MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot

If ever a story needed to be told, this is it. In the '70's, I saw a feature piece on 60 Minutes regarding the systematic selling off of the fabled MGM Studio's backlots. It was a disturbing and ghostly story to begin with as it showed the once great studio in a decaying freefall. I'm a fan of classic Hollywood movies and I was upset by the thought that MGM was disappearing as a physical entity and would be lucky if it even existed on paper in a few years. In all probability MGM was soon to be reduced to stripmalls and subdivisions.As anyone who watches a lot of movies will tell you, the major Hollywood studios had their own unique style and part of that style was associated with their backlots and movie sets. MGM was the grandest of them all. After all the dust from the former backlots had settled, when I'd go out to California I'd try to figure out what used to be MGM without much luck. It was difficult to determine where the lots once stood and harder still to know where the familiar outdoor sets that appeared in so many great films stood.This book is incredible. While its size might give the impression that this is one of those fancy coffee table books with plenty of pictures and non-existent text, this book delivers. It is the story of a studio as well as a family of employees and it documents and details the founding of the studio, its boom years, and its slow disintegration. It is heavy with maps, pictures, archival information, and contains a huge amount of information and documentation about how the studio operated and how it was physically laid out. It chronicles the changes that occurred throughout the years as well as the business decisions that triggered those changes.M-G-M: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot is a wonder in regard to not only its scope but also to the level of research its three authors went to in getting this story right. The authors interviewed a large number of people who were associated with the studio over the years and relied on the memoirs of many deceased people who were involved in the inner workings of the studio. Rare photographs were unearthed as well as maps and aerial photographs. Major streets and sets were identified. Lists were compiled with films that utilized specific sets. The end result provides an intimate and detailed glimpse at something that essentially no longer exists except on film stock and in the hearts of film fans. This book is an absolute treat and a must have for anyone who is truly interested in the history of Hollywood film making.

The new book, MGM, Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, is at once a compelling social history rather than just an architectual survey of the sets, administrative buildings, and soundstages of Hollywood's greatest studio of the thirties, forties, and fifties. It truly is our Brigadoon, a city within a city within a country that made real countless myths and legends that could be experienced again and again on the celluloid screen. Brigadoon can only reappear once every hundred years, thus it's history has been short without too much social consequence, MGM not only brought to life visions of granduer it also trained generations on how on how to live an idealized life. Who hasn't watched an Andy Hardy film, Meet Me In St. Louis, or one of the Dr.Kildere entries and reflected or even measured the normality of their own families against these films? Wasn't Dad supposed to be as kind and understanding as Judge Hardy? Wasn't Mom supposed to be as wise and warm as Esther Smith's mother in St. Louis? And who hasn't, at one time or another, splashed in the rain or sung a few bars of Singin' in the Rain during a friendly down pour? There are so many moments from MGM films that have been cemented in the social consciouness.What is so unique about this new book is that the authors recognize that the soundstages and outdoor lots played just as important characters in the films they appeared as the actors themselves. It's part of what gave MGM its look (in addition to great cinema photography, costume designers, set designers, hair stylists, and those who created the often beautiful posters and publicity portraits).Authors Bingen (whose Warner Bros. book is also a treat), Sylvester and Troyan take the reader on a virtual tour of MGM, inside and out. There are maps of the backlots, aeriel views of the studio, and best of all, beautiful and detailed photos of each studio outdoor set where you can compare the changes as they were redressed to fit the specific needs of the motion picture being filmed there at that time. Vincente Minnelli had to fight tooth and nails to get his "St. Louis Street" built (for $208,275, an astronomical sum in 1943 when the film started shooting) rather than refurbish the Andy Hardy Street (for a mere $58,275 as Cedric Gibbons saw it). Yet both streets were utilized over the years which more than paid back their original costs. For example, "The St. Louis Street" show up in The Long, Long Trailer with much amusement as well as in such films as Cimarron and All Fall Down. The Andy Hardy Street was also used in Summer Holiday, Babes in Arms, Strike Up the Band, and even in one of the Thin Man films. The authors stress its iconic nature as a forerunner of "family" television series such as Father Knows Best and The Brady Bunch, which only further heightened the image of the "All American Family," something that many politicians still stick to.In addition to being enlightened just how these backlots influenced (and still influence) our lives, this book is also plain fun to look at. Where else can you view Tarzan's jungle lot, the Showboat lake, Waterloo Bridge, and so many others between two covers of such well documented facts? And it seems quite appropriate to have a foreward by Debbie Reynolds who once fought to have the MGM backlots preserved as an amusement park of sorts long before Universal did the same with theirs.This MGM backlot book is an important record of a studio and story that took place once upon a time; that was crumbling even as it continued to enhance the dreams of film goers around the world. But like a Brigadoon, MGM will keep coming back; with each viewing of its masterpieces as well as its lesser achievements. Although self-descibed as the studio with more stars than in the heavens, this book illuminates the heavens rather than the stars.

Excelente archivo fotográfico y muy interesante información en su contenido presentada de forma muy agradable. Altamente recomendable para todos aquellos que amamos la historia del cine.

Before the advent of light weight cameras and sound equipment, the Hollywood studios had vast acres of backlots on which to recreate far off lands and long-gone eras. Fortunately for the movie makers, it's now easier to fly to those far off lands and recreate whatever castles and other things are required with portions of full size sets augmented by computer generated imagery. But on the other hand, it must have been great fun shooting on the biggest back lot of them all at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio in Culver City. It would have made a fantastic tourist attraction. Debbie Reynolds had the right idea, but the execs at the studio wanted the money now. Too bad that greed took over reason and they sold it. If they'd listened to her in the first place they would have made a fortune. But what's a mere movie star know anyway?

I'm not a huge fan of watching 'classic' movies but have always had an interest in how films, old and new, are made. In many ways I find the methods used to make films in 'the good old days' far more interesting than modern films which seem to be mainly made in computers.I have a fairly large collection of books about the making of films and have to say this is, without doubt, one of the best. If you have any interest about how films used to be made I highly recommend this book. The research behind the book has been extensive and gives good diagrams of the old backlot layouts and which films they were used in. There are many pictures of how the backlots were in their heyday and how they eventually ended. The book also covers the management of MGM over the years and how it went from the top Hollywood studio to what it is today.Having said above that I'm not a great fan of classic films as a result of this book I watched Singing In The Rain on TV a few weeks ago and was matching up shots in the film with pictures from this book and actually loved the film as well!!As another reviewer said I'd love to see similar books about other studios, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, etc, but I read this book with the feeling that the authors had a real passion about MGM so maybe they wouldn't be the same.Highly recommended for anyone who loves films or just wants to know how MGM used to be.

Un livre tout simplement magnifique qui nous conte et nous raconte la naissance,la splendeur puis le déclin de l'un des plus prestigieux studio hollywoodien : la M.G.M.A travers d'extraordinaires photos d'archives pour la plupart jamais publiées,des anectodes savoureuses mais aussi des témoignages de ces personnes qui travaillaient "behind the scene" , cet ouvrage nous invite à visiter tour à tour les plateaux de cinéma par lesquels sont sortis tant de films qui nous font toujours rêver, ainsi que les différents départements (costumes, accessoires, restauration, musique, animation ect...)qui ont réussi le tour de force de faire tourner cette véritable usine à rêves.Plus dure sera la chute de ce merveilleux empire à la méthode certes contestée, voire contestable (star-system) mais qui ne méritait pas son sort : la mise en vente aux enchères de ses somptueux costumes ainsi que de ses innombrables accessoires mais aussi la vente "au poids" de ses différents décors de cinéma.Heureusement que les auteurs, véritables archéologues du cinéma, ont réussi l'exploit de nous faire revivre cette époque hélas révolue, avec une jolie préface de Debbie Reynolds qui nous invite à ce voyage inoubliable dans le temps...Seul petit bémol, hélas,cet ouvrage est entièrement en anglais mais cela ne doit pas vous décourager, ne fût-ce que pour son exceptionnelle iconographie.

When it comes to exploring the vanished backlots of movie studios this book is the benchmark! It not only traces the history of the studio and the people involved but also places the emphasis on visually showing us the production facility including those much-loved backlots. Their history, how they changed over the years, how they were dressed differently for different movies and sadly what eventually happened to them, it's all here, illustrated with hundred of rare and never before seen maps and photos. I loved this book and refer to it often.