M-G-M, Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot: 10 Juicy Tidbits

Last summer I came across Jim Lane’s post on M-G-M: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot (2011), a coffee table book that exhaustively covers Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the studio era. After looking at Lane’s scans from the book and reading his mostly glowing review, I immediately added it to my Amazon Wish List.

Eight months later, I finally have the book in my hands. Lane is correct: it is a “swell read” with plenty of maps, never-before-seen photographs, and loads of information on the ins and outs of running a movie studio during its glory days. It’s a treasure trove for classical film lovers, and as one of my colleagues on Twitter confided, “I wish I could shrink and jump into the pages.” Consequently, I’d like to share a few tidbits from M-G-M: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot here for two reasons: 1) for my own amusement and record; 2) to encourage classical Hollywood film fans to buy the book when they get a chance. (NOTE: All of this pertains to MGM’s Lot One; I haven’t made it to the sections on Lots Two and Three yet.)

• Along with Edgar Selwyn, Samuel Goldfish purchased the studio facilities in 1918. The studio would be an anagram of the two men’s last names: Goldwyn Pictures, a name Goldfish would ultimately adopt as his own, i.e., Samuel Goldwyn (17).
• Goldwyn’s six magnificent glass stages (for shooting silent pictures) would be demolished and then replaced by 30 concrete ones (for filming “talkies”).
• Irving Thalberg, Mayer’s supervisor of production, proposed to Norma Shearer “by displaying trays of engagement rings and asking her to pick one” (28). Not too shabby.
• Some of MGM’s Lot One structures (the East Gate, Scoring Stage, Little Red Schoolhouse) may be seen in Anchors Aweigh (1945), a Gene Kelly musical which I suppose I need to rewatch promptly (38, 67).
• The Dressing Room Building was called “the bordello” because it contained “open verandahs running along the front in which actors traversed in their dressing gowns to and from the bathrooms.” At least that’s how Myrna Loy remembers it (72).
• Jane Powell recalls her on-set schooling as “merely adequate” since the teacher “didn’t do much teaching” (77).
• Betty Danko, Margaret Hamilton‘s stunt double for The Wizard of Oz (1939), was injured on the third take of the “surrender Dorothy” skywriting sequence when her broomstick (i.e., a smoking pipe) exploded (85). Yikes!
• The Saucer Tank, a 5,250-square-foot iron bowl for shooting water sequences (think Esther Williams and Jaws), lasted on the lot until 2003, when it was replaced by a Coke machine (88). Sigh.
• MGM transported stars around the lots in limousines (96).
• Soundstage 6 was the tallest at 80 feet high; it’s the one with the 15-ton “Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer” on the top (image below). Stage 6 is also where the first recorded fatality at MGM occurred; sadly, an electrician plummeted to his death when a lighting platform support broke loose (102-04).

That’s all for now. Some links for “further reading” follow the photos below.

Further Reading

• A preview of the book (pdf) and some excerpts/images from Santa Monica Press’s page.
• The official site for the book.
• Interview with one of the authors.

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