"MGM: When the Lion Roars" to be released on DVD!

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 11:39am

For those of you who have never seen it, this is probably the best overall documentary I've ever seen about the golden age of movies. It takes the biggest studio in Hollywood from start to finish, in 3 episodic installments (2-hours each, with commercials, on TV), and was originally produced by Turner Home Entertainment for the TNT channel (this was before TCM).

It features a staggering number of "new" interviews, archival interviews and film clips. Virtually everyone that was still alive at the time it was made in 1991/1992.

I love that it shows you how the studio was run, who made the decisions, both for the business and creatively, and it shows us every aspect of this "dream factory" and what it took to make a movie a week (in its heyday). The documentary almost plays out like an epic film itself, with Patrick Stewart playing a mogul-like host, telling us the story of MGM.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205658/

The release date is scheduled for January 20th!

If you're a lover of classic movies, old movie stars, or a fan of MGM, or just want to learn all about "how they really did it," this is the documentary for you.
LINK

Posted: 10/9/08 at 11:47am

I remember this! What a great documentary! Best of the bunch for sure!

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 11:59am

It's been at the top of a lot of "Please release this!" lists. Warners said a few years ago in one of their junkets that they had already remastered it, and it was ready to go. They were just waiting for the right timing to release it (mostly to do with Marketing).

I'm not sure if they found something new to tie it to (Are their any historical movies on Hollywood coming out in January?)... Or maybe they decided things are slow enough now to release it, regardless.

Either way, we win!

The VHS copies still sell well (for VHS copies) on eBay and Amazon, and even the laser disc release has been doing well. I have an old copy, and I find that we watch it at least once a year. It's just so well done!

They don't just interview the usual stars, although there's nothing wrong with that. But they interview chorus dancers, editors (the legendary Margaret Booth), secretaries, assistants, producers, directors, designers, writers, composers, dressers, makeup artists... everyone! You really get an understanding of how everything came together.

Updated On: 10/9/08 at 11:59 AM

[cubanpab]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 12:02pm

besty is this the one you told me about when we talked a few weeks back? cool!

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 12:04pm

Yep, it is!

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 1:17pm

Even though MGM is my least-favorite movie studio, this documentary is superb.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 1:27pm

I remember they aired this on one of the major networks too, because as a kid we didn't have cable, and I remember watching it for the "Oz" segment.

Now that I'm older, I'll probably enjoy it more.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 1:52pm

Great doc! I knew I had seen Margaret Booth in a movie somewhere, thanks for reminding me, best.

I also enjoyed the Warner Bros. doc that was on PBS just a week or so ago.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 4:39pm

I'm not sure that I have a least-favorite movie studio.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 4:46pm

If I go genre by genre, more of my least favorite films, in any given genre, are produced by MGM. That's my gauge, anyway.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 5:55pm

Great news.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 9:05pm

Some of the interview highlights I remember:

Luise Rainer tells how she walked out on L.B. Mayer, telling him, "You're an old man now, and you'll be dead soon. And that's when I'll begin to live!"

Margaret Booth, explaining how crazy Douglas Shearer was (Norma's brother and head of the Sound Dept.) about the sound sync. He would tell her it's off by a single sprocket hole! She thought he was nuts.

Helen Hayes telling how they shelved her movie because it tested so badly at a screening. Thalberg took a look at it, examined the suggestion cards that the audience had filled out and realized that it was really only the last couple of scenes that killed the movie. So, they rewrote and re-shot the ending and released the film. And it was a big hit. "Oh, and I got an Oscar for it!" says Helen, almost as an afterthought. I love how her Best Actress win was almost lost forever on a warehouse shelf.

She also jokes about how they changed the name of the film from "Lullabye" (boring) to "The Sin of Madelon Claudet" (which was a more luring title). "They had to get that SIN in there," she says. God, I miss Helen Hayes. What a lady!

The "two Dorothys" as they were called. (No, not a Wizard of Oz reference, but two chorus girls, both named Dorothy, who were in many of the big MGM musicals in the '40s.) They talk about Judy Garland, the Freed Unit vs. the Pasternak Unit (the two big musical producers at MGM), and you can see the two Dorothys in Meet Me In St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, and many others.

Esther Williams, talking about how insane Mayer was. And Joe Pasternak (big MGM musical producer), who used to eat spaghetti with his hands. She said it was the weirdest thing to watch!

So many good stories from the MGM "kids": Mickey Rooney, Freddy Bartholomew (who passed away before this documentary even aired), Jackie Cooper, Roddy McDowall. I love Jackie Cooper talking about his Best Actor nomination at the age of eight, and how he fell asleep in Marie Dressler's lap during the ceremony when they announced the award. Or how Freddie Bartholemew got up the courage to ask Garbo for her autograph when they were starring in a movie together... and she refused!

Seriously, don't miss this. I've seen in at least a dozen times, and every time I watch it, I remember "new" things.

Updated On: 10/9/08 at 09:05 PM