"It has been estimated that historically a fifth of all movies made in the United States were partially shot somewhere at MGM studios," write Steven Bingen, Stephen X. Sylvester, and Michael Troyan in MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot (Santa Monica Press, $34.95). That total is awe-inspiring. What was it like to have worked there during the great age of the studio system (ca. 1925-60)? This superb combination of amazing photographs and brief essays answers that question and many others.
Although the story of the unlikely rise of MGM and its becoming the standard against which all other studios would be judged has been told before, never has that history been so lavishly illustrated with images of what the huge Culver City lots actually looked like. This city within a city – it had its own fire department, barber shop, power plant, post office, bank branches, trolley lines, garages, and lumber yard – was a true factory town.
Maps and overhead shots of Lot One show the location of 30 sound stages, the Writers' Building (which long-time studio head Louis B. Mayer bragged had been built with profits from Joan Crawford's movies), rehearsal halls, the carpenters' shop, the scoring stage, blacksmith and foundry buildings, and the dressing rooms. These last consisted of Star Suites and General Dressing Rooms. The former had kitchens, fireplaces, bedrooms, and private baths.
A picture of the directory shows the locations of those occupied by Crawford, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Jeannette MacDonald, Myrna Loy, and Luise Ranier. Robert Taylor is photographed relaxing in his suite. His neighbors were Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Nelson Eddy, William Powell, Robert Montgomery, and Lionel Barrymore. Major stars were driven to the soundstage for takes, then chauffeured back to their suites until needed again. The General Dressing Rooms, occupied by supporting players, those on the way up or on the way down, were linked by a long verandah and had shared bathrooms
Publicity shots taken by artists like Clarence Bull and, especially, George Hurrell were photographed in yet another building, with a huge range of lighting and filters available to make the stars looks as glamorous as possible.
Lot One also had an amazing collection of Potemkin Villages: Manhattan was recreated with brownstones, Grand Central Station, and landmark skyscrapers. There was a small town; a French village, including a bridge over a stream; a Chinese village; jungles where Johnny Weismuller cavorted as Tarzan; lakes, boats, docks; an antebellum Southern mansion; European palaces and castles; and the huge swimming pool used by Esther Williams in her extravagant star vehicles. (Her underwater ballets were filmed in a separate indoor tank.)
Sometimes, however, those standing sets weren't good enough. For Romeo and Juliet (1936), starring Shearer and Leslie Howard, openly gay director George Cukor recreated the palaces of Verona on a soundstage. For Shearer's Marie Antoinette (1938), a replica of Versailles' Hall of Mirrors was built. The original wasn't sufficiently grand, so the set was several feet longer.
The wardrobe building was where stars were fitted for their costumes, all of which were carefully stored. Leading actresses had dress dummies with precise measurements. After fittings, any gains in weight were reported to Mayer, who promptly ordered that the only meal the star could have at the fabled Commissary was chicken soup, reportedly based on his mother's recipe. (Judy Garland was frequently put on that diet.)
Furniture was built as needed and reused from one film to another, but most audiences didn't realize it, because the stories were different. Still another building housed the cameras, microphones, lights, and all the other technical equipment.
To comply with California laws, child performers like Garland, Mickey Rooney, Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper, Elizabeth Taylor, and Margaret O'Brien studied at the Little Red Schoolhouse, taking classes in-between takes.
MGM was synonymous with musicals, and the complexities of filming them are apparent from studying the photographs and maps of the lot. Dances were choreographed and practiced in the Rehearsal Hall. Shooting took place on a soundstage. Songs were later sung at the Recording Studio and synched to match the completed footage. Otherwise, the performers' heavy breathing would have been audible on screen.
Sadly, very little of the original backlot remains – most was sold to developers who built housing with streets named for the legends once under contract to MGM. The interest in classic Hollywood, however, remains intense. The recent auction of costumes collected by Debbie Reynolds – whose introduction to the book is insightful – brought huge sums, including $5.2 million for the white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch (1955).
Thanks to MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, current and future generations will be able to imagine what it was like to be part of a glorious past. No doubt Leo the Lion is roaring his approval.