“More stars than there are in heaven” was once the slogan for Hollywood’s largest studio. Larger-than-life celebrities like Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Katharine Hepburn, Jean Harlow and Gene Kelly were common fixtures at MGM. Today, MGM is an IP outpost purchased by Amazon for $8.5 billion in 2022, but in its day, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had the biggest lot in Hollywood and produced some of the most extravagant films. Located in Culver City, MGM’s famously sprawling lot began as it grew from the 40 acres owned by Samuel Goldwyn. The legendary MGM property was 3 miles long and housed more than 45 buildings and 14 stages, in addition to numerous outdoor sets that would be built over the years.
MGM was home to countless classic films, and in 1939 alone, the studio backed the timeless fantasy The Wizard of Oz and distributed the Oscar-winning Gone With the Wind, the Ernst Lubitsch/Greta Garbo comedy Ninotchka,...
MGM was home to countless classic films, and in 1939 alone, the studio backed the timeless fantasy The Wizard of Oz and distributed the Oscar-winning Gone With the Wind, the Ernst Lubitsch/Greta Garbo comedy Ninotchka,...
- 4/29/2024
- by Chris Yogerst
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“I’ve seen Paris, France, and Paris, Paramount Pictures,” Ernst Lubitsch said, or so they say, “and on the whole I prefer Paris, Paramount Pictures.”
The great director’s preference for the Hollywood city of lights over the French one expresses a common enough affinity for illusion over reality, but the studio in question was not chosen for alliteration alone. If gritty Warner Bros. specialized in mean streets and threadbare apartments and glitzy MGM spent big on grand hotels and emerald cities, Paramount transported moviegoers into realms of dreamy exoticism, allegedly set in Vienna, Budapest or St. Petersburg, but conjured with better-than-the-original costuming, set design, lighting and dialogue. In an age before jumbo jets, who was to quibble over verisimilitude?
A new version of Paramount looks to be a-borning: Controlling stakeholder Shari Redstone may put her company on the auction block. Whatever conglomerate or mogul buys the assets, it’ll...
The great director’s preference for the Hollywood city of lights over the French one expresses a common enough affinity for illusion over reality, but the studio in question was not chosen for alliteration alone. If gritty Warner Bros. specialized in mean streets and threadbare apartments and glitzy MGM spent big on grand hotels and emerald cities, Paramount transported moviegoers into realms of dreamy exoticism, allegedly set in Vienna, Budapest or St. Petersburg, but conjured with better-than-the-original costuming, set design, lighting and dialogue. In an age before jumbo jets, who was to quibble over verisimilitude?
A new version of Paramount looks to be a-borning: Controlling stakeholder Shari Redstone may put her company on the auction block. Whatever conglomerate or mogul buys the assets, it’ll...
- 2/29/2024
- by Thomas Doherty
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Over the past decades, the MGM movie franchises have been one of the world’s most successful franchises. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s (MGM) logo is one of the most recognizable studio logos for film and television audiences. By April 17, 2024, MGMayer will be 100 years old. It was founded in 1924 by Marcus Loew after merging Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures. Having survived several hurdles in the last century, MGM has produced/co-produced many award-winning box-office hits. While some of its franchises have two to five films, some have 10 to 25 movies, alluding to the age and success of...
- 2/8/2024
- by Onyinye Izundu
- TVovermind.com
In the first part of a new series, Zoe takes a look back at the history of MGM, one of Hollywood’s oldest and most notable studios...
Studios have come and gone since the birth of cinema, and the film business is an unpredictable one, as the history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer reveals. Founded in 1924, its name conjures up images of lavish musicals, sweeping historical epics, glamorous stars and its mascot, Leo the lion.
It’s fair to say that MGM is one of the most famous and influential studios in Hollywood, and certainly one of the most iconic studios to come out of American film industry. But where did it all begin?
The story begins in the early 1920s. Vaudeville, previously one of the most popular forms of entertainment, is beginning to dwindle, as movies capture the public’s imagination. Enter Marcus Loew, a theatre chain owner. What Loew wanted was...
Studios have come and gone since the birth of cinema, and the film business is an unpredictable one, as the history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer reveals. Founded in 1924, its name conjures up images of lavish musicals, sweeping historical epics, glamorous stars and its mascot, Leo the lion.
It’s fair to say that MGM is one of the most famous and influential studios in Hollywood, and certainly one of the most iconic studios to come out of American film industry. But where did it all begin?
The story begins in the early 1920s. Vaudeville, previously one of the most popular forms of entertainment, is beginning to dwindle, as movies capture the public’s imagination. Enter Marcus Loew, a theatre chain owner. What Loew wanted was...
- 1/10/2012
- Den of Geek
As news breaks that MGM has risen out of bankruptcy, this writer would like to take a moment and remember when this studio first entered the news, with its formation being the result of a corporate merger on Wall Street over eighty years ago. Following this merge, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would be the dominant motion picture studio in Hollywood, from the end of the silent film era through World War II.
The man behind the merger was Marcus Loew, the owner of a large theater chain known as Loew’s Theatres. Wanting to provide a steady supply of films for his theaters, he had purchased both Metro Pictures Corporation and Goldwyn Pictures. However, both of these companies lacked leadership, and Loew was unable to spare his longtime assistant, Nicholas Schenck, as he was needed in New York City to oversee the theater chain. The answer came to Loew when his visited the...
The man behind the merger was Marcus Loew, the owner of a large theater chain known as Loew’s Theatres. Wanting to provide a steady supply of films for his theaters, he had purchased both Metro Pictures Corporation and Goldwyn Pictures. However, both of these companies lacked leadership, and Loew was unable to spare his longtime assistant, Nicholas Schenck, as he was needed in New York City to oversee the theater chain. The answer came to Loew when his visited the...
- 12/21/2010
- by Kristen Coates
- The Film Stage
The National Board Of Review, or Nbr has released their award winners for 2010 and The Social Network is coming out on top.
In a press release today, The National Board Of Review stated:
The Social Network Named 2010 Best Film Of The Year By The National Board Of Review
2010 Gala to be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 hosted by Meredith Vieira
New York, NY . December 2, 2010 . The National Board of Review named The Social Network the 2010 Best Film of the Year. Directed by David Fincher, this timeless drama explores the moment at which Facebook, the most revolutionary social phenomenon of the new century, was invented and the resulting lawsuits. The film was released on October 1st by Columbia Pictures.
Below is a full list of the awards given by the National Board of Review:
Best Film: The Social Network Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network Best Actress: Lesley Manville,...
In a press release today, The National Board Of Review stated:
The Social Network Named 2010 Best Film Of The Year By The National Board Of Review
2010 Gala to be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 hosted by Meredith Vieira
New York, NY . December 2, 2010 . The National Board of Review named The Social Network the 2010 Best Film of the Year. Directed by David Fincher, this timeless drama explores the moment at which Facebook, the most revolutionary social phenomenon of the new century, was invented and the resulting lawsuits. The film was released on October 1st by Columbia Pictures.
Below is a full list of the awards given by the National Board of Review:
Best Film: The Social Network Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network Best Actress: Lesley Manville,...
- 12/2/2010
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The studio that created The Wizard of Oz and Ben Hur has had to put the latest James Bond movie on hold
In its heyday, MGM boasted that it had "more stars than there are in heaven". But since the sale of its grand lot in Culver City in 1985, several changes of ownership and the initiation of few productions of its own, the studio has been more like a black hole than a galaxy, and its current £2.4bn debt has led to the postponement of the 23rd James Bond movie. Though Leo the MGM lion may still occasionally roar beneath that grandiose motto Ars Gratia Artis ("Art for Art's sake"), he will never be the beast he was from the 1920s to the 1960s.
In 1920, the immigrant waiter's son Marcus Loew, former furrier and owner of a movie chain, bought the ailing Metro company. Four years later he merged it...
In its heyday, MGM boasted that it had "more stars than there are in heaven". But since the sale of its grand lot in Culver City in 1985, several changes of ownership and the initiation of few productions of its own, the studio has been more like a black hole than a galaxy, and its current £2.4bn debt has led to the postponement of the 23rd James Bond movie. Though Leo the MGM lion may still occasionally roar beneath that grandiose motto Ars Gratia Artis ("Art for Art's sake"), he will never be the beast he was from the 1920s to the 1960s.
In 1920, the immigrant waiter's son Marcus Loew, former furrier and owner of a movie chain, bought the ailing Metro company. Four years later he merged it...
- 4/24/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
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