Review: Movie fans will roar, growl over '50 MGM Films' book
'œThe 50 MGM Films that Transformed Hollywood: Triumphs, Blockbusters, and Fiascos,'ť by Steven Bingen (Lyons Press)
The title of film historian Steven Bingen's new book is reminiscent of B-movie trailers of the 1950s that breathlessly hype 'œThe Most Important Picture of the Year!'ť But like many of those overripe flicks, 'œThe 50 MGM Films that Transformed Hollywood'ť can be entertaining, too.
The qualifications for getting on the list are surprisingly squishy. Bingen doesn't limit himself to the 'œreal'ť Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions created by or inside the legendary Culver City studio ruled by moguls like Louis B. Mayer. He writes as if any milestone in MGM's journey - success or failure, trendsetter or swan song - is transformative given MGM's starring role in Hollywood history.
He also counts 'œfilms'ť as theatrical releases, television productions, cartoons and documentaries financed, distributed or later acquired by MGM throughout its corporate history. That means MGM stalwarts like 'œThe Wizard of Oz'ť (1939) and 'œForbidden Planet" (1956) sit side by side with 'œDr. No'ť (1962), first of the James Bond films released by United Artists but acquired years later by MGM. Stepfathers don't get credit for raising children if they're already out of the house.
Such dings aside, Bingen's book offers thoughtful essays sprinkled with fun trivia:
- The first 'œofficial'ť MGM production was the bizarre silent feature 'œHe Who Gets Slapped'ť (1924) in which Lon Chaney plays a disturbed clown whose entire act is'¦ getting slapped.
- 'œWhite Shadows in the South Seas'ť (1928), filmed in Tahiti, was a forerunner of expensive location shoots and featured the first audible roar from MGM's Leo the Lion.
- Despite being the first big-budget feature with an all-Black cast, 'œHallelujah'ť (1929) succumbs to many of the stereotypes of its day. However, leading lady Nina Mae McKinney's star-turn landed her the first five-year contract for any Black actor.
- 'œFreaks'ť (1932) was a proto-cult film, so unsettling with its cast of real-life human oddities that it cratered financially. At the other end of the box office spectrum that year, the hit 'œGrand Hotel'ť (1932) popularized the 'œall-star cast.'ť
- The highly profitable Andy Hardy series of 15 films over 10 years starring Mickey Rooney was a grandfather of the TV sitcom. The fourth, 'œLove Finds Andy Hardy'ť (1938), may have been the best.
- The stars of 'œPuss Gets the Boot'ť (1940), a cat-and-mouse animated short designed to compete with Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons, were eventually refined and renamed Tom and Jerry.
Bingen's best analyses come when he sidesteps the chronology to juxtapose related films to achieve greater salience for both, such as examining the divergence between the World War II standard 'œBattleground'ť (1949) and the more elegiac 'œThe Red Badge of Courage'ť (1951). Listed separately are the pro-British 'œMrs. Miniver'ť (1942) and the pro-Soviet 'œSong of Russia'ť (1944). Both naked propaganda, the former landed its writers an Oscar while the latter helped land its writers on the blacklist.
'œ50 MGM Films'ť can descend into flabby writing and occasional errors. For instance, the Frank Sinatra fans who bedeviled production of 'œOn the Town'ť (1949) were 'œbobby-soxers,'ť not 'œteenyboppers.'ť The Robert Taylor film 'œQuo Vadis'ť (1951) was not a 'œgladiator epic.'ť And by no means was HAL 9000 a 'œrobot'ť in 'œ2001: A Space Odyssey'ť (1968).
Hardcore aficionados and budding cinephiles alike can enjoy Bingen's informed take on titles that often show up on the cable channel TCM. 'œ50 MGM Films'ť proves that strands of the studio's corporate and creative DNA continue to influence today's entertainment.
___
Douglass K. Daniel is the author of 'œAnne Bancroft: A Life'ť (University Press of Kentucky)