Newly formed MGM, 1924. From my grandfather's archives.
Buster Keaton, Hardy Rapst, Irving Thalberg, (Head of Production,) Nick Schende, Natale Talmadge, (Mrs. Buster Keaton.) Louie B. Mayer, Eddie Mannix, (general manager and head of publicity,) Hunt Stomberg, (Producer.)
MGM and its legendary roaring lion logo was formed in April 1924, by theater magnate Marcus Loew, who orchestrated the merger of Metro Pictures Corp., Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Productions
Metro Pictures had the look, the style and the stars needed to attract a growing audience, but the little
studio on Gower Street in Hollywood became too limited to meet it's growing
needs. In 1924 Goldwyn Pictures with its valuable studio
property in Culver City was purchased and MGM was born.
Mayer and my grandfather, Andy Mac Donald, moved Metro's sets together in Andy's truck, to the new lot in Culver City.
Mayer now the head of M.G.M. gave my grandfather the position of head of construction and eventually head of 7 MGM departments. Metro Goldwyn
Mayer's magnificent entrance on Washington Blvd., looked like a turret of a Castle.
The offices, shops, and main stages were up front on the main
lot and the
other two back lots held street scenes, college malls,
quaint village
squares, meadow, forest and even a jungle with a man-made pool for the Tarzan. The
outlying studio ranches used for Westerns
were located in the San Fernando Valley and the nearby
convenience of ocean, wild country and desert afforded a variety of natural
settings.
M.G.M.'s now celebrated and polished films
required only the
best in every department. The Studio's level of expertise excelled over any other studio and became the quintessential glamour and star factory in Hollywood.
Louie B. Mayer ran the Studio like a boot camp. If there were any slackers on a job, they were
quickly fired. He demanded excellence and loyalty and under his rule, M.G.M. became the most
authoritarian studio in the
industry. He instituted an important
break with the early movie tradition of allowing directors to serve as a
overseers of the art... "Griffith style."
At M.G.M. film making became an assembly line of departments each answerable to a
producer, each producer answerable to the head of production and the
head of production answerable to Mayer. M.G.M's. stars became nothing like the merry old player of the old days, insisting on their
favorite directors, idea men and supporting players and actors were never allowed to choose their own properties.
Mayer's directors directed, his writers wrote and his actors acted. All separately.
Free spirits were no longer tolerated. Team
players and company men were the only people allowed to
play ball with Mayer.
 |
| My grandfather, Andy Mac Donald on the left with his men, on a set they constructed |
As head of construction, Andy was
expected to respect Mayer's style rather than rely on his own. Authority
started at the top and worked down. Andy's men took direction from him, he took direction from an art
director and the art director took
direction from the Mayer.
Economics
ruled under Mayer's reign and there was no waste. Andy figured out a way to construct detachable sets that could
be used over and over again. Walls, bookshelves, staircases etc. could
be taken apart and put back together in different ways. When
they weren't in use they could be stored for future projects. Elaborate sets, especially exteriors were kept standing on the back lots
and when a scene called for it, a whole town could be constructed
quickly, or be reassembled to
look like a new town.
A facade of a Mediterranean Villa nestled in a grove of fake palm trees created the
feeling of the Italian Renaissance and when the film was over it
could be repainted and redecorated to give the impression of an entirely different part of the world.
Andy's
innovative ways of constructing difficult sets and props
for "Ben Hur," M.G.M. 's first major picture after the
merger, was
legendary and Mayer increased his salary to an all
time high.
 |
| Natalie Talmadge and Buster Keaton |
The 1920's were prosperous for most people in America, but for those with big positions at a major studio, it was unimaginable. Money was
worth much more, because income tax and unions were still a long way off and the price of homes and fancy cars was still
reasonable.
Read more about Louie B. Mayer, MGM and my grandfather's 55 year career at the Studio in my book, The Maybelline Story. I know you'll find it hard to put down.
My mother Pauline Mac Donald, was born in 1924, the year MGM moved to Culver City. She grew up watching her father, Andy oversee every set built for every picture made at the Studio, including Gone with the With Wind and the Wizard of Oz in 1939. You're going to love this memoir....
Culver City Celebrates it's 100 year Anniversary Sept 26 - Oct 1
Here's the details http://culvercity100.org/
