Louis B. Mayer Pictures (or Louis B. Mayer Productions) was an American film production company of the silent era which operated from 1918 until 1924.
 | |
| Founded | 1918 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Louis B. Mayer |
| Defunct | April 17, 1924 |
| Fate | Merged with Metro Pictures Corporation and Goldwyn Pictures to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Successors | Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Amazon MGM Studios Library: Warner Bros. (through Turner Entertainment Co.) Public domain |
| Parent | Metro Pictures Corporation |
History
editFounded by the New England–based theater owner Louis B. Mayer, it functioned as a high-class producer of films for the first-run market. One of the leading Mayer stars was Anita Stewart who was recruited from Vitagraph Studios.[1] The company had a long-running distribution arrangement with First National Pictures. Mayer appointed Irving Thalberg as head of production following his stint at Universal Pictures.
In 1924, the company was part of a series of mergers by Marcus Loew that brought together Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures into a single outfit MGM, which was a central major studio of the classical era. Although the new company was initially known as Metro-Goldwyn, within a year the name Mayer had been added to the title in acknowledgement of his key role in the studio.
References
edit- ^ Eyman, p. 50
Bibliography
edit- Eyman, Scott. Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer. Simon and Schuster, 2008.
- Schatz, Thomas. The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era. Henry Holt and Company, 2015.
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