The Final Eruption: An MGM Vignette

Throughout much of 1949 and 1950, there had been terrible fights between MGM's executives Louis B. Mayer and Dore Schery. They differed in views of practically everything. Mayer lamented the fact that films he did not aproove of, such as Battleground, were coming out of the studio. Many who worked there at the time said that an air of misery hung over the executive suites of the renowned company. But the final eruption came in 1951. Mayer disapproved of one of Schary's pet projects, The Red Badge of Courage. Shortly after a test screening of the film, the two had their biggest argument yet. Later that night, Mayer called Nicolas Schenck of MGM's New York offices, offering an ultimatum: either Schery would go or he (Mayer) would go. Schenck and Mayer had never been friends, particularly since Schenk had tried to sell MGM to the Fox film company secretly in 1928. But what came next was a shock to all of Hollywood. Schenck picked Schary to stay. Mayer had been fired from the studio he had helped to found. He died in 1957, a very unhappy millionaire. Schenck left in 1955. Schary, meanwhile, was fired from MGM in 1956, after MGM plunged into red ink for the first time in its history. The company itself did fine films in the 50s and 60s but it never recoved from the blow in 1951.