01:13:16,293
One of the most controversial filmsproduced under Dore Schary...
995
01:13:16,470 --> 01:13:18,131
...is Blackboard Jungle.
996
01:13:18,306 --> 01:13:21,742
It pulls no punches in unfoldinga disturbing drama of delinquent youth...
997
01:13:21,909 --> 01:13:23,638
...to the beat of rock 'n' roll.
998
01:13:23,811 --> 01:13:28,544
When the picture hits the streets,parents and teachers are outraged.
999
01:13:28,716 --> 01:13:32,174
Yeah, when Blackboard Jungle opened,
the day that it opened in New York...
1000
01:13:32,353 --> 01:13:36,949
...some teacher was thrown off the roof
by some guys from a gym class.
1001
01:13:37,825 --> 01:13:40,020
They thought that the movie
had influenced them.
1002
01:13:40,194 --> 01:13:43,652
No, it was just an expression of the time.
1003
01:13:43,831 --> 01:13:46,265
Now, it's pronounced "da-di--"
1004
01:13:54,909 --> 01:13:56,672
It was a new beginning of some kind...
1005
01:13:56,844 --> 01:13:59,904
...with different kind of people,
with different aims in life...
1006
01:14:00,081 --> 01:14:02,675
...who could control their lives
for a split second.
1007
01:14:02,850 --> 01:14:03,874
It was electrifying.
1008
01:14:04,051 --> 01:14:07,145
And suddenly, you began to believe
in a different kind of acting...
1009
01:14:07,321 --> 01:14:09,346
...which had to do with reality.
1010
01:14:09,523 --> 01:14:10,751
That was the streets.
1011
01:14:10,925 --> 01:14:13,393
That's why I wanted to make the movie.
1012
01:14:15,463 --> 01:14:19,593
Whoever threw that,
you'll never pitch for the Yanks, boy.
1013
01:14:22,036 --> 01:14:24,231
They didn't have much faith in that movie...
1014
01:14:24,405 --> 01:14:27,340
...when it was being made
or right afterwards.
1015
01:14:27,508 --> 01:14:30,534
A lot of them thought
It was communist propaganda.
1016
01:14:31,178 --> 01:14:34,875
I think it was the music
that upset them so much at first.
1017
01:14:40,254 --> 01:14:42,779
I was in New York
when the picture opened.
1018
01:14:42,957 --> 01:14:45,152
I go in the theater, it's packed.
1019
01:14:45,326 --> 01:14:47,590
And I'm watching the movie,
there's no sound.
1020
01:14:47,762 --> 01:14:49,423
Not only no music, nothing.
1021
01:14:49,597 --> 01:14:51,531
No dialogue, totally silent.
1022
01:14:51,699 --> 01:14:54,259
I ran back,
I wanted to talk to the manager.
1023
01:14:54,435 --> 01:14:55,766
"Where's the sound?
1024
01:14:55,936 --> 01:14:57,460
Why isn't the sound playing?"
1025
01:14:57,638 --> 01:15:01,005
He said, "We don't play the sound
with this picture. We don't play it."
1026
01:15:01,175 --> 01:15:02,335
I said, "Why?"
1027
01:15:02,510 --> 01:15:04,705
He says, "These jerks get up
from their seats...
1028
01:15:04,879 --> 01:15:07,143
...and they start to dance in the aisle."
1029
01:15:07,314 --> 01:15:10,408
I said, "listen, if you don't
put the sound on right now...
1030
01:15:10,584 --> 01:15:11,744
...I'm gonna kill you.
1031
01:15:11,919 --> 01:15:13,978
Right here in the booth."
1032
01:15:28,869 --> 01:15:34,136
Many rules were broken in order to obtain
this kind of reality and freedom.
1033
01:15:34,308 --> 01:15:39,336
Because once they appeared on the screen,
the ticket buyers reacted to it...
1034
01:15:39,513 --> 01:15:42,038
...just as well as the people
who were gonna play them.
1035
01:15:42,216 --> 01:15:43,547
Yes, you know this young man.
1036
01:15:43,717 --> 01:15:47,175
You've heard more about him thanany star personality in the modern...
1037
01:15:47,354 --> 01:15:52,690
Elvis Presley begins a 14-yearassociation with MGM in Jailhouse Rock.
1038
01:16:22,490 --> 01:16:25,584
I was making a picture
and I heard that Elvis Presley...
1039
01:16:25,759 --> 01:16:29,456
...was shooting a number next door.
I loved to go watch the musical numbers.
1040
01:16:29,897 --> 01:16:33,230
And while he's getting dabbed
and mascaraed and powdered and painted...
1041
01:16:33,400 --> 01:16:34,560
...he looks out, and he--
1042
01:16:34,735 --> 01:16:38,432
I could read his lips.
He said, "Is that Van Johnson?"
1043
01:16:38,806 --> 01:16:43,709
And I said, "Can he see me that far?
Good eyes."
1044
01:16:43,878 --> 01:16:46,938
So he just went like this:
1045
01:16:47,114 --> 01:16:50,948
And I was so impressed, I bowed.
1046
01:16:51,118 --> 01:16:53,609
I guess I did. It was like royalty.
1047
01:16:53,787 --> 01:16:55,914
You insulted my father,
my mother and me.
1048
01:16:56,090 --> 01:16:57,421
And it's just unforgivable.
1049
01:16:57,591 --> 01:16:59,582
What do you expect?
I come out, have a little beer.
1050
01:16:59,760 --> 01:17:02,524
Then some broad pushes me
in a corner with some stupid question.
1051
01:17:02,696 --> 01:17:04,755
They were bringing you
into the conversation.
1052
01:17:04,932 --> 01:17:08,561
They can shove their conversation.
I'm not even sure they were talking English.
1053
01:17:09,603 --> 01:17:12,834
- I'll drive you back to your hotel.
- I'll walk.
1054
01:17:13,207 --> 01:17:15,971
I think I'm gonna just hate you.
1055
01:17:19,880 --> 01:17:21,711
You ain't gonna hate me.
1056
01:17:23,584 --> 01:17:25,711
I ain't gonna let you hate me.
1057
01:17:29,790 --> 01:17:32,918
How dare you think such cheap tactics
would work with me?
1058
01:17:42,536 --> 01:17:44,834
That ain't tactics, honey.
1059
01:17:45,206 --> 01:17:47,640
That's just the beast in me.
1060
01:17:48,776 --> 01:17:53,213
Jailhouse Rock is oneof Metro's biggest hits in 1957.
1061
01:17:53,380 --> 01:17:57,373
Unfortunately, it does nothingto ease MGM's financial straits...
1062
01:17:57,551 --> 01:18:02,352
...and the effects of this reverberateall the way back to the East Coast.
1063
01:18:04,225 --> 01:18:07,820
In New York, the corporate boardroom
is rocked with management crises.
1064
01:18:07,995 --> 01:18:12,091
Nicholas Schenck,
deprived of his old nemesis, L.B. Mayer...
1065
01:18:12,266 --> 01:18:15,758
...has now become the focus
of the studio's problems.
1066
01:18:15,936 --> 01:18:18,928
In 1955, he relinquishes the presidency...
1067
01:18:19,106 --> 01:18:23,338
...and he is eased into the ceremonial post
of chairman of the board.
1068
01:18:23,510 --> 01:18:27,674
His replacement is the founder's son,
Arthur Loew.
1069
01:18:27,848 --> 01:18:31,340
But in less than one year,
he will resign and be replaced...
1070
01:18:31,518 --> 01:18:34,646
...by the head of theater operations,
Joseph Vogel.
1071
01:18:36,457 --> 01:18:37,981
Meanwhile, back in Culver City...
1072
01:18:38,158 --> 01:18:41,218
...in a bid to revive the studio'sdwindling box-office returns...
1073
01:18:41,395 --> 01:18:44,922
...Mr. Schary sends Raintree County
into production.
1074
01:18:45,099 --> 01:18:47,829
The Civil War epicis based on a best-selling novel...
1075
01:18:48,002 --> 01:18:51,836
...and stars Elizabeth Taylorand Montgomery Clift.
1076
01:18:52,006 --> 01:18:55,999
When it is finally completed,the picture holds the dubious distinction...
1077
01:18:56,176 --> 01:19:00,203
...of being the most expensive MGM filmever produced in America.
1078
01:19:00,381 --> 01:19:04,010
Upon its release, critics call ita thinly disguised attempt...
1079
01:19:04,184 --> 01:19:07,017
...to recapture the magicof Gone with the Wind.
1080
01:19:07,187 --> 01:19:10,418
The public agrees with that assessmentand stays away.
1081
01:19:11,191 --> 01:19:16,959
In 1957, for the first time in its history,Loew's MGM loses money.
1082
01:19:17,131 --> 01:19:19,895
The New York office had seenthe economic disaster coming...
1083
01:19:20,067 --> 01:19:24,231
...and in November 1956, Dore Scharywas released from his contract.
1084
01:19:27,374 --> 01:19:30,571
Six years after being forced out
of MGM...
1085
01:19:30,744 --> 01:19:34,236
...L.B. Mayer entered the hospital
for a checkup.
1086
01:19:34,415 --> 01:19:36,406
He never left.
1087
01:19:36,583 --> 01:19:40,781
Today, October the 29th, 1957...
1088
01:19:40,954 --> 01:19:44,583
...Mr. Mayer died of leukemia.
1089
01:19:44,758 --> 01:19:50,526
His old friend and studio publicist,
Howard Strickling, was at the deathbed.
1090
01:19:50,698 --> 01:19:55,192
He heard the old tycoon
mutter his last words:
1091
01:19:55,703 --> 01:19:57,671
"Nothing matters.
1092
01:19:58,172 --> 01:20:00,470
Nothing matters."
1093
01:20:01,141 --> 01:20:02,870
I cried...
1094
01:20:04,678 --> 01:20:07,647
...when I heard about Mr. Mayer
having passed on.
1095
01:20:09,883 --> 01:20:12,317
He meant everything in the world to me.
1096
01:20:12,786 --> 01:20:16,051
He gave me my place in the sun.
1097
01:20:16,223 --> 01:20:19,215
I loved Mr. Mayer very much.
1098
01:20:19,593 --> 01:20:23,552
I thought that the industry
had lost a great, great, great leader.
1099
01:20:23,731 --> 01:20:28,759
And I thought
he was a man to be admired.
1100
01:20:28,936 --> 01:20:31,496
And he'd done a great job.
1101
01:20:31,872 --> 01:20:35,433
He'd gone into a fledgling industry...
1102
01:20:35,609 --> 01:20:38,442
...and he'd made it work,
and he'd been the leader.
1103
01:20:38,612 --> 01:20:42,412
He was, without question,
the king of the crowd.
1104
01:20:42,583 --> 01:20:44,915
I remember going to the hospital to see him.
1105
01:20:45,085 --> 01:20:50,421
He was still preaching to be a good girl
and "don't forget you have children now" ...
1106
01:20:50,591 --> 01:20:52,320
...and still the family man.
1107
01:20:52,493 --> 01:20:55,223
He was wonderful.
1108
01:20:56,430 --> 01:20:57,920
It's very sad.
1109
01:20:59,032 --> 01:21:05,494
I think when he went,
he took the studio with him.
1110
01:21:05,806 --> 01:21:08,001
So he didn't really lose.
1111
01:21:18,452 --> 01:21:22,718
It was 1955 when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayerfinally accepted the fact...
1112
01:21:22,890 --> 01:21:25,620
...that television was here to stay.
1113
01:21:25,793 --> 01:21:28,318
Faced with the inevitable,the New York office decreed:
1114
01:21:28,495 --> 01:21:30,793
"If we can't beat them, we'll join them."
1115
01:21:30,964 --> 01:21:34,923
Hello, ladies and gentlemen,and welcome to the M-G-M Parade.
1116
01:21:35,102 --> 01:21:37,730
It's my pleasure each weekto open the studio gates...
1117
01:21:37,905 --> 01:21:39,634
...and invite you all to be my guest.
1118
01:21:39,807 --> 01:21:43,140
Come in with me and have a lookinto one of the great treasure chests...
1119
01:21:43,310 --> 01:21:46,905
...of the entertainment world,the MGM studio.
1120
01:21:47,314 --> 01:21:50,613
This is Culver City's first attempt
at a TV show.
1121
01:21:50,784 --> 01:21:52,342
The studio sees it as a way...
1122
01:21:52,519 --> 01:21:56,683
...to sell movie stars and motion pictures
to TV audiences.
1123
01:21:56,857 --> 01:21:59,826
It's a disaster
and is quickly taken off the air.
1124
01:21:59,993 --> 01:22:06,091
The management's next move
is to recycle its past successes.
1125
01:22:24,852 --> 01:22:27,343
The most popularof MGM's early television programs...
1126
01:22:27,521 --> 01:22:30,718
...are revamped, recastand reformatted versions...
1127
01:22:30,891 --> 01:22:34,759
...of the studio's serious filmsof the 1930s.
1128
01:22:39,266 --> 01:22:42,099
Even Dr. Kildare
finds a new lease on life.
1129
01:22:42,269 --> 01:22:43,293
Right now.
1130
01:22:49,610 --> 01:22:52,010
MGM had made
about 12 movies about Dr. Kildare.
1131
01:22:52,179 --> 01:22:55,376
They were wonderfully successful
with Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore.
1132
01:22:55,549 --> 01:22:59,542
And when they were getting into television,
which they had resisted for a long time...
1133
01:22:59,720 --> 01:23:01,984
...they thought,
"How about a series about this?"
1134
01:23:02,155 --> 01:23:04,248
Dr. Kildare was really a product
of the '50s.
1135
01:23:04,424 --> 01:23:08,758
It was a show of '50s
kind of mentality and values.
1136
01:23:08,929 --> 01:23:12,695
And those lingered on
into the '60s for a while.
1137
01:23:18,272 --> 01:23:20,069
I wanna die.
1138
01:23:21,041 --> 01:23:22,531
She tried it again.
1139
01:23:22,709 --> 01:23:25,735
It was a good show,
and a seriously made show.
1140
01:23:25,913 --> 01:23:29,144
And the whole medical format
wasn't worn out at that time.
1141
01:23:29,316 --> 01:23:32,911
And it appealed to that old
American sense of the common good.
1142
01:23:33,086 --> 01:23:35,714
Oh, please, please, let me.
1143
01:23:35,889 --> 01:23:37,914
Suture setup, stat.
1144
01:23:38,091 --> 01:23:40,855
Oh, please.
1145
01:23:41,328 --> 01:23:43,819
Please, I wanna die.
1146
01:23:43,997 --> 01:23:49,663
MGM still didn't really think television
was worth paying much attention to...
1147
01:23:49,836 --> 01:23:52,498
...because they were, you know,
the king of features.
1148
01:23:52,673 --> 01:23:54,641
You had the feeling,
even though MGM...
1149
01:23:54,808 --> 01:23:58,369
...was very vital in a lot of features,
a lot of television was being done...
1150
01:23:58,545 --> 01:24:01,013
...that somehow
there was a downward motion.
1151
01:24:02,082 --> 01:24:03,379
There was a certain anxiety.
1152
01:24:03,550 --> 01:24:10,388
You could feel a little bit of a fear
lurking in the corners of the management.
1153
01:24:11,692 --> 01:24:15,287
And you had a feeling that the golden--
The real golden years were finished.
1154
01:24:20,000 --> 01:24:23,197
Television has brought fortha new era in entertainment.
1155
01:24:23,370 --> 01:24:24,803
In an effort to compete...
1156
01:24:24,972 --> 01:24:29,705
...MGM turns to somethingyou can't see on television: sex.
1157
01:24:29,876 --> 01:24:32,470
I don't mind making a fool
of myself over you.
1158
01:24:32,846 --> 01:24:35,246
Well, I mind. I feel embarrassed for you.
1159
01:24:35,749 --> 01:24:37,080
Feel embarrassed.
1160
01:24:37,951 --> 01:24:41,079
- I can't live on this way.
- But you agreed to accept that condition.
1161
01:24:41,254 --> 01:24:43,950
I know I did, but I can't. I can't.
1162
01:24:44,791 --> 01:24:47,555
Very few playwrights...
1163
01:24:48,662 --> 01:24:53,463
...or other writers could write women
as well as Tennessee Williams.
1164
01:24:53,634 --> 01:24:55,431
He was terrific.
1165
01:24:55,602 --> 01:24:58,332
Those women were bursting
into a new world...
1166
01:24:58,505 --> 01:25:00,268
...literally.
1167
01:25:01,108 --> 01:25:03,906
Sex for them
was not a forbidden subject.
1168
01:25:04,077 --> 01:25:05,635
It was a form of expression.
1169
01:25:06,513 --> 01:25:08,276
The heat has made you cross.
1170
01:25:08,448 --> 01:25:10,814
Mm-hm. Give me my crutch.
1171
01:25:13,220 --> 01:25:15,654
Why don't you put on
your nice silk pajamas, honey...
1172
01:25:15,822 --> 01:25:17,790
...and come on down to the party?
1173
01:25:17,958 --> 01:25:20,756
There's a lovely cool breeze.
1174
01:25:21,028 --> 01:25:23,189
Give me my crutch, Maggie.
1175
01:25:24,064 --> 01:25:26,555
Lean on me, baby.
1176
01:25:32,673 --> 01:25:36,200
Hmm. You got a nice smell about you.
1177
01:25:37,744 --> 01:25:40,736
- Was your bath water cool?
- No.
1178
01:25:42,082 --> 01:25:45,711
I know something that would
make you feel cool and fresh.
1179
01:25:46,453 --> 01:25:50,389
Alcohol rub. Cologne.
1180
01:25:50,891 --> 01:25:55,351
No, thanks. Then we'd smell alike,
like a couple of cats in the heat.
1181
01:25:55,929 --> 01:25:59,330
She's sort of the indestructible
Elizabeth Taylor, you know.
1182
01:25:59,499 --> 01:26:01,558
Arthur Freed told me
that in orchid growing--
1183
01:26:01,735 --> 01:26:03,703
He was a great orchid grower,
Arthur Freed.
1184
01:26:03,870 --> 01:26:08,330
--when one orchid grows from a stem
which is quite different from the others...
1185
01:26:08,508 --> 01:26:12,376
...It is called a sport,
the one that really shows itself.
1186
01:26:12,546 --> 01:26:16,448
You don't nurture it to do that,
It just happens.
1187
01:26:16,616 --> 01:26:18,345
Well, there are those sports in life.
1188
01:26:18,518 --> 01:26:22,215
Elizabeth Taylor is certainly one of them.
1189
01:26:24,858 --> 01:26:29,693
Elizabeth Taylor is the last of the great starsto emerge from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
1190
01:26:29,863 --> 01:26:33,321
She signed her first contractwith the studio in 1943...
1191
01:26:33,500 --> 01:26:36,298
...after an appearancein Lassie Come Home.
1192
01:26:36,470 --> 01:26:39,268
I was making
the picture Lassie Come Home.
1193
01:26:39,439 --> 01:26:42,704
Now, at that time,
I met a man named Taylor...
1194
01:26:42,876 --> 01:26:46,004
...who kept talking to me
about his beautiful daughter.
1195
01:26:46,179 --> 01:26:48,238
And when you're a Hollywood
movie producer...
1196
01:26:48,415 --> 01:26:50,883
...and people keep telling you
about their daughter...
1197
01:26:51,051 --> 01:26:53,576
...they're not gonna stop
till you meet the daughter.
1198
01:26:53,754 --> 01:26:57,815
Now, she came in
outfitted in a purple velvet dress...
1199
01:26:57,991 --> 01:27:00,585
...with a little cap, also purple.
1200
01:27:00,761 --> 01:27:02,422
Her eyes were purple.
1201
01:27:02,596 --> 01:27:06,794
I passed out practically when I looked
at her. I have never seen anybody...
1202
01:27:06,967 --> 01:27:10,994
...as beautiful as Elizabeth Taylor
at the age of 7 or 8.
1203
01:27:11,605 --> 01:27:17,305
She entered into a contract at MGM,
which I think went on for 24, 25 years.
1204
01:27:17,477 --> 01:27:19,206
Her last picture was Butterflied 8...
1205
01:27:19,379 --> 01:27:23,338
...and see didn't like it when she sat
in the projection room and saw it.
1206
01:27:23,517 --> 01:27:27,214
When it was over, she took off her shoes
and threw them at the screen.
1207
01:27:28,288 --> 01:27:30,256
It is one of Hollywood's little ironies...
1208
01:27:30,423 --> 01:27:33,221
...that the performanceElizabeth Taylor dislikes the most...
1209
01:27:33,393 --> 01:27:36,988
...is the one that earns heran Academy Award.
1210
01:27:38,165 --> 01:27:43,865
I don't really know
how to express my gratitude...
1211
01:27:44,304 --> 01:27:47,205
...for this and for everything.
1212
01:27:48,942 --> 01:27:52,173
I guess all I can do is say thank you.
1213
01:27:52,345 --> 01:27:54,336
Thank you with all my heart.
1214
01:27:58,585 --> 01:28:01,281
The golden ageof Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals...
1215
01:28:01,454 --> 01:28:06,357
...reaches its peak with Arthur Freed'sCinemascope production of Gigi.
1216
01:28:06,526 --> 01:28:10,155
The film will become the biggest hitof his illustrious career.
1217
01:28:10,330 --> 01:28:13,390
Gigi is an Alan Jay Lernerand Frederick Loewe adaptation...
1218
01:28:13,567 --> 01:28:16,035
...of a novel by a French author, Colette.
1219
01:28:16,203 --> 01:28:20,139
Vincente Minnelli's depictionof an innocent young girl's first love...
1220
01:28:20,307 --> 01:28:23,708
...sparkles like vintage champagne.
1221
01:28:27,848 --> 01:28:31,716
Minnelli: Freed and I had
wanted to do Gigi for a long time.
1222
01:28:32,219 --> 01:28:34,244
Finally, he cornered Alan Lerner...
1223
01:28:34,421 --> 01:28:38,755
...and Alan agreed to do the script
and do the score with Fritz Loewe.
1224
01:28:38,925 --> 01:28:40,950
And this was after My Fair Lady.
1225
01:28:41,127 --> 01:28:46,121
And so we went to Paris,
and a lot of it was written there.
1226
01:28:46,299 --> 01:28:48,324
I based it on Sem, the caricatures...
1227
01:28:48,501 --> 01:28:50,992
...because Colette had written
about real people.
1228
01:28:53,874 --> 01:28:54,898
And company.
1229
01:28:55,075 --> 01:28:57,703
Minnelli:
And Sem had drawn these people...
1230
01:28:57,878 --> 01:28:59,971
...so it was easy to set the style.
1231
01:29:00,146 --> 01:29:01,704
Good afternoon.
1232
01:29:01,882 --> 01:29:05,716
As you see,
this lovely city all around us is Paris.
1233
01:29:05,886 --> 01:29:09,982
And this lovely park is, of course,
the Bois de Boulogne.
1234
01:29:10,156 --> 01:29:11,646
Pardon me.
1235
01:29:12,792 --> 01:29:14,623
Basically, it's awfully good.
1236
01:29:14,794 --> 01:29:17,422
She wrote it as a kind of a throwaway.
1237
01:29:17,597 --> 01:29:18,621
It was never con--
1238
01:29:18,798 --> 01:29:22,256
She never considered it one of her
major works, like Chรฉrie and so forth.
1239
01:29:46,293 --> 01:29:50,730
People, in those days, went to
pictures produced by a certain company.
1240
01:29:50,897 --> 01:29:56,335
And MGM had a great reputation
for quality and style.
1241
01:29:56,503 --> 01:29:59,995
There were certain types of movies
that MGM was particularly good at.
1242
01:30:00,473 --> 01:30:03,203
Musicals was the perfect example.
1243
01:30:03,376 --> 01:30:06,868
For some reason,
MGM just knew how to do it better.
1244
01:30:07,047 --> 01:30:09,208
And in fact, the musicals were better.
1245
01:30:42,182 --> 01:30:44,810
Gigi is an unparalleled triumph.
1246
01:30:44,985 --> 01:30:50,389
It sweeps the 1958 Academy Awards,winning an unprecedented nine Oscars.
1247
01:30:50,724 --> 01:30:53,921
The film is alsoArthur Freed's last major success...
1248
01:30:54,094 --> 01:30:57,530
...at the studio he has called homefor more than 40 years.
1249
01:30:57,697 --> 01:30:59,927
And I am doubly honored tonight...
1250
01:31:00,100 --> 01:31:03,160
...in receiving this presentation
from Miss Bergman.
1251
01:31:03,336 --> 01:31:04,963
Thank you.
1252
01:31:10,510 --> 01:31:14,241
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is enteringa stormy and uncertain era...
1253
01:31:14,414 --> 01:31:18,578
...and the studio turns to its pastin order to find its future.
1254
01:31:18,752 --> 01:31:21,516
Sol Siegel is in charge of Culver Cityin 1958...
1255
01:31:21,688 --> 01:31:24,953
...when MGM gamblesthat a remake of Ben-Hur...
1256
01:31:25,125 --> 01:31:29,323
...will be the blockbusterto top all previous blockbusters.
1257
01:31:29,496 --> 01:31:34,126
The silent Ben-Hur of 1925had put the studio on the map...
1258
01:31:34,300 --> 01:31:37,861
...and it is hoped that the new versionwill reestablish its preeminence.
1259
01:31:38,838 --> 01:31:42,638
No expense is sparedin the elephantine production.
1260
01:31:42,809 --> 01:31:45,869
Staggering are the figures trumpetedby the Publicity Department.
1261
01:31:46,046 --> 01:31:49,311
Three hundred sets, 10.000 extras...
1262
01:31:49,482 --> 01:31:54,613
... 100.000 costumesand 1.5 million props...
1263
01:31:54,788 --> 01:31:59,487
...all under the control of one man,director William Wyler.
1264
01:31:59,659 --> 01:32:01,456
It was a tough schedule.
1265
01:32:01,628 --> 01:32:05,029
Every dollar that was spent
got on the screen.
1266
01:32:05,198 --> 01:32:07,632
Now, in fact,
the film was made entirely overseas...
1267
01:32:07,801 --> 01:32:13,467
...except for about four days of retakes
on one interior.
1268
01:32:14,340 --> 01:32:20,472
And even in Rome, the MGM imprimatur
covered the whole undertaking.
1269
01:32:21,147 --> 01:32:24,981
The sets were real tile
and the mosaics were real mosaics.
1270
01:32:25,151 --> 01:32:28,780
Now, it was not cheap, but it was better
than you could have gotten here.
1271
01:32:29,422 --> 01:32:30,684
Then they tore them down.
1272
01:32:30,857 --> 01:32:33,553
If they hadn't,
there'd have been nine Italian producers...
1273
01:32:33,760 --> 01:32:38,254
...elbowing each other to shoot on them
the day after we left.
1274
01:32:47,907 --> 01:32:51,741
We shot from-- It was something like
the last week in May...
1275
01:32:51,911 --> 01:32:54,846
...until the second week in January.
1276
01:32:55,014 --> 01:32:58,245
And of course, I had two second units
to work with as well.
1277
01:32:58,685 --> 01:33:00,710
If I was...
1278
01:33:01,287 --> 01:33:04,222
Had an early finish with the first unit,
they'd say:
1279
01:33:04,390 --> 01:33:07,382
"Chuck, you'd better go over
and work with Yak on the chariots."
1280
01:33:10,130 --> 01:33:14,191
As in the 1925 version,the chariot race is Ben-Hur's greatest thrill.
1281
01:33:14,767 --> 01:33:17,497
Director William Wylerentrusted the crucial segment...
1282
01:33:17,670 --> 01:33:20,161
...to second-unit director, Yakima Canutt.
1283
01:33:24,244 --> 01:33:28,112
The nine minutes of film requiresa full three months of shooting...
1284
01:33:28,281 --> 01:33:31,216
...on a $1 million set.
1285
01:33:38,691 --> 01:33:40,215
It's a marvelous sequence.
1286
01:33:40,393 --> 01:33:43,362
I think two things are significant about it.
1287
01:33:43,530 --> 01:33:44,588
One, it's--
1288
01:33:44,764 --> 01:33:47,733
There are no special effects in it.
It was all full-scale...
1289
01:33:47,901 --> 01:33:49,960
...with real chariots, real people.
1290
01:33:50,904 --> 01:33:55,068
Steve Boyd and I
drove a great deal of the footage.
1291
01:33:55,775 --> 01:33:57,936
In my perception...
1292
01:33:58,111 --> 01:34:01,979
...Yakima Canutt made the chariot race
and Willy made the film.
1293
01:34:02,549 --> 01:34:05,848
And I said to him one day
when we were resting the horses:
1294
01:34:06,019 --> 01:34:11,321
"I got about all I can do
handling this one team all by myself.
1295
01:34:11,658 --> 01:34:14,525
We're gonna start shooting this sucker
in 10 days or so...
1296
01:34:14,694 --> 01:34:20,030
...and I'm not certain I could cut it
with eight other teams out there."
1297
01:34:20,200 --> 01:34:23,397
He looked at me and he said,
"Chuck, you just stay in the chariot.
1298
01:34:23,570 --> 01:34:26,767
I guarantee
you're gonna win the damn race."
1299
01:34:27,540 --> 01:34:29,770
And indeed I did.
1300
01:35:00,673 --> 01:35:03,608
They won't do those films again
because they're too expensive.
1301
01:35:03,977 --> 01:35:06,810
They were really taking a big chance
with Ben-Hur, of course.
1302
01:35:06,980 --> 01:35:10,575
If Ben-Hur had somehow
not come through...
1303
01:35:11,217 --> 01:35:13,447
...that would all have been
a shopping mall.
1304
01:35:14,654 --> 01:35:17,987
As Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer basksin the success of Ben-Hur...
1305
01:35:18,157 --> 01:35:20,591
...It is forced by the governmentto divest itself...
1306
01:35:20,760 --> 01:35:23,558
...of its highly profitable chainof motion-picture theaters.
1307
01:35:23,730 --> 01:35:26,324
MGM will be the lastmotion-picture studio to comply...
1308
01:35:26,499 --> 01:35:30,560
...with what comes to be knownas the consent decrees.
1309
01:35:30,737 --> 01:35:32,762
It was the end of the golden goose...
1310
01:35:32,939 --> 01:35:36,340
...because Washington took it
upon themselves to decide...
1311
01:35:36,509 --> 01:35:40,070
...that the studios
could no longer own the theaters.
1312
01:35:40,246 --> 01:35:43,181
So they decided that
that was a monopoly...
1313
01:35:43,349 --> 01:35:47,445
...and they broke the theaters away
from the studios.
1314
01:35:47,620 --> 01:35:50,316
Again, it was perceived
to be an advantage...
1315
01:35:50,490 --> 01:35:52,117
...to the independent theater owners.
1316
01:35:52,292 --> 01:35:54,089
As it turned out, it wasn't.
1317
01:35:54,260 --> 01:35:57,093
It hurt theater exhibition everywhere.
1318
01:35:57,263 --> 01:36:00,664
As long as each studio had
a means of showing the pictures...
1319
01:36:00,833 --> 01:36:03,802
...they could count on
a certain amount of screen time.
1320
01:36:03,970 --> 01:36:07,701
When they were denied ownership
of the theaters...
1321
01:36:07,874 --> 01:36:12,174
...and everything
was in an open-bidding situation...
1322
01:36:12,345 --> 01:36:13,642
...It became chaotic.
1323
01:36:16,333 --> 01:36:18,028
Now!
1324
01:36:19,470 --> 01:36:24,772
As the studio system fades into history,so does the authority of studio executives.
1325
01:36:24,942 --> 01:36:28,878
Directors are beginning to demandmore and more creative control.
1326
01:36:29,046 --> 01:36:32,379
One of the ways to secure itis to shoot on location.
1327
01:36:32,549 --> 01:36:34,176
When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer agrees...
1328
01:36:34,351 --> 01:36:36,683
...to finance the productionof Doctor Zhivago...
1329
01:36:36,854 --> 01:36:41,291
...the picture's director, David Lean,insists the film be made entirely in Europe.
1330
01:36:41,458 --> 01:36:46,191
Mr. Lean requires absolute controlof every aspect of the filmmaking process.
1331
01:36:46,363 --> 01:36:51,062
He says,"Directing has got to be a very selfish job.
1332
01:36:51,235 --> 01:36:55,467
The more the movie isone person's point of view, the better. "
1333
01:37:17,094 --> 01:37:19,392
Help me, brothers, for the love of God.
1334
01:37:35,479 --> 01:37:36,673
Come on.
1335
01:37:56,733 --> 01:37:59,668
Yuri, the child is dead.
1336
01:38:06,810 --> 01:38:12,214
MGM was never what you would call
a forward-looking studio...
1337
01:38:12,382 --> 01:38:16,409
...in the sense of wanting
to give the creator control.
1338
01:38:19,056 --> 01:38:22,423
David Lean was not used
to that sort of relationship...
1339
01:38:22,593 --> 01:38:24,720
...and was shooting
on a distant location...
1340
01:38:24,895 --> 01:38:27,420
...so it was extremely hard
for anybody to control him.
1341
01:38:27,598 --> 01:38:31,193
But in any event,
Lean had gone out and filmed...
1342
01:38:31,368 --> 01:38:36,965
...I guess in Holland, all the flowers that
you could possibly film for days upon days.
1343
01:38:37,140 --> 01:38:41,577
Despite these many thousands of feet,
David was not satisfied...
1344
01:38:41,745 --> 01:38:44,077
...and wanted to go back
and shoot at a later time.
1345
01:38:44,248 --> 01:38:46,682
And that began to be a big contest.
1346
01:38:46,850 --> 01:38:48,613
Finally, Lean won it...
1347
01:38:48,785 --> 01:38:52,414
...went back and shot some of
the most gorgeous film there ever was.
1348
01:38:52,589 --> 01:38:54,557
Did that make a difference in the picture?
1349
01:38:54,725 --> 01:38:56,488
Probably.
1350
01:39:17,247 --> 01:39:20,148
It's a power play.
Everybody's looking for power...
1351
01:39:20,317 --> 01:39:23,946
...and the minute somebody starts to get it,
they want more of it.
1352
01:39:24,121 --> 01:39:27,921
And it got to the point where the studio
had little or no control over pictures...
1353
01:39:28,091 --> 01:39:32,619
...other than to supposedly pull the plug
or cut off the purse strings...
1354
01:39:32,796 --> 01:39:38,098
...or whatever clichรฉ you want,
and that's not a very good weapon.
1355
01:39:39,202 --> 01:39:42,000
This is Academy Award winner, Lee Marvin.
1356
01:39:42,172 --> 01:39:43,196
An action guy...
1357
01:39:43,373 --> 01:39:45,500
...at work or play.
1358
01:39:45,676 --> 01:39:47,803
Today, it's work.
1359
01:39:49,713 --> 01:39:51,578
Another sign of the changing times...
1360
01:39:51,748 --> 01:39:55,741
...is MGM's acceptance of antiheroesand graphic violence.
1361
01:39:55,919 --> 01:39:56,977
In the old days...
1362
01:39:57,154 --> 01:40:01,682
...if a director such as Robert Aldrich hadsuggested a picture like The Dirty Dozen...
1363
01:40:01,892 --> 01:40:04,417
...L.B. Mayer would have punched him,thrown him out...
1364
01:40:04,594 --> 01:40:06,186
...banished him from Culver City.
1365
01:40:06,363 --> 01:40:08,490
He would also have lost a lot of money.
1366
01:40:08,665 --> 01:40:10,656
The Dirty Dozen
will wind up number six...
1367
01:40:10,834 --> 01:40:14,031
...in the studio's listof all-time moneymakers.
1368
01:40:14,204 --> 01:40:17,571
Bob Aldrich told it like he saw it,
and he had seen it.
1369
01:40:18,542 --> 01:40:24,708
And they asked him in The Dirty Dozen
to please take out that portion...
1370
01:40:24,881 --> 01:40:27,975
...of where Jim Brown
is dropping not only gasoline...
1371
01:40:28,151 --> 01:40:33,248
...but he's putting in those hand grenades
in order to blow up this castle...
1372
01:40:33,423 --> 01:40:34,685
...and the people in it.
1373
01:40:34,858 --> 01:40:37,554
And Bob Aldrich said an expletive,
and he said, "No."
1374
01:40:37,728 --> 01:40:39,286
He said, "I won't take it out."
1375
01:40:40,030 --> 01:40:43,727
He said,
"People have to know what war is about.
1376
01:40:43,900 --> 01:40:47,495
And if you think that war
is a wonderful thing that, you know...
1377
01:40:47,671 --> 01:40:50,105
...all they do is dance and carouse
and have fun."
1378
01:40:50,273 --> 01:40:54,232
He said, "People are getting killed, man."
And he said, "They've got to know it."
1379
01:40:54,411 --> 01:40:56,709
And he says,
"I wanna show it to the people."
1380
01:41:35,986 --> 01:41:38,250
Bob Aldrich didn't make it
like a motion picture.
1381
01:41:38,422 --> 01:41:41,050
He made it real and raw.
1382
01:41:41,224 --> 01:41:43,351
And that's the way it was.
1383
01:41:44,928 --> 01:41:49,331
Millions of years ago,before the human race existed...
1384
01:41:49,499 --> 01:41:51,558
...an adventure began.
1385
01:41:54,471 --> 01:41:59,636
An adventure that ultimately leads manto confront his own destiny.
1386
01:42:07,484 --> 01:42:13,389
2001 : A Space Odyssey is by farthe most experimental film ever financed...
1387
01:42:13,557 --> 01:42:18,085
...by a major Hollywood studio,at least in 1968.
1388
01:42:18,261 --> 01:42:19,523
With this motion picture...
1389
01:42:19,696 --> 01:42:24,156
...the movie industry enters a new ageof technological possibility.
1390
01:42:24,334 --> 01:42:25,358
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
1391
01:42:25,535 --> 01:42:30,029
...grants director Stanley Kubrickunprecedented creative autonomy...
1392
01:42:30,207 --> 01:42:34,610
...and the finished workreflects the purity of that vision.
1393
01:42:51,394 --> 01:42:56,661
Stanley Kubrick operates very secretively
in all circumstances...
1394
01:42:56,833 --> 01:42:59,768
...and particularly if he thinks
you wanna know what he's doing.
1395
01:42:59,936 --> 01:43:01,995
So, uh...
1396
01:43:02,172 --> 01:43:03,537
As I remember that picture...
1397
01:43:03,707 --> 01:43:06,733
...that was a picture
controlled out of New York.
1398
01:43:06,910 --> 01:43:08,673
Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
1399
01:43:10,313 --> 01:43:13,942
HAL: I'm sorry, Dave.I'm afraid I can't do that.
1400
01:43:14,117 --> 01:43:16,711
The company in California resented that.
1401
01:43:16,887 --> 01:43:20,323
Took a look at the script and said,
"That's not gonna be any good anyway."
1402
01:43:20,490 --> 01:43:24,517
And that was the constant conflict
between New York and California.
1403
01:43:24,694 --> 01:43:28,892
This mission is too important for meto allow you to jeopardize it.
1404
01:43:30,066 --> 01:43:32,296
I don't know what you're talking about,
HAL.
1405
01:43:34,170 --> 01:43:38,197
I know that you and Frankwere planning to disconnect me...
1406
01:43:38,441 --> 01:43:41,308
...and I'm afraid that's somethingI cannot allow to happen.
1407
01:43:41,711 --> 01:43:44,771
The studio didn't have a lot to do
with the making of that picture.
1408
01:43:44,948 --> 01:43:49,681
All they ever heard was "send more money,"
and they never got to see any film.
1409
01:43:49,853 --> 01:43:52,549
But in any event,
that kind of thing went on all the time.
1410
01:43:52,722 --> 01:43:56,089
So there were New York projects
and there were Hollywood projects.
1411
01:43:56,259 --> 01:44:00,457
And unfortunately, with the kind
of competition and jealousy there was...
1412
01:44:00,630 --> 01:44:04,157
...people would hope that the other
person's project would fail to succeed.
1413
01:44:09,773 --> 01:44:10,865
Throughout the 1960s...
1414
01:44:11,041 --> 01:44:14,374
...MGM is desperately trying to regainits position of dominance...
1415
01:44:14,544 --> 01:44:15,636
...in the film industry.
1416
01:44:15,812 --> 01:44:18,940
At the studio,big-budget productions are in vogue.
1417
01:44:19,115 --> 01:44:21,583
A number of these filmsare extremely successful...
1418
01:44:21,751 --> 01:44:24,117
...while othersdo little more than strain...
1419
01:44:24,287 --> 01:44:27,347
...Culver City's already limited resources.
1420
01:44:27,857 --> 01:44:29,518
They're off.
1421
01:44:31,995 --> 01:44:35,761
The Grand Prix de Monaco,staged by director John Frankenheimer...
1422
01:44:35,932 --> 01:44:39,629
...filmed by the MGM-Cinerama camerasis underway.
1423
01:44:39,803 --> 01:44:44,900
MGM went through a period of time
when every big film affected its future.
1424
01:44:45,575 --> 01:44:50,444
And the reason for that was
that they were not doing terribly well.
1425
01:44:50,614 --> 01:44:54,311
These films required a large investment
in both time and money...
1426
01:44:54,484 --> 01:44:57,920
...and they would get to the point
that if these pictures--
1427
01:44:58,088 --> 01:45:01,751
Particularly one or two pictures a year.
--did not go out and do well...
1428
01:45:01,925 --> 01:45:04,450
...the cash flow is affected
for the subsequent year...
1429
01:45:04,628 --> 01:45:06,493
...and they'd have to make
fewer pictures.
1430
01:45:06,663 --> 01:45:09,223
So by the time
these landmark pictures came out...
1431
01:45:09,399 --> 01:45:12,129
...they were the most expensive,
they were the riskiest...
1432
01:45:12,302 --> 01:45:14,395
...and the studio's future
was on the line.
1433
01:45:14,571 --> 01:45:18,132
Because either there would not be
enough cash flow for other product...
1434
01:45:18,308 --> 01:45:20,367
...or they'd have to go out
and borrow money.
1435
01:45:20,543 --> 01:45:23,706
And that's a lot for a single picture
to have to have as a burden.
1436
01:45:25,015 --> 01:45:26,277
It is 1969.
1437
01:45:26,449 --> 01:45:31,386
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hasreported a loss of $35 million.
1438
01:45:31,554 --> 01:45:33,044
The biggest problem at MGM...
1439
01:45:33,223 --> 01:45:37,353
...is that no management
stayed in long enough after the mid-'60s...
1440
01:45:37,527 --> 01:45:40,052
...to really be proven one way
or the other.
1441
01:45:40,230 --> 01:45:42,790
I went through so many changes
at MGM.
1442
01:45:42,966 --> 01:45:46,732
So many, I think four corporate takeovers,
three of which were successful...
1443
01:45:46,903 --> 01:45:51,033
...and perhaps as many as 10 studio heads
and chairmen of the board...
1444
01:45:51,207 --> 01:45:53,334
...that you get inured
to that sort of thing.
1445
01:45:53,510 --> 01:45:55,910
And you just move on.
"Well, what do I do tomorrow?"
1446
01:45:56,079 --> 01:46:01,449
And it was a signal to the rest of the world
that MGM was no longer the power...
1447
01:46:01,618 --> 01:46:05,281
...or the influence or the creator
that it used to be.
1448
01:46:05,455 --> 01:46:07,582
Scene camera markers.
1449
01:46:08,458 --> 01:46:09,482
Action.
1450
01:46:09,659 --> 01:46:12,025
In the '60s, we were gradually moving...
1451
01:46:12,195 --> 01:46:16,859
...from the one big unit
of people making pictures...
1452
01:46:17,033 --> 01:46:22,494
...into a series of people
coming on the lot.
1453
01:46:22,672 --> 01:46:25,607
We were getting individual companies
coming on...
1454
01:46:25,775 --> 01:46:30,576
...and there wasn't the intimacy
that had existed all these years at MGM.
1455
01:46:30,747 --> 01:46:35,275
It was completely different from being
the "Let's all get in and do it" type...
1456
01:46:35,452 --> 01:46:37,613
...to "I'm gonna do it first" type.
1457
01:46:37,787 --> 01:46:42,850
So I was pretty glad
that I was near retirement age.
1458
01:46:43,026 --> 01:46:47,554
I wasn't too unhappy to quit,
to be out of it.
1459
01:46:47,731 --> 01:46:49,426
It was a different world.
1460
01:46:52,469 --> 01:46:56,599
In the summer of 1969,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's corporate tower...
1461
01:46:56,773 --> 01:47:01,506
...is raided by a Las Vegas financier,Kirk Kerkorian.
1462
01:47:01,678 --> 01:47:04,306
In a matter of four months,the battle is over.
1463
01:47:04,481 --> 01:47:08,042
Mr. Kerkorian now ownsa controlling interest in the studio...
1464
01:47:08,218 --> 01:47:11,585
...and promptly installshis own management.
1465
01:47:15,024 --> 01:47:17,891
It says here that Kirk Kerkorian
is a self-made millionaire...
1466
01:47:18,061 --> 01:47:20,996
...with a penchant for risk-taking.
1467
01:47:21,164 --> 01:47:25,692
At the studio, he is known simply
as the principal shareholder.
1468
01:47:25,869 --> 01:47:30,329
It's a designation that suggests
power and anonymity.
1469
01:47:30,507 --> 01:47:32,839
In a business
that's built upon conspicuousness...
1470
01:47:33,009 --> 01:47:35,603
...Mr. Kerkorian operates
away from the public eye.
1471
01:47:35,779 --> 01:47:39,271
He doesn't participate
in Hollywood's social rituals.
1472
01:47:39,449 --> 01:47:41,610
He has plans for MGM...
1473
01:47:41,785 --> 01:47:45,277
...but moviemaking
isn't necessarily one of them.
1474
01:47:45,455 --> 01:47:49,414
Essentially, in the '70s and '80s...
1475
01:47:49,592 --> 01:47:53,153
...MGM stopped making movies,
which is too bad.
1476
01:47:54,097 --> 01:47:57,191
I'm a personal friend
of Kirk Kerkorian's...
1477
01:47:57,367 --> 01:48:00,461
...and I play tennis with him
and he's a good guy...
1478
01:48:00,637 --> 01:48:02,468
...but filmmaking is not what he does.
1479
01:48:02,639 --> 01:48:04,607
It isn't really what he cares about doing.
1480
01:48:05,608 --> 01:48:07,200
MGM has come a long way...
1481
01:48:07,377 --> 01:48:10,904
...from the original vision of L.B. Mayerand Irving Thalberg.
1482
01:48:11,080 --> 01:48:13,548
The studio no longer tries to maintainthe illusion...
1483
01:48:13,716 --> 01:48:17,174
...of the quote"close-knit family enterprise. "
1484
01:48:17,353 --> 01:48:21,483
It is now very clearly operatedas an impersonal corporate entity...
1485
01:48:21,658 --> 01:48:24,286
...and its day-to-day operationsare under the control...
1486
01:48:24,460 --> 01:48:26,792
...of a former television executive,James Aubrey.
1487
01:48:26,963 --> 01:48:29,363
He felt that the company
was old-fashioned.
1488
01:48:29,532 --> 01:48:32,729
He felt that the old-fashionedness
was hurting the company.
1489
01:48:32,902 --> 01:48:34,494
I'm not sure I agree with that.
1490
01:48:34,671 --> 01:48:39,165
And he therefore felt that
he needed to break the tradition.
1491
01:48:39,342 --> 01:48:41,435
He needed to change the attitudes.
1492
01:48:41,611 --> 01:48:43,272
And his idea of changing attitude...
1493
01:48:43,446 --> 01:48:46,381
...was to take Thalberg's name
off the Thalberg Building.
1494
01:48:47,283 --> 01:48:48,750
The first thing that changed...
1495
01:48:48,918 --> 01:48:53,116
...was that someone decided
that backlots really were not necessary...
1496
01:48:53,289 --> 01:48:58,283
...and that this real estate could be turned
into cash, which was needed at the time.
1497
01:48:58,461 --> 01:49:02,864
The backlots were 65 acres
of wonderful outdoor sets...
1498
01:49:03,032 --> 01:49:07,059
...that included places, like,
where there were boats and islands...
1499
01:49:07,237 --> 01:49:11,503
...and the St. Louis street
which was built for Meet Me in St. Louis...
1500
01:49:11,674 --> 01:49:15,542
...and the wonderful waterfront streets
that had been built for various pictures...
1501
01:49:15,712 --> 01:49:18,306
...that supposedly took place
in foreign countries.
1502
01:49:18,481 --> 01:49:21,473
And Lot 2 where the Andy Hardy Street
and the New York Street...
1503
01:49:21,651 --> 01:49:23,983
...where Singin' in the Rain
had been photographed.
1504
01:49:24,153 --> 01:49:27,919
And all these things
were still in pretty good shape...
1505
01:49:28,091 --> 01:49:30,116
...and were still in constant use.
1506
01:49:30,293 --> 01:49:32,818
I suppose it's surprising
that it's lasted this long...
1507
01:49:32,996 --> 01:49:35,123
...so much of it still intact here.
1508
01:49:35,298 --> 01:49:38,756
This street, for example, where all
of the Andy Hardy movies were shot.
1509
01:49:38,935 --> 01:49:42,928
As you can see, the lawns and the shrubbery
have been looked after fairly regularly...
1510
01:49:43,106 --> 01:49:44,471
...the houses painted.
1511
01:49:44,641 --> 01:49:46,700
The Hardy family lived in that house.
1512
01:49:46,876 --> 01:49:49,743
Polly Benedict, his girlfriend,
lived across the street.
1513
01:49:49,913 --> 01:49:51,642
The church is up there at the end.
1514
01:49:51,814 --> 01:49:54,840
These 38 acres of outdoor streets
and squares...
1515
01:49:55,018 --> 01:49:58,010
...and villages from just about
every period in history...
1516
01:49:58,187 --> 01:50:00,951
...have been sold
to the Levitt Multi-Housing Corporation...
1517
01:50:01,124 --> 01:50:02,989
...for $5 million.
1518
01:50:04,494 --> 01:50:07,622
With Culver City's backlotabout to become a housing development...
1519
01:50:07,797 --> 01:50:12,928
...the new management turns its attentionto MGM's magnificent collection of props.
1520
01:50:13,102 --> 01:50:14,501
For $1.4 million...
1521
01:50:14,671 --> 01:50:17,902
...Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's treasuresare turned over to an auctioneer.
1522
01:50:18,074 --> 01:50:24,274
Antiques, costumes, weapons, paintings,boats and cars all go under the hammer.
1523
01:50:24,447 --> 01:50:28,611
Greta Garbo's gowns,Judy Garland's ruby slippers...
1524
01:50:28,785 --> 01:50:30,878
...sold to the highest bidder.
1525
01:50:31,054 --> 01:50:32,817
Fifteen thousand, high bid, twice.
1526
01:50:33,022 --> 01:50:35,650
Fifteen thousand dollars, high bid.
Third and last call.
1527
01:50:35,825 --> 01:50:37,452
Are you all through? Fair warning.
1528
01:50:37,627 --> 01:50:38,651
And they are sold.
1529
01:50:38,861 --> 01:50:42,126
My heart shed a few tears. I, um...
1530
01:50:42,298 --> 01:50:44,596
You know, when I was there,
who would ever think?
1531
01:50:44,767 --> 01:50:46,758
I mean, MGM was indestructible.
1532
01:50:46,936 --> 01:50:51,168
The lion was going to roar forever,
you know.
1533
01:50:51,341 --> 01:50:55,971
And then to see it decline little by little.
You say, "Maybe it will come up again."
1534
01:50:56,145 --> 01:50:58,773
And then, no,
and they sold the backlots.
1535
01:50:58,948 --> 01:51:02,111
And I think, "Oh, my Lord."
Those lots were wonderful, you know...
1536
01:51:02,285 --> 01:51:05,812
...with streets and lakes
and things, gone.
1537
01:51:15,098 --> 01:51:18,659
Well, I went up to the head of the studio
and I said to him:
1538
01:51:18,835 --> 01:51:23,670
"You can't let Lot 3 go
because it's already a Disneyland.
1539
01:51:23,840 --> 01:51:25,034
It's already there.
1540
01:51:25,208 --> 01:51:28,700
You just add a turntable, and let people
drive in and you charge them money.
1541
01:51:28,878 --> 01:51:32,746
I'll be at the gate every day. I'll get other
stars to come. We'll sign autographs."
1542
01:51:33,516 --> 01:51:35,347
I said, "It's already made for you."
1543
01:51:35,518 --> 01:51:37,383
Well, later on Universal did it.
1544
01:51:37,553 --> 01:51:41,011
I mean, if a little dumb girl
from Burbank could see that...
1545
01:51:41,190 --> 01:51:42,487
...why couldn't they see it?
1546
01:51:42,925 --> 01:51:45,985
And the shame of it is,
why didn't they see it?
1547
01:51:46,162 --> 01:51:47,720
It's too late now.
1548
01:51:52,935 --> 01:51:54,835
The assets of the studio were stripped...
1549
01:51:55,004 --> 01:51:57,996
...to contribute
to Kerkorian's Las Vegas empire.
1550
01:51:58,174 --> 01:52:00,404
That always was
what he was interested in.
1551
01:52:00,576 --> 01:52:02,100
When he bought it 20 years ago...
1552
01:52:02,278 --> 01:52:05,338
...he appointed a great old maverick
named Jim Aubrey to run it.
1553
01:52:05,515 --> 01:52:09,474
And they basically segued
from extraordinary pictures...
1554
01:52:09,652 --> 01:52:13,110
...like Ryan's Daughter
and Doctor Zhivago to Shaft.
1555
01:52:15,391 --> 01:52:18,656
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayeris no longer a motion-picture studio...
1556
01:52:18,828 --> 01:52:21,262
...in the classic sense of the word.
1557
01:52:21,431 --> 01:52:23,092
However, as the years pass...
1558
01:52:23,266 --> 01:52:26,429
...MGM does continue to releasea limited number of films...
1559
01:52:26,602 --> 01:52:29,435
...but they're primarilyindependent productions...
1560
01:52:29,605 --> 01:52:32,836
...that have been financedor simply acquired by the studio.
1561
01:52:33,009 --> 01:52:35,842
Mr. Kerkorian's interests lie elsewhere.
1562
01:52:36,012 --> 01:52:40,449
He sells Metro's distribution apparatusand its overseas chain of theaters.
1563
01:52:40,616 --> 01:52:45,315
The MGM logo appears on another hotel,this time in Reno, Nevada.
1564
01:52:45,488 --> 01:52:50,824
In 1979, Mr. Kerkorian's attorneysrelease a statement that says:
1565
01:52:50,993 --> 01:52:53,154
"MGM is a hotel company...
1566
01:52:53,329 --> 01:52:57,060
...and a competitivelyinsignificant producer of motion pictures."
1567
01:52:57,233 --> 01:53:00,532
In the early 1980s,Mr. Kerkorian purchases United Artists...
1568
01:53:00,703 --> 01:53:03,831
...and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayerbecomes MGM/UA.
1569
01:53:04,006 --> 01:53:07,737
Following the acquisition,Culver City assumes an enormous debt...
1570
01:53:07,910 --> 01:53:12,279
...and Mr. Kerkorian begins to searchfor someone to buy the beleaguered studio.
1571
01:53:12,448 --> 01:53:14,177
In 1986...
1572
01:53:14,350 --> 01:53:20,346
...media mogul Ted Turnerpurchases MGM/UA for $1.5 billion.
1573
01:53:20,523 --> 01:53:22,252
MGM was in a bad spot.
1574
01:53:22,425 --> 01:53:26,418
The old MGM
had been gone for quite a while.
1575
01:53:26,596 --> 01:53:30,862
MGM, in the old days,
took the high road.
1576
01:53:31,033 --> 01:53:35,163
They did such things as Captain Courageous
and Boys Town...
1577
01:53:35,338 --> 01:53:39,104
...and The Red Badge of Courage
and Ben-Hur and A Tale of Two Cities...
1578
01:53:39,275 --> 01:53:41,675
...and on and on and on.
1579
01:53:42,678 --> 01:53:46,944
Mr. Turner owns Culver Cityfor exactly 74 days...
1580
01:53:47,116 --> 01:53:51,280
...when he is forced by the crushing debtto sell off parts of the acquisition.
1581
01:53:51,454 --> 01:53:53,945
I would have liked
to have continued making movies...
1582
01:53:54,123 --> 01:53:59,288
...and seeing if we could recapture
some of the former glory...
1583
01:53:59,462 --> 01:54:03,159
...but it became very apparent
once the deal was consummated...
1584
01:54:03,332 --> 01:54:06,324
...that we weren't going to--
1585
01:54:06,502 --> 01:54:09,335
Didn't have enough capital to do that.
1586
01:54:09,505 --> 01:54:14,772
So I had no other choice
but to sell the assets that I sold.
1587
01:54:14,944 --> 01:54:16,468
It was a very painful decision...
1588
01:54:16,646 --> 01:54:20,980
...because I really would have liked
to have kept them and tried to bring it back.
1589
01:54:21,150 --> 01:54:26,213
Mr. Turner sells United Artistsand the MGM logo back to Kirk Kerkorian.
1590
01:54:26,389 --> 01:54:28,983
The studio itself is soldto Lorimar Telepictures.
1591
01:54:29,158 --> 01:54:30,182
Mr. Turner is left...
1592
01:54:30,359 --> 01:54:34,022
...with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer'slibrary of classic films.
1593
01:54:34,197 --> 01:54:38,395
Probably no other single studio
in the early days of film...
1594
01:54:38,568 --> 01:54:45,303
...had such an impact
on the entertainment business and...
1595
01:54:46,342 --> 01:54:49,573
I mean, that's a pretty important
part of history.
1596
01:54:53,816 --> 01:54:55,215
There are numerous opinions...
1597
01:54:55,384 --> 01:54:59,878
...as to what brought about the endof Louis B. Mayer's dream factory.
1598
01:55:00,056 --> 01:55:03,958
Some believe the dream endedwhen Irving Thalberg died.
1599
01:55:04,126 --> 01:55:08,529
Others think it was the firingof the studio's patriarch, Mr. Mayer.
1600
01:55:08,698 --> 01:55:12,259
Many are convinced it was Dore Scharyand his message pictures.
1601
01:55:12,435 --> 01:55:14,027
And there are those who believe...
1602
01:55:14,203 --> 01:55:18,697
...It was the end of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer'sphenomenal star system.
1603
01:55:20,443 --> 01:55:24,209
Television most certainlyplayed a large part in Metro's demise...
1604
01:55:24,380 --> 01:55:28,544
...as did the government's orderstripping the theaters away from the studio.
1605
01:55:28,718 --> 01:55:31,448
Was it the constant changesin executive management...
1606
01:55:31,621 --> 01:55:34,146
...that brought downthe motion-picture empire?
1607
01:55:34,323 --> 01:55:36,917
Or was it the surgeof independent filmmakers...
1608
01:55:37,093 --> 01:55:39,687
...and Metro's lack of control over them?
1609
01:55:40,596 --> 01:55:43,463
Maybe it is simply this:
1610
01:55:43,633 --> 01:55:47,899
The passing of the yearsand the end of an era.
1611
01:55:48,070 --> 01:55:52,905
A moment in timethat can never be again.
1612
01:55:56,679 --> 01:55:59,944
On a gray afternoonin November of 1986...
1613
01:56:00,116 --> 01:56:05,748
...the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signis removed from the Culver City lot.
1614
01:56:06,022 --> 01:56:07,649
There is no MGM now.
1615
01:56:07,823 --> 01:56:08,949
It's gone.
1616
01:56:09,592 --> 01:56:11,719
But happily, we still have those films.
1617
01:56:11,894 --> 01:56:14,260
We still have The Wizard of Oz,Gone With the Wind.
1618
01:56:14,430 --> 01:56:20,665
We still have Singin' in The Rain,
and I'm glad of that.
1619
01:58:06,942 --> 01:58:09,968
There's no place like home.
1620
01:58:38,874 --> 01:58:41,707
The golden age of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
is gone.
1621
01:58:41,877 --> 01:58:44,311
While the name lingers on
in one form or another...
1622
01:58:44,480 --> 01:58:47,540
...the empire is no more.
1623
01:58:47,917 --> 01:58:50,784
And yet, its creations remain with us.
1624
01:58:50,953 --> 01:58:52,477
Farewell, Copperfield.
1625
01:58:52,655 --> 01:58:55,317
I shall be happy to improveyour prospects.
1626
01:58:55,491 --> 01:58:59,359
MGM's library of classic films
is a unique legacy.
1627
01:58:59,528 --> 01:59:01,587
A myriad of bright images...
1628
01:59:01,764 --> 01:59:08,260
...introducing a world of adventure,
of romance, of beauty.
1629
01:59:11,240 --> 01:59:13,470
The motion pictures
outlived the factory...
1630
01:59:13,642 --> 01:59:16,634
...the artists,
the craftsmen who created them.
1631
01:59:16,812 --> 01:59:19,940
Continuing to feed our memories
and our dreams...
1632
01:59:20,115 --> 01:59:25,109
...forever reminding us
of that legendary time...
1633
01:59:26,021 --> 01:59:28,546
...when the lion roared.
151703
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