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VOICE ONE:
I’m Sarah Long.
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And I’m Steve Ember with People in America in VOA SpecialEnglish. Today we tell about three people who helped make Hollywoodthe center of the movie industry.
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When you hear the name Hollywood, you probably think ofexcitement, lights, cameras and movie stars. Famous actors are notthe only important people in the entertainment business. Directorsand producers are important, too. Today, Hollywood is full ofproducers and directors. However, very few are as famous andsuccessful as Hollywood’s first motion picture businessmen, Cecil B.DeMille, Samuel Goldwyn and Louis Mayer.
(((“There’s No Business Like Show Business”, CDP-8244)))
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Cecil Blount DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts inEighteen-Eighty-One. Both his parents were writers of plays. Hisfather died when he was twelve years old. His mother kept the familytogether by establishing a theater company. Cecil joined the companyas an actor. He continued working in his mother’s theater company asan actor and a manager until Nineteen-Thirteen. That year, he joinedJesse L. Lasky and Samuel Goldfish to form the Jesse L. LaskyFeature Play Company. Goldfish later changed his name to SamuelGoldwyn.
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The three men started making motion pictures immediately. Theyloved working in the movie business. They were deeply interested inits creative and financial possibilities. DeMille, Lasky andGoldfish began working on a movie version of the popular Americanwestern play, “Squaw Man.” DeMille urged that the movie be made inthe real American West. He chose Flagstaff, Arizona. DeMille and thecompany traveled to Flagstaff by train. When they arrived, DeMillethought the area looked too modern. They got back on the train andkeep going until they reached the end of the line. They were in aquiet little town in southern California. The town was calledHollywood. DeMille decided this was the perfect place to film themovie.
“Squaw Man” was one of the first full-length movies produced inHollywood. It was released in Nineteen-Thirteen and was an immediatesuccess. DeMille is considered the man who helped Hollywood becomethe center of the motion picture business. He quickly became acreative force in the new movie industry. His success continued with”Brewster’s Millions,” “The Call of the North” and “The Trail of theLonesome Pine.”
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Cecil B. DeMille was among the very few filmmakers in Hollywoodwhose name appeared above the title of his movie. His name was moreimportant to movie-goers than the names of the stars in the movie.DeMille’s movies were known to be big productions. He combined a lotof action, realistic storytelling and hundreds of actors to makesome of Hollywood’s best movies. He made many kinds of moviesincluding westerns, comedies, romances and ones dealing with moralissues
DeMille gained a great deal of fame with the kind of movie knownas an epic. An epic tells a story of events that are important inhistory. DeMille’s epic movies were based on the settling of theAmerican West, Roman history or stories from the Bible. His firstversion of the historic film “The Ten Commandments” was a hugesuccess among silent films in Nineteen-Twenty-Three. InNineteen-Fifty-Six, he released a new version of “The TenCommandments” to include sound. It is broadcast still on Americantelevision during the Christian observance of Easter.
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Cecil B. DeMille produced and directed seventy movies. InNineteen-Forty-Nine he received a special Academy Award for”thirty-seven years of brilliant showmanship.” He died of heartfailure in Nineteen-Fifty-Nine.
One of DeMille’s last films was “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Itwon the Academy Award for best picture in Nineteen-Fifty-Two. It wasabout people who performed in the circus. Some people say it was afitting subject because Cecil B. DeMille often was called thegreatest showman in Hollywood.
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In Eighteen-Ninety-Five, a thirteen-year-old boy from Warsaw,Poland found his way to the United States. Samuel Goldfish wasalone. He had no money. He found work as a glove maker. He continuedworking in the glove-making industry until he was almost thirtyyears old.
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In Nineteen-Thirteen, Samuel and his wife’s brother, Jesse L.Lasky, and Cecil B. DeMille formed the Jesse L. Lasky Feature PlayCompany. It produced the movie, “Squaw Man.”
In Nineteen-Sixteen, Goldfish started a business with EdgarSelwyn. They combined their names Goldfish and Selwyn and called thenew company Goldwyn. Samuel Goldfish liked the name and changed histo Samuel Goldwyn in Nineteen-Eighteen. The Goldwyn Company mademany successful motion pictures. Yet, the company was not afinancial success.
In Nineteen-Twenty-Two, Samuel Goldwyn was forced to leave thecompany. The Goldwyn Company then joined with Metro Pictures andLouis B. Mayer Productions to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, known asMGM. Samuel Goldwyn was not part of the deal. He promised never tobe a joint owner of another company. He formed his own companySamuel Goldwyn Productions.
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Samuel Goldwyn was one of the great independent producers duringthe “Golden Age” of Hollywood. Most of his films were successfulfinancially and popular with critics. He insisted that his films bewell made and of high quality. This became known as the “GoldwynTouch.”
Goldwyn usually paid for his films himself. He bought the beststories and plays to be made into movies. He employed the bestwriters, directors and actors. And he discovered new actorsincluding Lucille Ball, Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward and Will Rogers.
Goldwyn was extremely independent. He had a strong desire tocontrol every element of the production and marketing of his films.He made all decisions concerning his films including choosingdirectors, actors and writers. His best films include “The LittleFoxes,” “The Best Years of Our Lives” and “Porgy and Bess.” Hismovies received many Academy Awards.
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Samuel Goldwyn was known also for his sense of humor. He createdfunny expressions. In Hollywood they are known as Goldwynisms. Oneof his most famous expressions was “Include me out.”
In Nineteen-Forty-Six, Goldwyn received the Irving ThalbergMemorial Award for his excellent movie productions during theAcademy Award ceremonies that year. He died inNineteen-Seventy-Four.
Samuel Goldwyn was in the movie business for almost sixty years.He is considered one of the most influential film producers ever.
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Louis B. Mayer began as a theater operator in Havermill,Massachusetts in Nineteen-Oh-Seven. Over the next several years hebought more theaters. Soon he owned the largest group of theaters inNew England. In Nineteen-Seventeen, Mayer formed his own movieproduction company. In the early Nineteen-Twenties, Louis B. MayerPictures joined two other companies to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Mayer was appointed vice president and general manager ofMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He had a strong fatherly way of supervising thecompany and actors.
The company had some of the biggest names in show businessincluding Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Katherine Hepburn and ElizabethTaylor. A popular expression used at the time was M-G-M had “morestars than there are in heaven.” M-G-M produced some of the mostpopular movies of all time including “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone withthe Wind” and “The Philadelphia Story.”
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In the Nineteen-Thirties and Nineteen-Forties, Louis B. Mayer wasthe most powerful businessman in Hollywood. He earned more thanone-million-two-hundred-thousand-dollars a year. He was paid morethan anyone else in the United States.
In Nineteen-Fifty, Mayer received a special Academy Award for”excellent service to the Motion Picture industry.” He died inHollywood, California in Nineteen-Fifty-Seven. He was seventy-twoyears old.
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Cecil B. DeMille, Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer areremembered for their excellent movies and their continuing influencein the motion picture industry. They led the way for movie producersand directors of today and those still to come.
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This program was written and directed by Lawan Davis. Our studioengineer was Keith Holmes. I’m Steve Ember.
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And I’m Sarah Long. Join us again next week for People in Americain VOA Special English.