From the Ends of the Earth

That's enough rope to hang everyone who had a hand in making this dull MGM short subject about all the raw materials, art objects, baby elephants and effort that MGM put into in producing 1939's slate of movies. First they show you the object, then they show clips of the stars, then the titles they will be offering their audiences.

It's a typical short to hype the studio and its product, like the modern advertisements that announce the picture being shilled is from the studio who brought you some other movie -- or occasionally, they share the same caterer. Then as now, one might go to see the work of a particular star or even director, but even when this short was shown at a Loew's theater (the same company as MGM, back then), it might be shown after a show featuring a picture from some other studio.

This short subject film came on a DVD I bought of an MGM feature film. "From the Ends of the Earth" was made in 1939, and probably accompanied "The Women" or other MGM films that were released to theaters that year.

This is a marketing piece to sell people on going to see some other MGM films then under production. But, it also has some interesting film snippets and information. MGM at the time was the largest studio in Hollywood and the world. The documentary stated that MGM each year used more than 9,000,000 board feet of lumber – enough to build 1,500 homes.

The studio used 900 tons of plaster, one-quarter of a million gallons of paint, 42,000 gallons of shellac, and 100,000 pounds of rope of all sizes – each year. No volume was given, but video showed women cutting and sewing some of the tens of thousands of yards of imported fabric.

The film used a map and showed where different materials came from around the world. And, it noted that all of the MGM costumes were designed by Adrian and his staff (Adrian Adolph Greenberg). Those who enjoy learning about movie production and what it takes to put a story on the screen should find this short film interesting.