A Tribute to MGM on Its 90th Anniversary

90 years ago this week, the Metro, Goldwyn, and Louis B. Mayer film comanies merged into one studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM was a company of unparalleled glamor, fine taste, and a haven for some of the greatest classic movie stars. Even though the studio has only been a shadow of what it once was for the past few decades, no other company approached the grandeur of their classic-era films before or since. Their films starred the likes of Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and so many other greats. Great directors such as Geirge Cukor, Clarence Brown, Ernst Lubitsch, and Vincente Minnelli triumphed there. The writer's department was home to some of the finest movie writers of them all. The high-toned cinematograpy of MGM films was the best in the industry, as were the lavish sets that emerged from Cedric Gibbons' art department. The music from great composers such as Herbert Strothart and Mirklos Rozka perfectly complemented the action onscreen. It was the studio with the world-famous Freed unit, and the studio where the great Irving Thalberg produced so many of cinema's crown jewels. It was the studio where many of cinema's most memorable films and scenes were created. It is my favorite Hollywood studio of all.  Here is to MGM on its 90th anniversary and long may its leagacy reign!