By Richard Harland Smith
"Some of the Best" Twenty-Five Years of Motion Picture Leadership
Brief Synopsis
This promotional short features highlights of MGM's productions from 1924 through 1948 in honor of the studio's 25th anniversary.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lionel Barrymore
Host
Sidney Cutner
Music Conductor
Sidney Cutner
Music Composer
Herman Hoffman
Producer
Rudolph G. Kopp
Music
Leo Shuken
Music Composer
Film Details
Also Known As
Some of the Best - 1949
Genre
Short
Documentary
Release Date
1949
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Distribution Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Technical Specs
Duration
42m
Synopsis
This promotional short features highlights of MGM's productions from 1924 through 1948 in honor of the studio's 25th anniversary.
Film Details
Also Known As
Some of the Best - 1949
Genre
Short
Documentary
Release Date
1949
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Distribution Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Technical Specs
Duration
42m
Articles
Some of the Best--1949 -
Even as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer unveiled its golden anniversary clip compilation Some of the Best (1949), the studio was past its golden age. The biggest of the Big Five (an elevated stratum that included RKO, Warners, Paramount, and Fox) had never stinted on costs and by 1942 the aggregation of excess had run the business into the red. Studio chief Louis B. Mayer let go of such highly-paid A-listers as Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, and Joan Crawford before he too was ousted in 1951. Though Some of the Best boasts of "those four famous words which signify the very best in motion picture entertainment," the phrase "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Presents" would not be affixed to any MGM release between 1950 and 1957. Nevertheless, the studio had good cause to celebrate. Host Lionel Barrymore walks the viewer through a parade of legendary pictures, one representative of each year, from silents (The Big Parade, 1925) to early talkies (Min and Bill, 1930) to all-star extravaganzas (Grand Hotel, 1932) to prestige pictures such as Great Expectations (1934), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Madame Curie (1943). Footage from the studio's gala 25th anniversary luncheon is proud in major talent, though many long-time contract players (Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Spencer Tracy) would soon be shown the door or let themselves out.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Some of the Best--1949 -
Even as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer unveiled its golden anniversary clip compilation Some of the Best (1949), the studio was past its golden age. The biggest of the Big Five (an elevated stratum that included RKO, Warners, Paramount, and Fox) had never stinted on costs and by 1942 the aggregation of excess had run the business into the red. Studio chief Louis B. Mayer let go of such highly-paid A-listers as Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, and Joan Crawford before he too was ousted in 1951. Though Some of the Best boasts of "those four famous words which signify the very best in motion picture entertainment," the phrase "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Presents" would not be affixed to any MGM release between 1950 and 1957. Nevertheless, the studio had good cause to celebrate. Host Lionel Barrymore walks the viewer through a parade of legendary pictures, one representative of each year, from silents (The Big Parade, 1925) to early talkies (Min and Bill, 1930) to all-star extravaganzas (Grand Hotel, 1932) to prestige pictures such as Great Expectations (1934), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Madame Curie (1943). Footage from the studio's gala 25th anniversary luncheon is proud in major talent, though many long-time contract players (Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Spencer Tracy) would soon be shown the door or let themselves out.
By Richard Harland Smith
