The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story

LIONEL BARRYMORE introduces a one hour segment of uninspired film clips from mostly sub-par movies that MGM was getting ready to release in 1951, when the studio was facing declining box-office receipts because of competition from television.

The films are shown in a bunch of uninspired clips that only indicate some of them should have been shelved. The B&W films come first, followed by the Technicolor features.

There's barely a jewel in MGM's crown--since none of the upcoming projects with the exception of one or two are anything to write home about. None of this looks good for Dore Schary, taking over after Louis B. Mayer stepped down. Films like GO FOR BROKE, IT'S A BIG COUNTRY, THE PAINTED HILLS (a Lassie story that didn't even get a film review from The N.Y. Times) and MR. IMPERIUM (Ezio Pinza and Lana Turner) and other even lesser products give no indication of quality films that have endured the test of time.

Might as well skip this puffed up commercial since it's tiresome and completely lacking in imagination and quality.

Despite its misleading title, this is not a condensed history of M-G-M Studios. It is a one-hour promotional piece for what seems like every single one of M-G-M's then-upcoming releases for late 1950 and all of 1951, and although it's fun to watch to see the way film studios used to publicize its releases, it plays like a one-hour commercial, and can quickly get tiresome if you're not passionately interested.

At the beginning, the great actor Lionel Barrymore appears onscreen, making us hope that he will be our guide for the film; no such luck, unfortunately. Dore Schary, the then-new head of M-G-M, who ousted Louis B. Mayer from power, is our host, and he is quite bland and forgettable. We see clips (some of them quite familiar) from both Metro classics and obscure films, none lasting more than a minute or two, and one of the few interesting things about "The Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Story" is that some of these clips were shot before the films were actually finished. So, we get to see bass-baritone William Warfield shot from an entirely different camera angle, one that does not appear in the finished film, as he sings "Ol' Man River" in M-G-M's 1951 version of "Show Boat".

Unfortunately, "The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story" does not go into detail about any of the films or how they were made, so all we basically get are tons of clips from M-G-M's 1950-51 films, and no single clip is long enough to keep us entertained (unlike, say, the "That's Entertainment!" films). "The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story" is good for curiosity value, but it is no substitute for either a documentary about M-G-M or one of the "That's Entertainment" films.

Hour-long promotional film with Lionel Barrymore introducing MGM head Dore Schary, who hawks the upcoming releases from MGM for the year 1951. We get clips from Show Boat, The Red Badge of Courage, Quo Vadis, Night Into Morning, Father's Little Dividend, It's a Big Country, An American in Paris, and many others. The framing sequences with Barrymore and Schare are in beautiful Technicolor. The film clips are in both color and black & white. It's a mildly interesting little curiosity but there's not much here that will appeal to anyone who isn't a die-hard fan of classic Hollywood. I found it watchable enough because I was bored but it's not something I would go out of my way to see again.

Lionel Barrymore starts the ball rolling by talking about earlier movies from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer extolling past and future productions; then he hands matters over to studio head Dore Schary. He shows clips of movies in production.

I'm sure other studios among the majors produced long-length movies touting their upcoming slate of movies. Thanks, however, to Turner Classic Movies, we get a chance to look at Metro's examples of long-form trailers. In large, they were advertising not just MGM's movies, but the Loew's Theater chain that was part of the same corporate structure. The Supreme Court might have issued its decision forcing the companies to split up in 1948, but apparently they hadn't gotten around to doing it in 1951.

No, this is not "The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story" promised by the title. It's a series of film trailers and promotional clips heralding the studio's "Films of the Future" (with an acknowledged exception). Collectively, these films are nowhere near as good as those in "Some of the Best", the previous 25-year collection of clips, which is recalled in an introduction by Lionel Barrymore. But, there are a few fine films represented here. They should have switched the titles of this one and "Some of the Best". Mr. Barrymore reads his opening lines with enthusiasm; he is a link to MGM's glory days, and inadvertently suggests the end of an era.

Barrymore turns the narration over to new studio suit Dore Schary, who supplanted the larger-than-life Louis B. Mayer.

Mr. Schary divides the clips into black-and-white, then Technicolor. We begin with some humor and action with Van Johnson in "Go for Broke". Next up is a period drama called "Inside Straight" with Arlene Dahl's bosom prominently displayed. Those two cover sex and violence well. Jane Powell and Vic Damone sing sweetly together. The preview for "People in Love" with Ray Milland and Nancy Davis is one that works (it made me want to see the unfamiliar movie). Ava Gardner looks beautiful as "Pandora". Lastly, "Quo Vadis" with Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr is promoted as the biggest thing since "Gone with the Wind".

**** The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (3/12/51) Herman Hoffman : Dore Schary, Lionel Barrymore