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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM for short, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. Its principal subsidiaries are MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios), United Artists Corporation, and Orion Pictures Corporation. It was acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment for $US2.9 billion in September 2004.
The name is taken from the three companies that formed a corporate merger to create MGM Studios in 1924; Metro Picture Corporation (formed in 1915), Goldwyn Picture Corporation ( 1917), and Louis B. Mayer Pictures ( 1918), under the control of movie theater magnate Marcus Loew . Louis B. MayerMayer ( July 4, 1885 October 29, 1957) was a Jewish American film producer. Born Eliezer Meir in Minsk, Russia, (now Belarus), his family immigrated to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada when he was still very young and Mayer attended school there. On Nove became the studio boss, and Irving ThalbergIrving Grant Thalberg ( May 30, 1899 September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his unmatched ability for selecting the right scripts and making very profit, the "Boy Wonder", was head of production. They took on the motto Ars Gratia Artis ( Art for Art's Sake) and their trademark lionThe Lion Panthera leo is a mammal of the family Felidae. The male lion, who is easily recognized by his mane, may weigh up to 250 kg (550 lb). Females are much smaller, weighing up to only 180 kg (400 lb). In the wild lions live for around 10 14 years, wh, "Leo" in 1928 (who had been born in captivity in Dublin ZooDublin Zoo situated in the Phoenix Park, Dublin is the largest zoo in Ireland and one of Dublin's most popular tourist attractions. Founded in 1830 it is also the third oldest zoo in the world, after London and Paris. It receives over 500,000 visitors per in IrelandThe island of Ireland ire in Irish, Airlann in Ulster Scots) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies on the west side of the Irish Sea, close to the island of Great Britain. It is composed of the Republic of Ireland in the south and Northern Irelan).
Not long after this merger, Loew died, leaving control of the studios to his associate Nicholas SchenckNicholas M. Schenck born in Rybinsk, Russia on November 14, 1881 died March 4, 1969 in Florida, was a motion-picture empresario. He succeeded Marcus Loew as head of Loew's Inc. and its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film production subsidiary, later division. Based; Schenck then attempted to sell the properties to what would later become 20th Century FoxTwentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation is one of the Big Ten movie studios, located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, California, just west of Beverly Hills. The studio is a subsidiary of News Corporation, the Australian media conglomerate o, but was unsuccessful. Mayer was quite displeased with this, and tensions between him and Schenck would be delicate from this point onward.
For many years, the MGM Lion was the live-action mascot for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, appearing in the opening MGM logo sequence to every movie produced by the studio. The cartoon version of the MGM Lion appears in the Tom and Jerry theatrical animated cartoon; Jerry and the Lion.
Under Mayer's and Thalberg's management, MGM Studios became the largest film company in Hollywood (although they were actually located in Culver City) by the mid-1930s. In this era, they produced a number of classic films, including Grand Hotel and the Tarzan series, and made stars out of Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford, among others. Thalberg was removed from his position as head of production in 1932, after disputes with Mayer and Schenck, and subsequently suffering a heart attack; at that point, Mayer started bringing in independent producers (notably David O. Selznick) to cover the studio's output. When Thalberg returned the next year, he was reduced to nothing more than a unit producer.
After Thalberg's death in 1936, Mayer had full control of the day-to-day production duties of the studio, and MGM's output progressed from the literary works Thalberg had preferred to the crowd-pleasers Mayer preferred. Between 1936 and the start of World War II, MGM produced a number of now-classic films, including Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. During the war, MGM threw itself head-first into war support; many MGM stars helped sell war bonds and performed at USO shows, and a few MGM personnel (notably James Stewart and Clark Gable) enlisted.
During this time, MGM also became involved in the animation business. Their animation department started in the late 1930s, when Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising came over from Warner Bros. Later on, MGM became home to Tex Avery (who joined them in 1941 after a dispute with Warners producer Leon Schlesinger). Tex produced a number of famous shorts at MGM, including Red-Hot Riding Hood, Swing Shift Cinderella, and the Droopy series. MGM's biggest cartoon stars, however, were the cat-and-mouse duo of Tom and Jerry. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Tom and Jerry won MGM several Oscars and nominations.
After the war, MGM underwent a sea change, and started primarily producing musicals. Most of the great stars of song and dance worked for MGM at the time, including Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. Many of these musicals were successes, but by 1948, the studio was being hit by cost overruns (stemming from the huge budgets given to every picture, even the lackluster ones), and the mismanagement was causing a noticeable drop in quality. No MGM productions won Oscars between 1946 and 1948. This caused the old feud between Mayer and Schenck to flare up; it seemed Mayer was spending more time tending to his herd of thoroughbred race horses than the day-to-day operations of the studio. Schenck ordered Mayer to sell the horses, bring costs under control once again, and hire a "new Thalberg".
Writer and producer Dore Schary was hired for this job, and almost immediately the conflicts began. Mayer's taste for wholesomeness and "beautiful" movies went completely against Schary's desire for message pictures and gritty realism. In August 1951, after having sparred with Schary over several of his pet projects, Mayer was fed up; he called the head office and said, "It's either him, or me." Jumping at the chance to fire his arch-rival, Schenck picked Schary, ousting Mayer from the post he'd held for 27 years. An embittered Mayer later attempted an unsuccessful corporate takeover of the studio, but mainly stayed out of the public eye until his death in 1957.
Despite the chaos, MGM was able to keep the studio running through the early 1950s. Under Schary's watch, MGM produced some of their best-regarded musicals ( An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Show Boat). MGM also started releasing movies in the CinemaScope format (licensed from Fox) to compete with the the up and coming television phenomenon. However, MGM also lost one of their biggest stars when they released Judy Garland from her contract in 1950. As time went on, MGM would eventually let all of their contract actors go, in order to meet Schenck's demands to reduce expenses.
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