We cherish the directors, admire the screenwriters, and worship the stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. But then as now, the creation of a film involved the collaboration of many talents. Under the old studio system, these talents were virtually all located within the studio lot, and usually working as regular employees or under contract. In this blog post, we'll visit some of the faces and work-a-day world of this biggest but now long gone factory of dreams: MGM. This will be the first of two or three posts on the MGM Studio lot.
The MGM Studio entrance on Washington Blvd. was an imposing facade. Luckily it still stands today. The studio entrance is no longer at this location, and the studio lot belongs to Sony. In this photo a paper boy waits to sell the afternoon newspaper to the departing cast and crew.
The old front gate was where the guard's office was located. Everybody entering through this gate, especially the actors, were checked-in (remember the scene in Sunset Blvd with Norma at the Paramount gate?).
The Metro Goldwyn Mayer sign was located atop a sound stage on "5th Avenue." The studio lot in Culver City had started as the Triangle Studio - begun by Thomas Ince, D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett in 1916. Samuel Goldfish and Edgar Selwyn bought out the studio for Goldwyn Pictures in 1918 (the name an anagram of their two names - which Goldwyn adopted as his own). Marcus Loew then bought out Golwyn, Metro Pictures, and Mayer Pictures to combine them under the management of Louis B. Mayer in 1924.
MGM had always believed in making prestigious movies. They frankly made it a point to hire the best talent they could find. The "production board" above shows some of the leading directors working at MGM in the early 1930s. In the photo is Clarence Brown.
The studio set was a beehive of activity during production. Here on the set of Grand Hotel is a crew that outnumbers the cast. A set usually had directors and assistant directors, cameramen and grips, best boys and script girls, lighting and sound technicians, electricians, gaffers, film loaders, and periodically make-up, wardrobe staff and set dressers. Many more people had already been in involved in preparing the production, and many more to come would be involved in post-production.
Making films meant making movies on film stock in those days. The processing of the original camera negatives and the making all the sets of film needed for the theaters was done on the lot. The photo above shows the development tanks used to develop film. It looks like a factory, and indeed it was.
The film stock looped through rollers that submerged the film in various developing solutions, fixatives, and cleaners. The film stock moved through the rollers into various solutions. The steel beam at the top of the photo could raise or lower the rollers and film stock.
The MGM Studio entrance on Washington Blvd. was an imposing facade. Luckily it still stands today. The studio entrance is no longer at this location, and the studio lot belongs to Sony. In this photo a paper boy waits to sell the afternoon newspaper to the departing cast and crew.
The old front gate was where the guard's office was located. Everybody entering through this gate, especially the actors, were checked-in (remember the scene in Sunset Blvd with Norma at the Paramount gate?).
The Metro Goldwyn Mayer sign was located atop a sound stage on "5th Avenue." The studio lot in Culver City had started as the Triangle Studio - begun by Thomas Ince, D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett in 1916. Samuel Goldfish and Edgar Selwyn bought out the studio for Goldwyn Pictures in 1918 (the name an anagram of their two names - which Goldwyn adopted as his own). Marcus Loew then bought out Golwyn, Metro Pictures, and Mayer Pictures to combine them under the management of Louis B. Mayer in 1924.
MGM had always believed in making prestigious movies. They frankly made it a point to hire the best talent they could find. The "production board" above shows some of the leading directors working at MGM in the early 1930s. In the photo is Clarence Brown.
The studio set was a beehive of activity during production. Here on the set of Grand Hotel is a crew that outnumbers the cast. A set usually had directors and assistant directors, cameramen and grips, best boys and script girls, lighting and sound technicians, electricians, gaffers, film loaders, and periodically make-up, wardrobe staff and set dressers. Many more people had already been in involved in preparing the production, and many more to come would be involved in post-production.
Making films meant making movies on film stock in those days. The processing of the original camera negatives and the making all the sets of film needed for the theaters was done on the lot. The photo above shows the development tanks used to develop film. It looks like a factory, and indeed it was.
The film stock looped through rollers that submerged the film in various developing solutions, fixatives, and cleaners. The film stock moved through the rollers into various solutions. The steel beam at the top of the photo could raise or lower the rollers and film stock.
The developed film gets a preliminary inspection.
The slideshow below takes us through some of MGM's departments in 1930s and 1950s. A future post will take a look at the indoor sets used for several classic films. A great book about MGM's backlot is
MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, by Steven Bingen, Stephen X. Sylvester and Michael Troyan, Santa Monica Press, 2011. It's a great (if melancholy) trip through the history and many outdoor sets of MGM. One thing is clear from looking at these photos - although these artists and artisans created glamour, their working surroundings didn't reflect it.
MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, by Steven Bingen, Stephen X. Sylvester and Michael Troyan, Santa Monica Press, 2011. It's a great (if melancholy) trip through the history and many outdoor sets of MGM. One thing is clear from looking at these photos - although these artists and artisans created glamour, their working surroundings didn't reflect it.
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8 comments:
Very interesting post, Christian. It's always been so amazing that factory-like environments like the great studios were able to mass produce such works of art.
Christian, liked reading about the film stock. Too bad their going to stop using real film now--one of the many reasons companies like Kodak are going under.
FlickChick - so true about about such a factory system producing art. Those images say it all - so many people all working toward that goal.
Kim - yes, now not only is the MGM studio gone but film too is becoming a thing of the past - and it was Kodak that supplied all the reel film in those days.
I am only late to the party, Christian, because I have been so busy.
Love this post. Love it and can't wait for Pt.s II, III, IV and more. The "factory of dreams" is, for me, a most enchanting subject.
I work in a business that is in the "glamour" arena (TV), but the areas I'm responsible for are not particularly glamorous (I'm not 'on the air'). I will say, though, that there is something about being involved - call it stimulating. I imagine it must've been the same for those who made sure the film was developed and the scripts were properly typed at those magnificent studios of old.
Thanks for your compliment Lady Eve. I'm glad you find this behind the scenes look interesting, as I certainly do. While film credits didn't name the vast majority of these people then, we are lucky that MGM documented their own movie-making apparatus through these wonderful photographs. I'm not so sure that happens anymore
So glad you shared some of the backstage stories here, Christian. I have the book about M-G-M's backlot and the short-sighted stupidity of investors when they turned it all into a parking lot (basically) in the early 1970s. A panel of experts at a conference I attended included one gentleman who reported (to gasps of horror from the crowd) that armloads of costumes from the classic era were burned during that awful time, to keep M-G-M from the hassle of storage or selling. Debbie Reynolds basically rescued as many as she could, but it breaks the heart to hear that gent tell of Adrian suits, Dache hats, and so forth being consumed by the flames.
Thanks for your comments Kay, you're right about the old MGM affait being bad on so many levels (see my post: http://www.silverscreenmodiste.com/2011/06/costumes-of-mgm.html )
Debbie Reynolds has now decided to keep her remaining collection, but it is now the tip of the iceberg of what might have been.
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