Irving Thalberg
Encyclopedia
Irving Grant Thalberg was an American
film producer
during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his extraordinary ability to select the right scripts, choose the right actors, gather the best production staff and make very profitable films.
, to German
Jewish
immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). He had a bad heart due to childhood rheumatic fever
and was plagued with other ailments all his life. Upon completing high school, he was employed by Universal Pictures' New York office, where he worked as personal secretary to legendary studio founder Carl Laemmle
, the boss of Universal Studios
. Irving Thalberg was bright and persistent, and by age 21 was executive in charge of production at Universal City, the studio's California
production site.
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with Erich von Stroheim
over the length of Foolish Wives
(1922), and controlled every aspect of the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1923). In 1924, he left Universal for Louis B. Mayer
Productions, which shortly thereafter linked up with Metro Pictures Corporation
to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
. Thalberg became the merged studio's head of production.
The Big Parade
(1925), directed by King Vidor
, was Thalberg's first major triumph at MGM. Until 1932, when he suffered a major heart attack
, he supervised every important MGM studio production, and combined careful pre-production groundwork with prerelease sneak previews which measured audience response. He also had full authority to reedit any MGM film.
At the time he joined MGM, Thalberg was dating actress Norma Shearer
, whom he married in 1927. She considered early retirement after having her second child with Thalberg, but he was convinced he could continue to find good roles for her and encouraged her to continue acting. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1988) and Katherine (1935–2006).
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer
got along famously well. However, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick
and Walter Wanger
. When Thalberg returned to work in 1933, it was as one of the studio's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects and MGM resources, including its stars, due to his closeness to Nicholas Schenck
, who was then president of MGM corporate parent Loew's Inc. Schenck, who was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio, usually backed up Thalberg. As a result, he helped develop some of MGM's most prestigious ventures, including Grand Hotel
(1932), The Barretts of Wimpole Street
(1934 film starring his wife Norma Shearer
), Mutiny on the Bounty
(1935), China Seas
(1935), A Night at the Opera
(1935) with the Marx Brothers
, San Francisco
(1936), and Romeo and Juliet
(1936).
at age 37 in Santa Monica, California
. At the time of his death, he was working on the preproduction of A Day at the Races
(1937) and Marie Antoinette
(1938).
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park
in Glendale, California
, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved, "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
(1937) reads: "To the Memory of Irving Grant Thalberg his last greatest achievement we dedicate this picture." Another dedication to him appeared in the opening credits of Goodbye, Mr. Chips
(1939), a film that Thalberg set into motion, but never lived to see.
Thalberg, a good friend of the Marx Brothers
and responsible for bringing them to MGM, once sent this often-repeated quote to Groucho Marx
via letter on the latter's birthday: "The world would not be in such a snarl, if Marx
had been Groucho instead of Karl."
In 1938, the multi-million dollar administration building built on the old MGM Studios in Culver City
– now Sony Pictures Studios
– was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
, is also named for him.
based the character of Monroe Stahr in The Love of the Last Tycoon
on Thalberg. In the 1976 film version
he was played by Robert De Niro
. Fitzgerald also based the short story "Crazy Sunday" on an incident which occurred while attending a party thrown by Thalberg. The story is included in Fitzgerald's 1935 collection Taps At Reveille
. Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces
(1957) by Robert Evans, who later was the producer
of Chinatown (1974) and The Godfather
(1972).
In an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
, the Universal Pictures of the silent era is depicted, along with characterizations of Irving Thalberg, John Ford
, Erich von Stroheim
, Carl Laemmle
and Jack Warner
.
In a sketch from the British TV comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus
, a high-profile, egotistical movie producer named Irving C. Saltzberg (played by Graham Chapman
) pitches a movie to a team of yesmen writers. Contrary to Thalberg's tendency to not credit himself, the end credits of this episode (which came right after this sketch) credited him for nearly everything, and all the names were slightly changed to look more like Irving C. Saltzberg (such as John C. Cleeseberg
and Eric C. Idleberg
).
The character "R.F. Simpson" in Singin' in the Rain
is thought to be loosely based on Thalberg.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his extraordinary ability to select the right scripts, choose the right actors, gather the best production staff and make very profitable films.
Life and career
Thalberg was born in Brooklyn, New YorkBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, to German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
immigrant parents, William and Henrietta (Haymann). He had a bad heart due to childhood rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that occurs following a Streptococcus pyogenes infection, such as strep throat or scarlet fever. Believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain, the illness typically develops two to three weeks after...
and was plagued with other ailments all his life. Upon completing high school, he was employed by Universal Pictures' New York office, where he worked as personal secretary to legendary studio founder Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle , born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios - Universal...
, the boss of Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. Irving Thalberg was bright and persistent, and by age 21 was executive in charge of production at Universal City, the studio's California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
production site.
He quickly established his tenacity as he battled with Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born film star of the silent era, subsequently noted as an auteur for his directorial work.-Background:...
over the length of Foolish Wives
Foolish Wives
Foolish Wives is an American drama silent film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. Although uncredited, Irving Thalberg, aged 22, was in charge of production and would go on to become one of the most famous studio heads of all time at...
(1922), and controlled every aspect of the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film directed by Wallace Worsley and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr., Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, Brandon Hurst. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel,...
(1923). In 1924, he left Universal for Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
Productions, which shortly thereafter linked up with Metro Pictures Corporation
Metro Pictures
Metro Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company founded in late 1915 by Richard A. Rowland . Louis B. Mayer who worked for Metro Pictures Corporation early on. It is not to be confused with MGM which is a much later franchise concerning itself, Goldwyn and Louis B....
to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. Thalberg became the merged studio's head of production.
The Big Parade
The Big Parade
The Big Parade is a 1925 silent film. It tells the story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.The film was...
(1925), directed by King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
, was Thalberg's first major triumph at MGM. Until 1932, when he suffered a major heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, he supervised every important MGM studio production, and combined careful pre-production groundwork with prerelease sneak previews which measured audience response. He also had full authority to reedit any MGM film.
At the time he joined MGM, Thalberg was dating actress Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
, whom he married in 1927. She considered early retirement after having her second child with Thalberg, but he was convinced he could continue to find good roles for her and encouraged her to continue acting. She went on to be one of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s. Their two children were Irving Jr. (1930–1988) and Katherine (1935–2006).
At first, Thalberg and studio chief Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
got along famously well. However, they had different production philosophies. Thalberg preferred literary works, while Mayer preferred glitzy crowd-pleasing films. A clash was inevitable, and their relationship grew decidedly frosty. When Thalberg fell ill in 1932, Mayer took advantage of the situation and replaced him with David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
and Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger was an American film producer. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a...
. When Thalberg returned to work in 1933, it was as one of the studio's unit producers, albeit one who had first choice on projects and MGM resources, including its stars, due to his closeness to Nicholas Schenck
Nicholas Schenck
Nicholas M. Schenck was a motion picture mogul and impresario.One of seven children, Schenck was born to a Jewish household in Rybinsk, a Volga River village in Tsarist Russia...
, who was then president of MGM corporate parent Loew's Inc. Schenck, who was the true power and ultimate arbiter at the studio, usually backed up Thalberg. As a result, he helped develop some of MGM's most prestigious ventures, including Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel (film)
Grand Hotel is a 1932 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The screenplay by William A. Drake and Béla Balázs is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Drake, who had adapted it from the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum...
(1932), The Barretts of Wimpole Street
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a 1934 American film depicting the real-life romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning , despite the opposition of her father Edward Moulton-Barrett . The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture...
(1934 film starring his wife Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
), Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time...
(1935), China Seas
China Seas (film)
China Seas is a 1935 adventure film starring Clark Gable as a brave sea captain, Jean Harlow as his brassy paramour, and Wallace Beery as an extremely suspicious-looking character...
(1935), A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera (film)
A Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, and featuring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, and Walter Woolf King. It was the first film the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after their departure from...
(1935) with the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
, San Francisco
San Francisco (film)
San Francisco is a 1936 musical-drama directed by Woody Van Dyke, based on the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The film, which was the top grossing movie of that year, stars Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy. The then very popular singing of MacDonald helped make this film...
(1936), and Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet (1936 film)
Romeo and Juliet is a 1936 American film adapted from the play by Shakespeare, directed by George Cukor from a screenplay by Talbot Jennings...
(1936).
Death
Thalberg died of pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at age 37 in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
. At the time of his death, he was working on the preproduction of A Day at the Races
A Day at the Races (film)
Further reading* Elisabeth Buxbaum: Veronika, der Lenz ist da. Walter Jurmann – Ein Musiker zwischen den Welten und Zeiten. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis von Alexander Sieghardt. Edition Steinbauer, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-902494-18-2-External links:*...
(1937) and Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (1938 film)
Marie Antoinette is a 1938 film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starred Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette...
(1938).
Thalberg is buried in a private marble tomb in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California. The land was formerly part of Providencia Ranch.-History:...
in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
, lying at rest beside his wife Norma Shearer Arrouge (Thalberg's crypt was engraved, "My Sweetheart Forever" by Shearer).
Legacy
Thalberg's name appeared on the screen in only two of the pictures he produced, both of which were completed after he died. While he was alive, he refused to allow his own name to appear in his films as he was once heard to say "Credit you give yourself is not worth having". The credit for his final film, The Good EarthThe Good Earth (film)
The Good Earth is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S...
(1937) reads: "To the Memory of Irving Grant Thalberg his last greatest achievement we dedicate this picture." Another dedication to him appeared in the opening credits of Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1939 British film based on the novel of the same name by James Hilton. It was directed by Sam Wood, and starred Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John Mills, and Paul Henreid. The screenplay was adapted from the novel by R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West and Eric...
(1939), a film that Thalberg set into motion, but never lived to see.
Thalberg, a good friend of the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
and responsible for bringing them to MGM, once sent this often-repeated quote to Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
via letter on the latter's birthday: "The world would not be in such a snarl, if Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
had been Groucho instead of Karl."
In 1938, the multi-million dollar administration building built on the old MGM Studios in Culver City
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
– now Sony Pictures Studios
Sony Pictures Studios
The Sony Pictures Studios are a television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard , Washington Boulevard , Overland Avenue and Madison Avenue...
– was named for Thalberg. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
, is also named for him.
In popular culture
F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
based the character of Monroe Stahr in The Love of the Last Tycoon
The Love of the Last Tycoon
The Love of The Last Tycoon: A Western is an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, compiled and published posthumously.-Publication history:The novel was unfinished and in rough form at the time of Fitzgerald's death at age 44...
on Thalberg. In the 1976 film version
The Last Tycoon (film)
The Last Tycoon is a 1976 American dramatic film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Sam Spiegel, based upon Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon, sometimes known as The Love of the Last Tycoon. It stars Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jack...
he was played by Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
. Fitzgerald also based the short story "Crazy Sunday" on an incident which occurred while attending a party thrown by Thalberg. The story is included in Fitzgerald's 1935 collection Taps At Reveille
Taps at Reveille
Taps at Reveille is a collection of 18 short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was the fourth and final collection of short stories Fitzgerald published in his lifetime...
. Thalberg was portrayed in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces
Man of a Thousand Faces
Man of a Thousand Faces is a film detailing the life of silent movie actor Lon Chaney, in which the title role is played by James Cagney.Directed by Joseph Pevney, the film's cast included Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer and Jim Backus...
(1957) by Robert Evans, who later was the producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
of Chinatown (1974) and The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
(1972).
In an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones and primarily stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Corey Carrier as the title character, with...
, the Universal Pictures of the silent era is depicted, along with characterizations of Irving Thalberg, John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born film star of the silent era, subsequently noted as an auteur for his directorial work.-Background:...
, Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle , born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios - Universal...
and Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
.
In a sketch from the British TV comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
, a high-profile, egotistical movie producer named Irving C. Saltzberg (played by Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
) pitches a movie to a team of yesmen writers. Contrary to Thalberg's tendency to not credit himself, the end credits of this episode (which came right after this sketch) credited him for nearly everything, and all the names were slightly changed to look more like Irving C. Saltzberg (such as John C. Cleeseberg
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
and Eric C. Idleberg
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
).
The character "R.F. Simpson" in Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
is thought to be loosely based on Thalberg.
Producer
- Reputation (1921)
- Foolish WivesFoolish WivesFoolish Wives is an American drama silent film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. Although uncredited, Irving Thalberg, aged 22, was in charge of production and would go on to become one of the most famous studio heads of all time at...
(1922) - Merry-Go-RoundMerry-Go-Round (1923 film)Merry-Go-Round is a feature film by Erich von Stroheim and his replacement, Rupert Julian, starring Norman Kerry and Mary Philbin,and released by Universal Pictures.-Cast:*Norman Kerry - Count Franz Maxmilian Von Hohenegg...
(1923) - The Hunchback of Notre DameThe Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film directed by Wallace Worsley and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr., Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, Brandon Hurst. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel,...
(1923) - His HourHis HourHis Hour is a 1924 silent drama film directed by King Vidor.This film was the follow-up to Samuel Goldwyn's Three Weeks, written by Elinor Glyn, and starring Aileen Pringle, one of the biggest moneymakers at the time of the amalgamation...
(1924) - He Who Gets SlappedHe Who Gets SlappedHe Who Gets Slapped is a 1924 film starring Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, and John Gilbert. It was directed by Victor Sjöström. The film is based on the Russian play Тот, кто получает пощёчины by playwright Leonid Andreyev, which was published in 1914 and in English, as He Who Gets Slapped, in 1922...
(1924) - GreedGreed (film)Greed is a 1924 American dramatic silent film. It was directed by Erich von Stroheim and starring Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller, Tempe Pigott, Sylvia Ashton, Chester Conklin, Joan Standing and Jack Curtis....
(1924) - The Unholy ThreeThe Unholy Three (1925 film)The Unholy Three is a 1925 American silent film melodrama involving a crime spree, directed by Tod Browning.The film was remade in 1930 as a talkie. In both the 1925 and the 1930 version, the roles of Professor Echo and Tweedledee are played by Lon Chaney and Harry Earles respectively...
(1925) - The Merry WidowThe Merry Widow (1925 film)The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent MGM romantic drama film and black comedy directed and written by Erich von Stroheim. The film stars Mae Murray, John Gilbert and Roy D'Arcy. Joan Crawford and Clark Gable had uncredited roles in the film....
(1925) - The Tower of LiesThe Tower of LiesThe Tower of Lies is a 1925 drama film directed by Victor Sjöström based upon Selma Lagerlöf's novel The Emperor of Portugallia . Released one year after He Who Gets Slapped, the film marks the second collaboration between Sjöström, Lon Chaney and Norma Shearer. Also starring are William Haines,...
(1925) - The Big ParadeThe Big ParadeThe Big Parade is a 1925 silent film. It tells the story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.The film was...
(1925) - Ben-Hur: A Tale of the ChristBen-Hur (1925 film)Ben-Hur is a 1925 silent film directed by Fred Niblo. It was a blockbuster hit for newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This was the second film based on the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace...
(1925) - TorrentTorrent (1926 film)Torrent is an American silent romantic drama film directed by Monta Bell , based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, and released on February 21, 1926.Torrent was the first American film starring Swedish actress Greta Garbo...
(1926) - La BohèmeLa Bohème (1926 film)La Bohème is a 1926 silent drama film directed by King Vidor, based on the opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini.-Plot:The film takes place in Paris in 1830. Several bohemians try to survive on the streets, living under poor conditions and desiring to one day become famous. One of them is Marcel , a...
(1926) - Brown of HarvardBrown of HarvardBrown of Harvard is the title of three silent films all based on the 1906 Broadway play of the same name by Rida Johnson Young. The 1926 version is notable for featuring John Wayne's screen debut.*Brown of Harvard...
(1926) - The Road to MandalayThe Road to Mandalay (film)The Road to Mandalay is a 1926 silent drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Lon Chaney - Singapore Joe* Lois Moran - Joe's Daughter* Owen Moore - The Admiral* Henry B. Walthall - Father James* Sojin - English Charlie Wing...
(1926) - The TemptressThe TemptressThe Temptress is an American silent romantic drama film directed by Fred Niblo. Starring Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Lionel Barrymore and Roy D'Arcy it premiered on October 10, 1926...
(1926) - ValenciaValencia (film)Valencia, also known as The Love Song, is a 1926 romance film directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki, who came over from Paramount to direct, and starring Mae Murray and featuring Boris Karloff in an uncredited role. Rumors of a surviving print persist. The film was a box office hit and the title song,...
(1926) - Flesh and the DevilFlesh and the DevilFlesh and the Devil is an MGM romantic drama silent film. It stars Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lars Hanson, and Barbara Kent, directed by Clarence Brown, and based on the play The Undying Past by Hermann Sudermann....
(1926) - Twelve Miles OutTwelve Miles OutTwelve Miles Out is a 1927 silent drama film starring John Gilbert and Joan Crawford.-Plot summary:Jerry Fay , is a bootlegger who expropriates the home of society girl, June , for his illicit activities...
(1927) - The Student Prince in Old HeidelbergThe Student Prince in Old HeidelbergThe Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, also known as The Student Prince and Old Heidelberg, is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1927 silent film based on a novel by Wilhelm Meyer-Förster. Ernst Lubitsch directed the picture...
(1927) - London After MidnightLondon After Midnight (film)London After Midnight aka The Hypnotist is a silent mystery film with horror overtones produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, Conrad Nagel, Henry B. Walthall, and Polly Moran and was directed by Tod Browning. It is also a lost film, quite...
(1927) - The CrowdThe CrowdThe Crowd is a 1928 American silent film directed by King Vidor. It is notable for its dramatization of the concerns and dangers of urbanization and modernity....
(1928) - Laugh, Clown, LaughLaugh, Clown, LaughLaugh, Clown, Laugh is a 1928 silent film starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young. The movie was directed by Herbert Brenon and produced and released through MGM Studios.-Cast:*Lon Chaney - Tito/Flick*Loretta Young - Simonetta...
(1928) - White Shadows in the South SeasWhite Shadows in the South SeasWhite Shadows in the South Seas is a silent film adventure romance produced by Cosmopolitan Productions in association with MGM and distributed by MGM. The movie was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred Monte Blue and Raquel Torres...
(1928) - Show PeopleShow PeopleShow People is a 1928 comedy silent film directed by King Vidor. The movie was a starring vehicle for actress Marion Davies and actor William Haines and included notable cameo appearances by many of the film personalities of the day, including stars Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, William S....
(1928) - West of Zanzibar (1928)
- The Broadway MelodyThe Broadway MelodyThe Broadway Melody is a 1929 American musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor sequence, which sparked the trend of color being used in a flurry of musicals that would hit the screens in 1929-1930...
(1929) - The Trial of Mary DuganThe Trial of Mary DuganThe Trial of Mary Dugan is a play written by Bayard Veiller.The melodrama concerns a sensational courtroom trial of a showgirl accused of killing of her millionaire lover. Her defense attorney is her brother, Jimmy Dugan. It was first presented on Broadway in 1927, with Ann Harding in the title...
(1929) - Voice of the CityVoice of the CityVoice of the City is a 1929 film by Willard Mack modeled on a stage play. It is not related to the story of the same name by O. Henry.-Cast:*Robert Ames - Bobby Doyle*Jim Farley - Inspector Wilmot*Sylvia Field - Beebe...
(1929) - Where East Is EastWhere East Is EastWhere East Is East, is a 1929 silent movie starring Lon Chaney, Sr. as an animal trapper in Laos. The picture is Chaney's penultimate silent film and the last of his collaborations with director Tod Browning...
(1929) - The Last of Mrs. CheyneyThe Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929 film)The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Sidney Franklin. The screenplay by Hanns Kräly is based on the 1925 play of the same name by Frederick Lonsdale...
(1929) - The Hollywood Revue of 1929The Hollywood Revue of 1929The Hollywood Revue of 1929 is a 1929 part Technicolor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer American musical-comedy film. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of the earliest ventures into the talkie format. Produced by Harry Rapf and directed by Chuck Riesner, the film brought together some...
(1929) - Hallelujah!Hallelujah! (1929 film)Hallelujah! is a 1929 MGM musical directed by King Vidor, starring Daniel L. Haynes and the then unknown Nina Mae McKinney.Filmed in Tennessee and Arkansas and chronicling the troubled quest of a sharecropper, Zeke Johnson , and his relationship with the seductive Chick , Hallelujah! was one of the...
(1929) - His Glorious NightHis Glorious NightHis Glorious Night is a 1929 American romance film directed by Lionel Barrymore and starring John Gilbert in his first released talkie. It has gained notoriety as the film that reputedly ended the career of John Gilbert by revealing that he had a voice unsuitable for sound...
(1929) - The KissThe Kiss (1929 film)The Kiss is a 1929 American drama film directed by Jacques Feyder and starring Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel and Lew Ayres in his first feature film. The film is known for being both MGM's and Greta Garbo's last silent film.-Plot:...
(1929) - Anna ChristieAnna ChristieAnna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:...
(1930) - Redemption (1930)
- The DivorceeThe DivorceeThe Divorcee is a 1930 American drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan and Zelda Sears, based on the novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director...
(1930) - The Rogue Song (1930)
- The Big House (1930)
- The Unholy ThreeThe Unholy Three (1930 film)The Unholy Three is a 1930 melodrama involving a crime spree, directed by Jack Conway. It is a remake of the 1925 film The Unholy Three. Both were based on the novel of the same name by Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins....
(1930) - Let Us Be Gay (1930)
- Billy the KidBilly the Kid (1930 film)Billy the Kid is a 1930 American film directed in widescreen by King Vidor about the relationship between frontier outlaw Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett , the man who later killed him.-Cast:...
(1930) - Way for a SailorWay for a SailorWay for a Sailor is a film starring John Gilbert. The supporting cast includes Wallace Beery, Jim Tully, Leila Hyams, and Polly Moran. The film was directed by Sam Wood, who insisted on no screen credit...
(1930) - A Lady's MoralsA Lady's MoralsA Lady's Morals is a 1930 film offering a highly fictionalized account of singer Jenny Lind. The movie features Grace Moore as Lind, Reginald Denny as a lover, and Wallace Beery as P. T. Barnum; Beery would play Barnum again four years later in The Mighty Barnum...
(1930) - InspirationInspiration (1931 film)Inspiration is a 1931 English language film adapted from the Alphonse Daudet short novel Sappho . It was adapted by Gene Markey, directed by Clarence Brown and produced by Irving Thalberg. The cinematography was by William H...
(1931) - Trader HornTrader Horn (1931 film)Trader Horn is the first non-documentary film shot on location in Africa. The 1931 movie tells of the adventures of real-life trader and adventurer Alfred Aloysius "Trader" Horn on safari in Africa. It featured many authentic shots of African wildlife and a great deal of inauthentic plot. It was...
(1931) - The Secret SixThe Secret SixFor the DC comic book see Secret Six .The Secret Six is a fast-paced 1931 Pre-Code crime film starring Wallace Beery as "Slaughterhouse Scorpio", a character very loosely based on Al Capone, and featuring Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Marjorie Rambeau and Ralph Bellamy. ...
(1931) - A Free SoulA Free SoulA Free Soul is a 1931 Pre-Code film which tells the story of an alcoholic defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with; a mobster whom her father had previously got an acquittal for on a murder charge...
(1931) - Just a GigoloJust a Gigolo (1931 film)Just a Gigolo is a romantic comedy film released by MGM. It was directed by Jack Conway, produced by Irving Thalberg and starred William Haines, Irene Purcell, C. Aubrey Smith, and Ray Milland...
(1931) - Men Behind Bars (1931)
- The Sin of Madelon ClaudetThe Sin of Madelon ClaudetThe Sin of Madelon Claudet is a 1931 American drama film directed by Edgar Selwyn and starring Helen Hayes. The screenplay by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht was adapted from the play The Lullaby by Edward Knoblock...
(1931) - The GuardsmanThe GuardsmanThe Guardsman is a 1931 film based on the play Testőr by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young and ZaSu Pitts...
(1931) - The ChampThe ChampThe Champ is a 1931 American film written by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock, and directed by King Vidor. The movie stars Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper , and tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer who tries to put his life together for the sake of his young son.The...
(1931) - PossessedPossessed (1931 film)Possessed is a Pre-Code 1931 drama film directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is the story of Marian Martin, a factory worker who rises to the top as the mistress of a wealthy attorney. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee...
(1931) - Private LivesPrivate Lives (film)Private Lives is a 1931 American comedy film directed by Sidney Franklin. The screenplay by Hanns Kräly and Richard Schayer is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Noël Coward.-Plot synopsis:...
(1931) - Mata Hari (1931)
- FreaksFreaksFreaks is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film was based on Tod Robbins' 1923 short story "Spurs"...
(1932) - Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
- Grand HotelGrand Hotel (film)Grand Hotel is a 1932 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The screenplay by William A. Drake and Béla Balázs is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Drake, who had adapted it from the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum...
(1932) - Letty LyntonLetty LyntonLetty Lynton is a 1932 MGM drama film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery and Nils Asther. The film was directed by Clarence Brown, and based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes. Crawford plays the title character, in a tale of love and blackmail.The film has...
(1932) - As You Desire MeAs You Desire Me (film)As You Desire Me is a 1932 film adaptation of the play by Luigi Pirandello made by MGM. It was produced and directed by George Fitzmaurice with Irving Thalberg as co-producer. The adaptation was by Gene Markey, the cinematography byWilliam H...
(1932) - Red-Headed WomanRed-Headed WomanRed-Headed Woman is a 1932 Pre-Code comedy film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, based on a novel by Katherine Brush, and with a screenplay by Anita Loos. It was directed by Jack Conway, and stars Jean Harlow as a woman who uses sex to advance her social position...
(1932) - Smilin' ThroughSmilin' Through (1932 film)Smilin' Through is a 1932 MGM film based on the play by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin, also named Smilin' Through.The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1932. It was adapted from Cowl and Murfin's play by James Bernard Fagan, Donald Ogden Stewart, Ernest Vajda and Claudine...
(1932) - Red DustRed DustRed Dust is an American 1932 romantic drama film directed by Victor Fleming. The picture is the second of six movies Clark Gable and Jean Harlow made together and was produced during the Pre-Code era of Hollywood...
(1932) - Rasputin and the EmpressRasputin and the EmpressRasputin and the Empress is a 1932 film about Imperial Russia starring the Barrymore siblings—John , Ethel , and Lionel Barrymore . It is the only film in which all three appeared together...
(1932) - Strange InterludeStrange Interlude (1932 film)Strange Interlude is a 1932 American romantic drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The film stars Norma Shearer and Clark Gable, and is based on the play Strange Interlude by Eugene O'Neill.-Plot:...
(1932) - Tugboat AnnieTugboat AnnieFor the 1957 syndicated television series, see The Adventures of Tugboat Annie.Tugboat Annie is a 1933 movie starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery as a comically quarrelsome middle-aged couple who operate a tugboat...
(1933) - BombshellBombshell (film)Bombshell is a Pre-Code film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Forbes and Franchot Tone.-Plot:...
(1933) - EskimoEskimo (film)Eskimo was a 1933 film directed by W.S. Van Dyke. It was the first major studio film made in Alaska, and starred Ray Mala, a half-Inupiat actor, and was one of the first dramatic films to use a nearly all-native cast. In 1934, it received the first Academy Award for Best Film Editing, awarded to...
(1933) - La Veuve Joyeuse (1934)
- Riptide (1934)
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
- The Merry WidowThe Merry Widow (1934 film)The Merry Widow is a 1934 film adaptation of the operetta of the same name by Franz Lehár. It was directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starred Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald...
(1934) - What Every Woman Knows (1934)
- Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
- No More LadiesNo More LadiesNo More Ladies is a 1935 film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and Franchot Tone, directed by Edward H. Griffith and George Cukor. It is based on a play by A.E. Thomas...
(1935) - China SeasChina Seas (film)China Seas is a 1935 adventure film starring Clark Gable as a brave sea captain, Jean Harlow as his brassy paramour, and Wallace Beery as an extremely suspicious-looking character...
(1935) - Mutiny on the BountyMutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time...
(1935) - A Night at the OperaA Night at the Opera (film)A Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, and featuring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, and Walter Woolf King. It was the first film the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after their departure from...
(1935) - RiffraffRiffraff (1936 film)Riffraff is a 1936 film starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy. The movie was written by Frances Marion, Anita Loos, and H. W. Hannaford, and directed by J. Walter Ruben.-Plot:...
(1936) - Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet (1936 film)Romeo and Juliet is a 1936 American film adapted from the play by Shakespeare, directed by George Cukor from a screenplay by Talbot Jennings...
(1936) - CamilleCamille (1936 film)Camille is an American romantic drama film directed by George Cukor and produced by Irving Thalberg and Bernard H. Hyman, from a screenplay by James Hilton, Zoe Akins and Frances Marion. The picture is based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils...
(1936) - Maytime (1937)
- A Day at the RacesA Day at the Races (film)Further reading* Elisabeth Buxbaum: Veronika, der Lenz ist da. Walter Jurmann – Ein Musiker zwischen den Welten und Zeiten. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis von Alexander Sieghardt. Edition Steinbauer, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-902494-18-2-External links:*...
(1937) - Broadway Melody of 1938Broadway Melody of 1938Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 musical film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical tradition...
(1937) - The Good EarthThe Good Earth (film)The Good Earth is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S...
(1937) - Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette (1938 film)Marie Antoinette is a 1938 film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starred Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette...
(1938)
Awards
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | Photoplay Awards | Medal of Honor | The Big Parade The Big Parade The Big Parade is a 1925 silent film. It tells the story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.The film was... |
|
| 1932 | Smilin' Through Smilin' Through (1932 film) Smilin' Through is a 1932 MGM film based on the play by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin, also named Smilin' Through.The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1932. It was adapted from Cowl and Murfin's play by James Bernard Fagan, Donald Ogden Stewart, Ernest Vajda and Claudine... |
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| 1934 | The Barretts of Wimpole Street The Barretts of Wimpole Street The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a 1934 American film depicting the real-life romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning , despite the opposition of her father Edward Moulton-Barrett . The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture... |
Academy Awards
| Year | Result | Category | Film |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1927–28 | Nominated | Best Unique and Artistic Production | The Crowd The Crowd The Crowd is a 1928 American silent film directed by King Vidor. It is notable for its dramatization of the concerns and dangers of urbanization and modernity.... |
| 1928–29 | Won | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
The Broadway Melody The Broadway Melody The Broadway Melody is a 1929 American musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor sequence, which sparked the trend of color being used in a flurry of musicals that would hit the screens in 1929-1930... |
| 1928–29 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 The Hollywood Revue of 1929 The Hollywood Revue of 1929 is a 1929 part Technicolor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer American musical-comedy film. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of the earliest ventures into the talkie format. Produced by Harry Rapf and directed by Chuck Riesner, the film brought together some... |
| 1929–30 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
The Divorcee The Divorcee The Divorcee is a 1930 American drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan and Zelda Sears, based on the novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director... |
| 1929–30 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
The Big House |
| 1930–31 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
Trader Horn Trader Horn (1931 film) Trader Horn is the first non-documentary film shot on location in Africa. The 1931 movie tells of the adventures of real-life trader and adventurer Alfred Aloysius "Trader" Horn on safari in Africa. It featured many authentic shots of African wildlife and a great deal of inauthentic plot. It was... |
| 1931–32 | Won | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
Grand Hotel Grand Hotel (film) Grand Hotel is a 1932 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The screenplay by William A. Drake and Béla Balázs is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Drake, who had adapted it from the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum... |
| 1931–32 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
The Champ The Champ The Champ is a 1931 American film written by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock, and directed by King Vidor. The movie stars Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper , and tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer who tries to put his life together for the sake of his young son.The... |
| 1932–33 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
Smilin' Through Smilin' Through (1932 film) Smilin' Through is a 1932 MGM film based on the play by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin, also named Smilin' Through.The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1932. It was adapted from Cowl and Murfin's play by James Bernard Fagan, Donald Ogden Stewart, Ernest Vajda and Claudine... |
| 1934 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
The Barretts of Wimpole Street The Barretts of Wimpole Street The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a 1934 American film depicting the real-life romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning , despite the opposition of her father Edward Moulton-Barrett . The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture... |
| 1935 | Won | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
Mutiny on the Bounty Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film) Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time... |
| 1936 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet (1936 film) Romeo and Juliet is a 1936 American film adapted from the play by Shakespeare, directed by George Cukor from a screenplay by Talbot Jennings... |
| 1937 | Nominated | Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
The Good Earth The Good Earth (film) The Good Earth is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S... |
Further reading
- Thalberg: Life and Legend by Bob Thomas (1969)
- Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M by Roland Flamini (1994)
- Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-believe Saints by Samuel MarxSamuel MarxSamuel Marx was an American film producer, screenwriter and book author.-Life:...
(1975) - Irving Thalberg's MGM by Mark Vieira (2008)
- Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince by Mark Viera (2009)
External links
- Cinemagraphe Review of the Roland Flamini biography of Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of MGM