When the Star Demanded Changes: An MGM Vignette

This is the fourth and final blog that I wrote in the past that I represent to you now.

Most classic film fans know that Katharine Hepburn almost starred in the 1972 film Travels with My Aunt, an MGM release which was (in this writer's humble opinion) their best film of that year. But, in this particular case, the rejection of the role was more complicated than usual. There were rumors that she turned down the film because of flashback sequences or because the actress Joy Bang was not cast in a minor role of a hippie, but none of them were true. What follows is the real story of how Katharine Hepburn turned down Travels with My Aunt. At first, when she heard that MGM wanted her to appear in the film, she recived the news with trepidation because the role was much like the one she had just done in the 1969 film The Madwoman of Chaillot, a film received with icy indifference by both critics and audiences. Also, she didn't really think much of the script which had been written by Hugh Wheeler and had gone through revisions by Jay Presson Allen. Hepburn reconsidered after Graham Greene, the original book's author, and her dear friend George Cukor, the director of the film, asked her to reconsider. She then read the book and felt that the film was lacking the flavor of the book and therefore was not as good as it. Jay Presson Allen suggested to miss Hepburn that if she wanted to she could make her own revisions to the script. So that is exactly what Katharine Hepburn did. She ended up rewriting just about all of the film except for one speech that remained from Allen's version. And yet she still had mixed feelings on the project. MGM officals who were, by this time, infuriated by the delays offered her an ultimatum: either she would agree to Allen's script and be ready to film the movie or otherwise she would lose the film. Miss Hepburn opted not to appear in the film and so Maggie Smith was cast instead.What is ironic is that Cukor prefered Hepburn's script and used it instead of the Allen script. However, because Katharine Hepburn was not a member of the Screen Writer's Guild, she could not receive credit for it. So the eventual credit went to both Wheeler and Allen. The film was released on December 17, 1972 and was greeted with tepid reviews and business. Nevertheless, the film was up for four Oscars including a nomination for Maggie Smith and a win for Costume Design. Yet, despite that Maggie Smith did an exceptional job in the role, it is hard for one to watch the film and wonder what Katharine Hepburn might have done with it.

A Hoax in the Writing Department: An MGM Vignette

Yet another represented blog shown here for your enjoyment.

There was once an author named Lorna Moon. She had dedicated one of her books, "Dark Star" to a friend of hers named Frances Marion, who was a top screenwriter at MGM. Miss Moon did not achieve success with her writings, and fell into debt. She eventually contracted tuberculosis. In order to enter a sanitarium, she needed a loan which she received from Frances Marion. When Miss Marion visited her friend at the sanitarium, she was in for a surprise. Lorna, who was dying, wanted Frances to make "Dark Star" into a motion picture. Lorna wanted this to happen because she wanted to pay all of her debts before her passing. Frances read the book but found it to be unfilmable. "Dark Star" was an excessively depressing Scottish tale that would not please an entire audience, if anybody at all for that matter. Around the same time, Frances wanted to find a star vehicle for Marie Dressler, an actress that she was determined to make a glorious comeback for that would make Miss Dressler a star the world over. Frances eventually hatched an idea in which Lorna could pay her debts and Marie Dressler would become a star. Frances met with MGM's story department head, Kate Corbelay. They created a foolproof plan that was executed later that day. That Afternoon, Kate stated the names and plots of the scripts that she thought were a perfect fit for MGM in front of an executive council that included Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. Meanwhile, Frances waited outside for her cue. When Kate said the words "Dark Star," Frances barged in and asked if she could tell the synopsis to that particular story because she was very familar with its plot. The council agreed so Frances initiated the hoax. Instead of telling the real synopsis of "Dark Star," she used the synopsis of an original idea she was working upon known as "Min and Bill". Louis B. Mayer liked the synopsis he heard and stated that the rights to "Dark Star" would be obtained from the author for $7,500 and that Frances would write the script. Afraid of being discovered, Frances collaborated with Marion Jackson to write her script in a hurry. The project's name was changed to "Min and Bill", although the superfluous "Dark Star' credit remained. Lorna, meanwhile, received her money before her passing and payed off all of her debts. She passed away before Min and Bill was released never to know about the sham. The hoax ended up being successful as all prints of Min and Bill as well as all publicity material said that the source of the movie was the book "Dark Star." The film became MGM's biggest hit of 1930 and Marie Dressler won an Oscar for her unforgettable leading performance, in addition to being MGM's biggest star for the last four years of her life. And outside of those people who were involved with the hoax, it remained undiscovered until 1978, a few years after Frances' passing. She had achieved her plan and executed it to perfection.

Decade of Doom: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1970's

Here is another blog post I wrote in the past that I proudly represent here.

The 1970's played host to one of the most terrible incidents that Hollywood ever saw: MGM, one of the most well-known and most beloved studios in Hollywood, was destroyed. (By 1974, they were only doing about 4 films a year.) Although the company still exists today, it is only a shadow of what it once was. It was primarily ruined by bad leadership and unpopular and, in many cases, artistically lacking films. This two-part blog series will document MGM's films of the time as well as the turmoil inside the studio itself. This first part will deal with the films of that period. As one final note about MGM in the 70s, it should be known that the leader at MGM in the early 70s, James T. Aubrey, cut many films into incoherence and made various other changes. So if some of these films seem incoherent, that is why. The 1970's at MGM started with the racial drama ...tick...tick...tick.... It featured good performances by Fredric March, Jim Brown, and George Kennedy, and was overall a decent enough film, but it paled in comparison to United Artists' landmark 1967 film In the Heat of the Night. It was followed in the release pipeline by Zabriskie Point, a film that has polarized audiences ever since its release. Personally I found it too bizarre for my taste, but to each his own. Next up was an obscure action film called The Five-Man Army. Brotherly Love which followed was disgusting in the extreme; a love triangle tale laced with incest and violence. Despite good performances from Peter O'Toole and Susannah York, it simply did not fly. The incest trend continued in My Lover, My Son, a movie whose title alone would probably have had Louis B. Mayer rolling in his grave. After two cases of sex, the drug scene was next to get it's MGM closeup in The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart, yet another film that flopped in all respects for MGM. (Of these films so far, only Zabriskie Point is given a second chance today.) The Walking Stick came next. It had merit to it in the form of a very good performance by Samantha Egger, and it was technically up to par, but the public was indifferent. The Strawberry Statement follwed but its theme of student protests was darkened by the incidents at Kent State that happened shortly before the film's release. MGM's next release was a smash hit and overall a great entertainment as well. It was Kelly's Heroes, an offbeat World War II story whose reputation keeps improving with every passing year. MGM slipped back into mediocracy with The Moonshine War, a film that would have been better-made at Warner Bros. thirtysome years earlier.Zigzag was a great thriller, but for many it was too clever by half. House of Dark Shadows was able to cultivate the giant fanbase of the show it was based upon, and was a solid success. The Travelling Executioner was a truly bad film which both critics and audiences ignored. The family film Captain Nemo and the Underwater City followed. Many children like it at the time, but it is rarely referenced today. No Blade of Grass predicted an apocalyptic crisis. Its business and reviews were the things that were really apocalyptic. MGM's only animated film, the Phantom Tollbooth followed. Many people are fond of it today, but the box office was lethargic in 1970. Ryan's Daughter was one of MGM's final classy films. People are still polarized about it today, but personally I loved it with its fine performances, grand direction, and its supurb cinematogrophy. Elvis: That's the Way it Is followed, and was a solid success because of Elvis' large fanbase. Another singing legend, Frank Sinatra, appeared in MGM's next film Dirty Dingus Magee. But Sinatra did not sing, and the film was too bawdy for some peoples tastes. Sinatra would not appear in a film for another 10 years.The Bushbaby was the next arrival. It was a decent-enough family film, but virtually nobody remembers it today. Brewster McCloud is in my opinion one of the strangest films ever made. MGM executives were thinking it would be a big hit since it was directed by Robert Altman, Hollywood's newest golden boy. It wasn't. A similar fate befell Alex in Wonderland, directed by Paul Mazursky (who had had a big hit with Columbia's Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice) but audiences did not come. It was better than Brewster McCloud in my opinion. Alex in Wonderland also rounded out MGM's offerings for 1970.A very little-known British film called Freelance started MGM's year off in 1971. It was not a good beginning. A film called Pigeons followed. A very strange title masked one of the most obscure of MGM's 1970s films. A documentary about the different stages of the human body called The Body was popular in its home country of England but was ignored everywhere else. Percy, which followed, was also concerned with a body part, this time an unspeakable one. It was a true embarassment. Get Carter, the following film, was a gritty British film that was one of MGM's best offerings in the 1970's. People still like it today. Mad Dogs and Englishmen was a British concert film. It was most popular in its home country. The next film, The Enchanted Years was an obscure documentary. Pretty Maids in a Row was vile. it had Rock Hudson as a sex murderer. The Black Plague might have been more well liked by critics and audiences than this film was. The Night Digger was a racier variation on the old shocker of a film Night Must Fall. It was pretty good, but audiences did not want to see a film like that one. Villian had a good performance by Richard Burton, but that was the only thing going for it. It was a very nasty production. The same atribute, nasty, applied to Fortune and Men's Eyes, a prision film that focused on prision rapes. Wild Rovers, which followed, was a sadly underrated western that is only reaching an appreciative audience now on DVD. the Tales of Beatrix Potter, which used ballet to tell the tales of Potter's beloved children's tales, was a rare kid's film which beguiled parents as well. The next film in the release pipeline was a surprise smash hit. It was Shaft, a violent caper movie that happened to very exciting and absorbing. Due to its success, MGM bought heavily into the "soul cinema" trend in 1972 and 1973.The Last Run, a downbeat action film, had a very good performance from george C. Scott, but the film would have been even better if John Huston had not been fired from the project. Night of Dark Shadows was a success, but even fans of the series bemoaned the often incoherent editing. Clay Pigeon, a forgettable action film, followed. Catlow was a fun little western with a good leading performance by Yul Brynner. Going Home was depressinging in the extreme, but Robert Mitchum and Brenda Vaccaro gave very good performances. Chandler was yet another action film with an unexpected female lead, Leslie Caron. Believe in Me was another of those very dark early 70s films about drug addicts. The performance by Jacqueline Bisset and Michael Sarrazin were very good in the film (they became lovers in real life) but the film was often incoherent because of the studio-inflicted chainsaw editing. The Boy Friend was a teriffic musical comedy with an enchanting leading performance by Twiggy. The film plays better than ever now because the film is now in its complete state. The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight was a Mafia comedy. Despite that it gave people a look at a very young Robert de Nero, it left a lot to be desired. The film also rounded out MGM's 1971 slate. 1972 was kicked off by the Jerusalem File which was an uneven suspence film. Cool Breeze was MGM's second helping of Soul Cinema as well as its second remake of The Asphault Jungle. It was nowhere nearly as good as the original was. The Carey Treatment was a suspence film that delivered. It was hugely entertaining, but the public ignored it. Corky was a movie about a racecar driver. Nothing was appealing about it. Beyond the Fog is often regarded as being the first modern slasher film. Personal taste will dictate whether that is good or bad. Skyjacked was MGM's hit of the year. It was a very good disaster film that did not fail to entertain. Which was more than could be said about MGM's next film, The Black Belly of the Tarantula, which was pretty much off-putting. Every Little Crook and Nanny was a film about the kidnapping of a Mafia child. It was playedc as a comedy; it only succeeded in wasting a good cast. Shaft's Big Score did indeed score at the Box Office, although the original was superior. Sitting Target was a cold-hearted action film that wasted a decent cast. One is a Lonely Number (known today as Two is a Happy Number) was a severly underrated film that featured great performances from all of the major cast members. The Wrath of God was yet another action film, this time with a good performance from Robert Mitchum. The film also happened to be Rita Hayworth's last. Kansas City Bomber was a movie with Raquel Welsh as a star roller derby player.A 10-year-old Jodie Foster also had a role in the film. People were polarized on the film in general. Melinda dipped into the Soul Cinema trend only to realize that the trend was going downhill in profitability already.Weekend Murders was an Italian whodunnit that fained to be interesting. Savage Messiah was a fine drama directed by Ken Russell. It featured a performance from a very young Helen Mirren. Private Parts was, not to mince words, by far the most disgusting and revolting production that MGM did in the 70s. Night of the Lupus was a laughable horror film with Janet Leigh, a former star at the studio, being menaced by giant bloodthirsty rabbits. Elvis on Tour was a very successful concert film. The Great Waltz was an embarrassing remake of the classic 1938 film. They Only Kill Their Masters was a bizarre murder mystery. It was offputting to me at least to have June Allyson as the killer and Peter Lawford being one of her victims. However, it is always a pleasure to see James Garner as well as so many old-time veterans of MGM.The film was supposed to be the final film shot on MGM's backlot but turned out to be false. Travels with My Aunt was uneven. There were good performances from Maggie Smith and Alec McCowen, but even they could not completely make up for the oddities of the script. Yet they made the film tolerable over all. George Cukor directed it, his first at MGM since Les Girls (1957). Hit Man another moderately successful (quality wise and attendance wise) helping of soul cinema finished off the 1972 slate. There was change in the air in 1973. In October of that year, MGM annouced that they would continue to produce films, but they were not going to distribute them. Distribution of MGM films then shifted to United Artists. It remained that way until 1981 when ironically MGM bought United Artists out following the Heaven's Gate fiasco. Certainally 1973 opened on a sour note. It was a terrible horror film Nightmare Honeymoon that opened the 1973 slate. It was followed by the feauding families film with the provocative title Lolly-Madonna XXX. Even good performers cound not make the film good. Slither was an entertaining-enough film about people looking for hidden money. The audiences stayed away from it. The audiences also stayed away from Ludwig, an ill-advised film about Germany's Mad King Ludwig. Soylent Green has almost become a joke as a film since everyone knows the deadly secret of the substance, but what people forget about that film is how good Edward G. Robinson in his final film was. He should be the reason people watch the film. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid was a movie that was victimized because of its editing, and has had several different versions, but I think that it is a very good film overall. Sweet Jesus, Preacherman was another dip into the Soul Cinema trend and was a flop. Wicked, Wicked was a horror film completely done in split screen. It would have been better with no screens at all. Shaft in Africa was the final theatrical Shaft film. Revenue for the series had been falling. The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing was one of Burt Reynolds' finest films but the audiences did not show up. Trader Horn was an in-name-only remake of the 1930 film. It was truly awful. Deaf Smith and Johnny Ears was an offbeat western that had a good performance from Anthony Quinn, but otherwise the film only intermittedly came to life. Deadly China Doll was a Hong Kong-made martial arts film in an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Enter the Dragon. Business was languid. The Slams was MGM's last helping of Soul Cinema.The title referred to a prision, not to the audience reception and the reviews it received. The Outfit was a severly underrated action film that had a good performance from Robert Ryan. Westworld was MGM's hit of 1973. The Sci-Fi tale had its fair share of both pluses and minuses. Westworld rounded out the 1973 slate. The Super Cops started the 1974 slate. It was good but overly violent. Kazablan was a Jewish musical of high energy but low visibility. The final film of the 1974 slate (there were only 3) was the biggest hit of the year and, in my own humble opinion, the best MGM film of the Decade. It was That's Entertainment, a huge compillation of memorable MGM musical numbers that never failed to entertain. It celebrated MGM's 50th Anniversary triumphantly. 1975 began with the routine action film Mr. Ricco, which was the last starring role for Dean Martin.The Passanger struck some viewers as being profound; others thought it was sluggish. People are still polarized on it today. The Wind and the Lion was an excellent adventure film with teriffic performances from Sean Connery, Brian Keith, and Candice Bergen. The Silent Stranger had been released in Italy in 1968 but waited to come to America until 1975. It was not worth the wait. Hearts of the West was a refreshingly offbeat look at the B-Movie Hollywood of the 1930s. While certain parts of the film were better than others, the performances by Jeff Bridges, Andy Griffith, and Blythe Danner were top notch. There were two good performances in The Sunshine Boys, MGM's final film of 1975, which provided juicy roles for Walter Matthau and Oscar-winner George Burns in a superior comedy. That's Entertainment Part II, MGM's first film for 1976, was not as good as the original but it was still overflowing with its lovely charm. Logan's Run was a futuristic thriller that is still watched to this day, and had a few good performances and did look great, but something was missing. Sweet Revenge was foolishly entered into the Cannes Film Festival. It was a mess of a film that not even Stockard Channing, its star, could save. Norman, Is That You? was profitable but embarassing in its treatment of then-controversial themes. MGM returned to form with Network, a dynamite drama with crackling performances and a sizzling script. The only downside of the film was that most of what it predicted for TV came true in the end. Network rounded out the 1976 slate. Demon Seed started 1977. It was a terrifying thriller, excellently executed. The Goodbye Girl was one of the best comedies of the 70s with it's hysterical yet touching script and its sincere performances including an Oscar-winning one by Richard Dreyfuss. Telefon, a routine thriller, finished the 1977 slate. A note about Telefon: It was spoofed under the title The Naked Gun (1988). Coma, the starter of the 1978 slate, was like Demon Seed in the fact that it was terrifying and brilliantly executed. It also had a great cast to boot. Corvette Summer was a run-of-the-mill film with one plus: a decent supporting performance by Annie Potts. International Velvet was a belated sequel to National Velvet and while it could not touch its predecessor, it was much better than its reputation indicated. Brass Target was controversial in its day for suggesting that General George Patton was murdered, but that did not drum up business for MGM's final 1978 release. Jamaican Gold, a hit-and-miss adventure film started the 1979 slate. Voices, a good little drama, followed complete with its great performance by Amy Irving as a young deaf woman. The Champ was a remake of the 1931 classic but did not recapture the winning nature of the earlier film. The Human Factor, a mundane thriller that was the last film for director Otto Preminger was MGM's last release of the 1970's. The Decade of Doom had come to a close, but the once majestic studio's glory days were unquestionably over.

The Beginning of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

I originally wrote this blog post over a year ago at another movie website. Since I feel that it is one of the best blogs I wrote, I represent it here to all of you.

In the beginning there were three different studios: Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Film Company. These three companies would eventually merge to create the most famous movie studio in the world. But in order to learn about this wonderful company, it is important to know about what happened before the merger. Metro Pictures was founded by Richard A. Rowland in 1915. In its first few years, Metro Pictures developed significant money troubles. In fact, the company was in danger of filing for bankrupcy. Nevertheless, in 1919, the Loew's theatre chain bought Metro Pictures. Loew's had been looking for a studio to call their own for quite a while by this time, and when Metro was offered to them, they bought them quickly for $3.1 million. Metro had their biggest hit in 1921 with The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but suffered a major setback when that film's star Rudolph Valentino, left the studio after being denied a $100 pay raise. However, the studio had two more giant hits, The Prisioner of Zenda and Scaramouche, and signed contracts with Buster Keaton and Jackie Coogan. They also signed a contract with Louis B. Mayer, provididing Metro with four films a year. Yet, despite all this, Metro was still a constant problem to the Loew's theatre chain due to the way it was run. In 1924, Loew's bought Goldwyn Pictures. Metro was quickly merged with Goldwyn Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn Pictures. Goldwyn Pictures had a tumultous history of its own by the time that this merger went into effect. The studio was started by Samuel Goldfish and Edgar Selwyn in 1915. On the surface, Goldwyn pictures looked prosperous due to its contract players and directors, its gorgeous studio in Culver City that had previously belonged to the defunct Triangle Studios (This eventually became the MGM studio), its movie theatres, and its distribution offices. But Goldwyn Pictures was near bankruptcy itself due to feuding executives and bad management. What money it had was being spent on Mare Nostrum (1926), Ben-Hur (1927), and Greed (1924), three films that went drastically overbudget. Samuel Goldwyn (ne Goldfish) had even been fired from his own company.Knowing that the new studio needed better executives than the ones that were presently at Metro and Goldwyn, Loew's searched extensively for a better executive. They solved this problem in 1924, by buying the four-year-old Louis B. Mayer Film Company for $75,000. Louis Mayer was hired as chief executive, and he brought "boy wonder" Irving Thalburg along with him. On April 18, 1924, a formal merger was signed that united the three companies into one: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, or MGM for short. The new studio kept Goldwyn's lion logo, because it thought of itself as "king of the beasts." Soon after the merger, He Who Gets Slapped (1924) introduced the new studio to the world. A Hollywood legend was born.