Book Review (nonfiction): Movie Fans Will Roar, Growl Over 50 MGM Films Book

The fit of the list is surprisingly elegant. Bingen is not limited to "real" Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions made by the legendary Culver City studios or run by tycoons such as Louis B. Mayer. He writes that every milestone in MGM's journey—success or failure, sidekick or swan song—was shaped by MGM's role in Hollywood history.

Theatrical releases of "movies," television productions, animations, and documentaries financed, distributed, or subsequently acquired by MGM throughout the company's history are also considered.

That is, MGM stalwarts such as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and The Forbidden Planet (1956) sit alongside the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962, UK), which distributed by United Artists. Years later, MGM bought it. Parents do not receive credit for raising their children if they are already away from home.

Beyond these wounds, Benzen's book offers thoughtful articles filled with amusing tidbits;

• MGM's first "official" production was the grotesque silent film The Slap (1924), starring Lon Chaney as a tormented clown.
• White Shadows in the South Seas (1928), filmed in Tahiti, paved the way for expensive location filming and introduced MGM's first lion's audible roar.
• Although Hallelujah (1929) was the first big-budget film with an all-black cast, it conformed to many stereotypes of its time. However, Dame Nina star May McKinney earned her the first five-year contract with any black actor.
• Freaks (1932) was a breakthrough film, with human quirks so disturbing that they created a financial trap. At the opposite end of the box office spectrum that year, Grand Hotel was a huge success.
• Andy Hardy was the founder of the television sitcom, a blockbuster series of 15 films over 10 years starring Mickey Rooney. The fourth, Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), was probably the best.
• Disney and Warner Bros. Puss Takes the Boot (1940), a cat-and-mouse cartoon intended to compete with cartoons, was changed to star a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Bingen's best analysis comes when he abandons chronology to connect related films to make the two more meaningful, for example by exploring the contrast between the World War II standard The Battlefield (1949) and the more nuanced The Red Badge of Courage (1951). : . . Separately listed are "Mrs. Miniver" (1942) and the pro-Soviet "Song of Russia" (1944). Both are simple propagandists, the first received an Oscar for his book. The latter contributed to the blacklist of his book.

50 MGM Movies can suffer from sloppy writing and occasional mistakes. For example, the Frank Sinatra fans who destroyed the production of On the Town (1949) were not "little boppers" but "bobby-soxers." Robert Taylor's Quo Vadis (1951) was not a "gladiatorial epic". And HAL 9000 "2001. was not a "robot" in A Space Odyssey (1968).

Die-hard and novice viewers can enjoy Bingen's expert interpretation of titles shown on the TCM cable channel. "50 MGM Films" shows how the company's legacy and the studio's creative DNA continue to influence entertainment today.