Movie fans will roar and growl over ‘t50 MGM Films’ book
LOS ANGELES, Nov 10, (AP): The title of film historian Steven Bingen’s new book is reminiscent of B-movie trailers of the 1950s that breathlessly hype “The Most Important Picture of the Year!” But like many of those overripe flicks, “The 50 MGM Films that Transformed Hollywood” can be entertaining, too.
The qualifications for getting on the list are surprisingly squishy. Bingen doesn’t limit himself to the “real” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions created by or inside the legendary Culver City studio ruled by moguls like Louis B. Mayer. He writes as if any milestone in MGM’s journey — success or failure, trendsetter or swan song — is transformative given MGM’s starring role in Hollywood history.
He also counts “films” as theatrical releases, television productions, cartoons and documentaries financed, distributed or later acquired by MGM throughout its corporate history. That means MGM stalwarts like “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) and “Forbidden Planet” (1956) sit side by side with “Dr. No” (1962), first of the James Bond films released by United Artists but acquired years later by MGM. Stepfathers don’t get credit for raising children if they’re already out of the house.
Such dings aside, Bingen’s book offers thoughtful essays sprinkled with fun trivia:
The first “official” MGM production was the bizarre silent feature “He Who Gets Slapped” (1924) in which Lon Chaney plays a disturbed clown whose entire act is… getting slapped.
“White Shadows in the South Seas” (1928), filmed in Tahiti, was a forerunner of expensive location shoots and featured the first audible roar from MGM’s Leo the Lion.
Despite being the first big-budget feature with an all-Black cast, “Hallelujah” (1929) succumbs to many of the stereotypes of its day.
However, leading lady Nina Mae McKinney’s star-turn landed her the first five-year contract for any Black actor.
“Freaks” (1932) was a proto-cult film, so unsettling with its cast of real-life human oddities that it cratered financially. At the other end of the box office spectrum that year, the hit “Grand Hotel” (1932) popularized the “all-star cast.”
The highly profitable Andy Hardy series of 15 films over 10 years starring Mickey Rooney was a grandfather of the TV sitcom. The fourth, “Love Finds Andy Hardy” (1938), may have been the best.
The stars of “Puss Gets the Boot” (1940), a cat-and-mouse animated short designed to compete with Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons, were eventually refined and renamed Tom and Jerry.
Chronology
Bingen’s best analyses come when he sidesteps the chronology to juxtapose related films to achieve greater salience for both, such as examining the divergence between the World War II standard “Battleground” (1949) and the more elegiac “The Red Badge of Courage” (1951). Listed separately are the pro-British “Mrs. Miniver” (1942) and the pro-Soviet “Song of Russia” (1944). Both naked propaganda, the former landed its writers an Oscar while the latter helped land its writers on the blacklist.
“50 MGM Films” can descend into flabby writing and occasional errors. For instance, the Frank Sinatra fans who bedeviled production of “On the Town” (1949) were “bobby-soxers,” not “teenyboppers.” The Robert Taylor film “Quo Vadis” (1951) was not a “gladiator epic.” And by no means was HAL 9000 a “robot” in “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968).
Hardcore aficionados and budding cinephiles alike can enjoy Bingen’s informed take on titles that often show up on the cable channel
TCM. “50 MGM Films” proves that strands of the studio’s corporate and creative DNA continue to influence today’s entertainment.
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LOS ANGELES: There was a time in Ralph Macchio’s life where he couldn’t imagine playing “Karate Kid” protagonist Daniel LaRusso ever again. After three films, Macchio didn’t think there was more to add to the story, and he wanted to flex his acting chops with other roles.
“People think I live in Newark, New Jersey, and my mom drives a green station wagon, and I have this Japanese American guy who fixes the faucet when I need him,” said the actor, who has a new book out called “Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me,” about his experience making “Karate Kid” and how time helped him embrace the character.
Macchio’s feelings were only reinforced in 2005 when Pat Morita, who played his mentor and father figure, Mr. Miyagi, passed away.
“It just seemed, why dance a solo without my partner? It’s like, you know Abbott without Costello... He and I had something special from the moment he started reading Mr. Miyagi and I would answer back as Daniel. That chemistry was unique and effortless.”
Over time, it was William Zabka, who played Macchio’s “Karate Kid” nemesis Johnny Lawrence, who felt there was more story to tell.
“He was always like, ‘I wonder if there’s a way to bring these two together,” said Macchio.
Macchio was surprisingly intrigued when Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg pitched the idea of “Cobra Kai,” a continuation series of these characters some 30 years later. After two seasons on YouTube, it was picked up by Netflix where it was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series. Season five is now streaming.