All language subtitles for MGM When the lion roars (1992) DVD2

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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 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 lionโ€™s roar would freeze time... 6 00:01:18,757 --> 00:01:21,021 ...suspend reality... 7 00:01:21,193 --> 00:01:26,290 ...and introduce a world of adventure and beauty and romance. 8 00:01:26,465 --> 00:01:28,365 That lionโ€™s domain... 9 00:01:28,533 --> 00:01:33,095 ...was the grandest motion-picture studio the world has ever known: 10 00:01:33,271 --> 00:01:36,206 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 11 00:01:36,642 --> 00:01:39,509 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 contributions to The Wizard of Oz... 114 00:10:09,254 --> 00:10:13,520 ...he was made a full-fledged producer and then launched a successful series... 115 00:10:13,691 --> 00:10:17,388 ...of barnyard musicals starring 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's glorious 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 musical success 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's brilliant 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 musical whose protagonists sing and dance... 129 00:11:29,100 --> 00:11:32,831 ...without the traditional constraints of 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 Garland through 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 stars and 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 series of musical numbers and comedy skits... 170 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,774 ...featuring everyone from 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 delays and a constant stream of directors... 173 00:15:02,980 --> 00:15:05,244 ...Arthur Freed calls in Vincente Minnelli... 174 00:15:05,416 --> 00:15:09,546 ...who is finally able to bring this 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 producer arrived in Culver City in 1942... 234 00:19:14,331 --> 00:19:17,300 ...after a successful career at Universal Studios. 235 00:19:17,468 --> 00:19:21,199 Mr. Pasternak's musicals may be less 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 before Joe Pasternak's success... 246 00:19:53,370 --> 00:19:57,739 ...sparks a friendly rivalry between 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 only a major contributor... 255 00:20:23,701 --> 00:20:26,864 ...to Metro's considerable profits in 1945... 256 00:20:27,037 --> 00:20:31,064 ...It is also notable as the 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 crooner from Hoboken, New Jersey... 260 00:20:42,620 --> 00:20:46,488 ...the picture's success lands him a 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 swoon when 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 Francisco aquacade 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 possibly make movies in a swimming pool?" 276 00:21:53,891 --> 00:21:56,621 He's told, "The same way Darryl Zanuck makes 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 reasons for Esther Williams to get wet... 280 00:22:04,435 --> 00:22:09,202 ...will keep Metro's screenwriters busy 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 show and an early MGM talkie. 315 00:25:01,211 --> 00:25:03,611 Given the success of the remake upon its release... 316 00:25:03,781 --> 00:25:06,477 ...Mr. Mayer believes that the end of World War II means... 317 00:25:06,650 --> 00:25:09,278 ...a return to the heady days before the conflict. 318 00:25:09,453 --> 00:25:12,980 But the world has changed and 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 calling Nicholas Schenck "Mr. Skunk. " 352 00:27:05,736 --> 00:27:08,296 The two men have been quarreling since the late 1920s... 353 00:27:08,472 --> 00:27:11,805 ...when Mr. Schenck conspired to 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 empire about to experience a coup d'รฉtat... 356 00:27:17,881 --> 00:27:22,648 ...Mr. Mayer used his considerable contacts in 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 success of 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. Mayer in no uncertain terms... 363 00:27:41,505 --> 00:27:45,373 ...that he can no longer run the studio from his box at the racetrack. 364 00:27:45,542 --> 00:27:49,308 It's rumored he orders L.B. Mayer to 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 purchased by 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 malaise that is enveloping Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer... 380 00:28:48,905 --> 00:28:53,103 ...is Joe Pasternak's ill-advised production of The Kissing Bandit. 381 00:28:53,277 --> 00:28:58,442 It proves to be the biggest misfire of 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 experiment in the musical genre. 395 00:29:55,005 --> 00:29:59,635 Arthur Freed's parody of the swashbuckling yarns of yesteryear is a cinematic feast. 396 00:29:59,810 --> 00:30:03,610 Unfortunately, the picture sinks like a stone at the box office. 397 00:30:03,780 --> 00:30:05,907 Nicholas Schenck is determined to 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 system and 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 production for 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 favored sentimental 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 MGM is Battleground. 436 00:32:23,186 --> 00:32:27,122 A grim, realistic depiction of the Allies' battle for Bastogne. 437 00:32:27,290 --> 00:32:29,986 It is a film that Dore has 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 earned another 40 days and 40 nights of rain? 478 00:35:14,691 --> 00:35:19,355 Must I perform such miracles in 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 continue to 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 message L.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 are the ones I can take my daughters to. " 496 00:36:28,198 --> 00:36:31,998 Metro's remake of George Cukor's 1933 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-Mayer is celebrating its silver jubilee. 524 00:38:08,064 --> 00:38:10,692 Fifty-eight of the studio's 80 contract players... 525 00:38:10,867 --> 00:38:16,237 ...sit together, break bread and are served L.B. Mayer's famous chicken soup. 526 00:38:16,406 --> 00:38:20,137 This gathering represents the largest assembly of world-famous entertainers... 527 00:38:20,310 --> 00:38:23,609 ...ever controlled by a single motion-picture studio. 528 00:38:23,780 --> 00:38:26,112 Mr. Mayer and Mr. Schary preside over the dinner... 529 00:38:26,282 --> 00:38:29,046 ...like a proud patriarch and 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 beginning to 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 studios are the primary suppliers... 539 00:39:03,019 --> 00:39:05,715 ...of the world's entertainment are beginning to disappear. 540 00:39:05,889 --> 00:39:08,949 A new and more exciting medium is emerging, and it's free. 541 00:39:09,692 --> 00:39:13,253 By the 1950s, theater attendance will fall by half... 542 00:39:13,429 --> 00:39:16,193 ...as America stays home to watch Uncle Miltie... 543 00:39:16,366 --> 00:39:19,802 ...Dave Garroway or Kukla, Fran and Ollie. 544 00:39:19,969 --> 00:39:22,597 At MGM, Mr. Mayer does everything 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 search for 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 presented with an Academy Award... 587 00:42:32,562 --> 00:42:35,326 ...in recognition of 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 discoveries was 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 seems as if she's at war with herself... 610 00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:00,581 ...and her inner torments and frequent absences... 611 00:44:00,750 --> 00:44:03,913 ...make her an increasingly hazardous 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 Itโ€™s 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 Schary brings 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 room to 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 decade does 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 dollars in that little black bag... 689 00:50:34,643 --> 00:50:37,737 ...and a jitterbug cost him every 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 production of The Red Badge of Courage... 715 00:52:15,678 --> 00:52:18,340 ...is based on Stephen Crane's story of 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 symbolize the civil war... 718 00:52:23,552 --> 00:52:26,715 ...that has erupted at 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. Mayer has reached the end of his rope. 740 00:53:30,819 --> 00:53:33,515 The heated disagreements between 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 up his direct line to New York... 744 00:53:40,963 --> 00:53:42,931 ...and gives Nicholas Schenck an 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 powerful motion-picture empire on earth... 750 00:54:03,652 --> 00:54:07,247 ...the old monarch is the victim of a palace coup. 751 00:54:07,422 --> 00:54:09,390 Mr. Mayer's ultimatum gives Nick Schenck... 752 00:54:09,558 --> 00:54:12,459 ...the opportunity he'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 Schary is running the studio... 797 00:56:50,052 --> 00:56:53,419 ...and despite his personal affinity for 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 films as 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 magnificent portrait 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 changes buffeting 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 Awards for 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 look at the early days of Hollywood. 846 01:01:53,989 --> 01:01:58,289 The picture will become one of 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 pioneer in the use of this new wide-screen format. 901 01:06:54,055 --> 01:06:56,489 The technique opens up a majestic new world... 902 01:06:56,658 --> 01:07:00,253 ...for moviegoers and moviemakers alike and makes a medium... 903 01:07:00,428 --> 01:07:04,125 ...that is already larger than life appear 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 celebrates his 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 Minnelli to Brigadoon... 908 01:07:32,860 --> 01:07:38,457 ...the mythical Scottish village that comes to 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 gather on Stage Number 27... 923 01:08:40,161 --> 01:08:43,221 ...for the most costly single photograph ever taken. 924 01:08:43,398 --> 01:08:45,628 A group picture for 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-Mayer celebrates its 30th anniversary... 927 01:08:51,806 --> 01:08:56,334 ...Dore Schary gathers Culver City's stars together 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 pictures as 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 Metro reign in its expanding operating budget. 932 01:09:12,226 --> 01:09:14,820 Among the first to 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 one will 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 trend toward 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 studio on 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 relatively unknown 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 films produced 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 unfolding a 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 than any star personality in the modern... 1037 01:15:47,354 --> 01:15:52,690 Elvis Presley begins a 14-year association 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 one of Metro's biggest hits in 1957. 1061 01:17:53,380 --> 01:17:57,373 Unfortunately, it does nothing to ease MGM's financial straits... 1062 01:17:57,551 --> 01:18:02,352 ...and the effects of this reverberate all 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's dwindling 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 epic is based on a best-selling novel... 1075 01:18:48,002 --> 01:18:51,836 ...and stars Elizabeth Taylor and 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 film ever produced in America. 1078 01:19:00,381 --> 01:19:04,010 Upon its release, critics call it a thinly disguised attempt... 1079 01:19:04,184 --> 01:19:07,017 ...to recapture the magic of Gone with the Wind. 1080 01:19:07,187 --> 01:19:10,418 The public agrees with that assessment and 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 seen the economic disaster coming... 1083 01:19:20,067 --> 01:19:24,231 ...and in November 1956, Dore Schary was 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-Mayer finally 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 week to 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 look into 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 popular of MGM's early television programs... 1126 01:22:27,521 --> 01:22:30,718 ...are revamped, recast and reformatted versions... 1127 01:22:30,891 --> 01:22:34,759 ...of the studio's serious films of 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 forth a 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 something you 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 stars to emerge from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 1190 01:26:29,863 --> 01:26:33,321 She signed her first contract with the studio in 1943... 1191 01:26:33,500 --> 01:26:36,298 ...after an appearance in 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 performance Elizabeth Taylor dislikes the most... 1209 01:27:33,393 --> 01:27:36,988 ...is the one that earns her an 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 age of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals... 1215 01:28:01,454 --> 01:28:06,357 ...reaches its peak with Arthur Freed's Cinemascope production of Gigi. 1216 01:28:06,526 --> 01:28:10,155 The film will become the biggest hit of his illustrious career. 1217 01:28:10,330 --> 01:28:13,390 Gigi is an Alan Jay Lerner and 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 depiction of 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 also Arthur Freed's last major success... 1248 01:30:54,094 --> 01:30:57,530 ...at the studio he has called home for 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 entering a stormy and uncertain era... 1253 01:31:14,414 --> 01:31:18,578 ...and the studio turns to its past in order to find its future. 1254 01:31:18,752 --> 01:31:21,516 Sol Siegel is in charge of Culver City in 1958... 1255 01:31:21,688 --> 01:31:24,953 ...when MGM gambles that a remake of Ben-Hur... 1256 01:31:25,125 --> 01:31:29,323 ...will be the blockbuster to top all previous blockbusters. 1257 01:31:29,496 --> 01:31:34,126 The silent Ben-Hur of 1925 had put the studio on the map... 1258 01:31:34,300 --> 01:31:37,861 ...and it is hoped that the new version will reestablish its preeminence. 1259 01:31:38,838 --> 01:31:42,638 No expense is spared in the elephantine production. 1260 01:31:42,809 --> 01:31:45,869 Staggering are the figures trumpeted by 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 costumes and 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 Wyler entrusted 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 requires a 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 basks in the success of Ben-Hur... 1305 01:35:18,157 --> 01:35:20,591 ...It is forced by the government to divest itself... 1306 01:35:20,760 --> 01:35:23,558 ...of its highly profitable chain of motion-picture theaters. 1307 01:35:23,730 --> 01:35:26,324 MGM will be the last motion-picture studio to comply... 1308 01:35:26,499 --> 01:35:30,560 ...with what comes to be known as 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 demand more and more creative control. 1326 01:36:29,046 --> 01:36:32,379 One of the ways to secure it is 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 production of 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 control of 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 is one 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 antiheroes and 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 had suggested 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 list of 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 man to confront his own destiny. 1386 01:42:07,484 --> 01:42:13,389 2001 : A Space Odyssey is by far the 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 age of 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 Kubrick unprecedented creative autonomy... 1392 01:42:30,207 --> 01:42:34,610 ...and the finished work reflects 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 me to 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 Frank were planning to disconnect me... 1406 01:43:38,441 --> 01:43:41,308 ...and I'm afraid that's something I 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 regain its 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 films are extremely successful... 1418 01:44:21,751 --> 01:44:24,117 ...while others do 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 cameras is 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 has reported 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 owns a controlling interest in the studio... 1464 01:47:08,218 --> 01:47:11,585 ...and promptly installs his 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. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. 1482 01:48:11,080 --> 01:48:13,548 The studio no longer tries to maintain the 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 operated as an impersonal corporate entity... 1485 01:48:21,658 --> 01:48:24,286 ...and its day-to-day operations are 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 backlot about to become a housing development... 1519 01:50:07,797 --> 01:50:12,928 ...the new management turns its attention to 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 treasures are 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-Mayer is 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 release a limited number of films... 1559 01:52:26,602 --> 01:52:29,435 ...but they're primarily independent productions... 1560 01:52:29,605 --> 01:52:32,836 ...that have been financed or 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 apparatus and 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 attorneys release 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 competitively insignificant 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-Mayer becomes 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 search for 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 Turner purchases 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 City for exactly 74 days... 1580 01:53:47,116 --> 01:53:51,280 ...when he is forced by the crushing debt to 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 Artists and the MGM logo back to Kirk Kerkorian. 1590 01:54:26,389 --> 01:54:28,983 The studio itself is sold to 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's library 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 end of Louis B. Mayer's dream factory. 1598 01:55:00,056 --> 01:55:03,958 Some believe the dream ended when Irving Thalberg died. 1599 01:55:04,126 --> 01:55:08,529 Others think it was the firing of the studio's patriarch, Mr. Mayer. 1600 01:55:08,698 --> 01:55:12,259 Many are convinced it was Dore Schary and 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's phenomenal star system. 1603 01:55:20,443 --> 01:55:24,209 Television most certainly played a large part in Metro's demise... 1604 01:55:24,380 --> 01:55:28,544 ...as did the government's order stripping the theaters away from the studio. 1605 01:55:28,718 --> 01:55:31,448 Was it the constant changes in executive management... 1606 01:55:31,621 --> 01:55:34,146 ...that brought down the motion-picture empire? 1607 01:55:34,323 --> 01:55:36,917 Or was it the surge of 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 years and the end of an era. 1611 01:55:48,070 --> 01:55:52,905 A moment in time that can never be again. 1612 01:55:56,679 --> 01:55:59,944 On a gray afternoon in November of 1986... 1613 01:56:00,116 --> 01:56:05,748 ...the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer sign is 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 improve your 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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