The MGM Effect: How a Hollywood Studio Changed the World

Hollywood has been called the “dream factory,” and movie studios are, of course, businesses. What sets Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer apart is its presence in a wide array of fields other than the motion picture industry. Although it no longer dominates that industry as it once did, MGM is also involved in a number of other ventures including hotels and casinos, theme parks and attractions, music publishing, and much more. Bingen (MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot) begins with a corporate history of MGM and its growth and later decline. He moves on to an examination of “MGM’s place in the larger world, at how the studio has been portrayed on film (by itself and other studios), on television, in books, comics, songs, parody and prose.” There is also a lively look at MGM’s branding outside of Hollywood, illustrating Bingen’s thesis that “it was never just about the movies.” The whole production is topped off with a bibliography that incorporates books, articles, interviews, and websites.