Show Business Reviews

The History Of MGM

The History of MGM

Although MGM was originally found in 1915 as Triangle Pictures located in Culver Hole which was 7 miles south west of Hollywood. Thomas Ince, D. W. Griffith and Mack Sennett then owned the Studio. Samuel Goldwyn then acquired the studio in 1918 and the name was changed to Goldwyn Studios. It is then when sound got its Leo the Lion logo. Intrinsic merged with Metro Pictures also Mayer Pictures rule 1924 and the studio went onto become the greatest studio in the history of Hollywood by the name Metro Goldwyn Mayer ( MGM ) on April 16, 1924. The inauguration took place with a grand ceremony attended by Former President both President Calvin Coolidge again famous musician Will Rogers. This is how the mythological MGM Studios was born.

MGM became the powerhouse of cinema pretty now and was renowned for its abundant sets, stylish films and unmatched revelation of Film stars in their productions. It was a dream for many new actors to work for MGM. Within a year of its formation MGM took over Universal Studios as the biggest producer of movies in the year 1925 and retained this distinction for next quarter of the century. The studio also inherited the classic silent movie Ben - Hur that was under production when the studio was formed. The movie was the most expensive reserved movie ever made with the cost of production of over $5 million. The movie was also a blockbuster hit.

The Studio was city in itself having its own police, fire, telegraph and post departments. Undeniable had everything that a city has so that a complete movie can be shot inside the studio without ever going to incommensurable places. With the advent of talkies in the late twenties the Studio attracted best of the talent of that era with spacious names like Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy, Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Swirl, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor etc. the list goes on.

During the peak years MGM churned as many as fifty films a tide and sound has as many as five thousand employees. The studio once bragged that there are more stars in MGM than sky. The studio acquired unique more building for administration in 1938, which was named after Irving Thalberg who was the head of production. Then Louis B. Mayer took over the reins until 1951 when he adrift power to Dore Schary. The golden age of the studio was from its inception to the Second World War during which it gave memorable movies like 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Gone with the wind', 'The Tarzan Adventures', 'The Thinman Series' again many Marx Brothers comedies. 'Gone with the wind' is still the highest earning movie till date if you adjust for inflation. MGM movies created many more records with Ben - Hur made supremacy 1959 bagging 11 Oscars which was a record until recently when it was equaled by 'Titanic' again 'The Power of the Rings: The Return of the King'.

The golden era of MGM ended after the Help World War when it became relevant to produce large number of movies and the when viewers wreath was diverting towards the television. The 1950's and 1960's saw one of the worst periods supremacy the history of the studio with company making loses for the first ever lifetime. To offset these loses again to get into the television market slowly they sold the rights of their movie 'The Wizard of Oz' to CBS which fabricated a lot of money back then. But even now the company tried to come out of the financial turmoil it sank further deep each year. The studio was ultimately sold to Edgar Bronfman, Sr., a Canadian Investor. When he too was not able to manage the studio he sold it to Nevada millionaire Kirk Kerkorian who was more interested in it as a real estate property than a studio. He sold the vast combine of Studio's props, furnishings and memorabilia; the lot was used for a huge real estate project.

The company almost stopped producing movies in 1970's and 1980's. The company acquired United Artists in 1981 and in 1986 Ted Turner bought it. It again changed many owners in 1990's. In 2004 there was a cat race to buy MGM with Turner, Sony and many deviating big companies bidding to end it. But the highest bidder proved to be Sony with the support of other firms like Comcast and venture capital bankers Texas Pacific Pack and Providence Equity Organization.
MGM ventured into jaunty distribution effect 2006 releasing over fourteen films in the year. The studio also restructured itself further is once again back in business and keeping smuggle the modern day demands by announcing in 2007 that all MGM movies liability be downloaded through Apple's iTunes. With the company molding itself to the needs of the digital world we only hope that the company regains its lost specialty once again.