MGM: When The Lion Roars (1992/Warner DVD/Documentary Mini-Series)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: B
As it
becomes more distant, the amazing story of how in the Classical era of
Hollywood, MGM was the biggest studio around and as much of a brand name for
adults as Disney always has been for children is fading outside of the many
great presentations of the TCM Network and the terrific Blu-ray and DVD
releases Warner keeps issuing of those films from their Turner Catalog
holdings. Back in 1992, they hired
Patrick Stewart to tell the story with the multi-part MGM: When The Lion Roars now on DVD.
In two
long, detailed parts on two DVDs, the story is told with surprising candor
about the peaks as well as the valleys and changes at the studio. Inheriting the vast Triangle Studios space
from D.W. Griffith’s peak days, the new owners brought big money, huge ambition
and heavyweight talent to make MGM the biggest, most lavish and wealthiest
studio in the world. After WWII, they
would even exceed Germany’s UFA Studios, which was the biggest until that turn
of events.
Though
they would make dramas, comedies, melodramas and other kinds of features,
shorts and animated shorts, MGM especially became the epitome of the Dream
Factory with their stunningly lavish musicals, which kicked in for them soon
after they picked up the sound film ball from Warner Bros. and ran with
it. Nobody put money into their films
like MGM, even when they only shot in black and white. Their monochrome was some of the glossiest of
all time and with stars like Joan Crawford, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and
Gene Kelly among a very vast pool of talent, their claim that they had more
stars than in heaven seemed viable.
With
fancy break moments for Stewart to address the audience, the never boring 366
minutes is through in explaining how it was at the studio, a city in itself
like all the majors (including Paramount, Fox and Warner, as Columbia and
Universal were much smaller companies at the time) that had its own unique look
and style. We see the big hits and
classics, including Gone With The Wind
keep the studio on top, while other films that do not do initially well go on
to classic status, like Wizard Of Oz which initially lost money for the
studio. After the original studio
system’s peak year of 1939, they had trouble regrouping after WWII, losing
their theater chains, the 1950s blacklisting fiasco and arrival of TV, but MGM
did an about face and moved from the declining musical to big screen epics and
big budget projects intended as hits.
Many
were, others were not, but the studio stayed viable into the late 1960s with 2001, Grand Prix and risks like Zabriskie
Point that was their attempt to cash ion on the Easy Rider wave after its director (Michaelangelo Antonioni) delivered
a hit for them in Blow Up. The Sound of Music also had them trying
Musicals again, but like al the studios, trying to go back was a mistake,
especially in the Rock era. But MGM was
still a brand name into the 1970s before mergers, acquisitions and too many
ownership turnovers broke the giant into bits and pieces. It is one of the greatest stories of industry
you will ever see and that is why this is a must see mini-series, especially
for serious film fans.
This 1.33 X 1 full frame image is softer than I would have
liked it, showing this transfer is an old analog master of some kind, but some
of the newer footage is supposed to look diffused, though not this much. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has faint Pro
Logic surrounds and plays back best in two channels. There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
