Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

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Steven Bingen
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Steven Bingen »

Thanks for having me over everyone; you’ve all been so nice.
Lynn, here goes, as I can.

1)Number of backlots – surprisingly, a tricky question. There were seven separate properties in Culver City. But some were seldom used for filming. In the 1960’s they purchased a large ranch property in the San Fernando Valley (north of the studio) with the intention of moving their entire operation up there, and that was instead used for a backlot as well. If you want to add to the confusion, they owned an entire separate studio complex in Borehamwood England, which also had its own backlot. All of this kind of goes against my childhood ideas that the backlot was literally the rear of a single large property. I remember studying with a magnifying glass a photo in “David O. Selznick’s Hollywood” (Remember that book?) of MGM’s Lot One, with all the mysterious outdoor sets visible on one side of a street - and not realizing the lot started again on the other side of that street and continued in a broken line for another hundred plus acres! Incidentally, when Mayer was at the race tracks his staff used to say that he was over at “Lot 8.”

2)Everyone seems fascinated by the Cotton Blossom. She seems to haunt anyone who sees her. Don’t know why. I’ve always suspected that Walt Disney must have had MGM in mind when he designed Disneyland because he put his own Mississippi riverboat out there as well. I later found out that even after the Cotton Blossom was sold off in the 1970 studio auction, she continued to charm people for another 20 years at a theme park in Kansas City. Apparently people out there still talk about her, and many kids grew up loving her who never knew she had been a Hollywood star in a previous lifetime.

3)Sony has done a great job a spent a lot of money on that property. And it’s beautiful indeed. It probably looks better than it did even during the height of MGM’s power. But they keep annoying preservationists and historians by tearing down outdated buildings, some of which were very historic as old MGM properties. I’m kind of two minds about this, surprisingly. I treasure what little of MGM survives there, of course. But I work at a movie studio, and I have to deal everyday with the fact that a studio has to be just that, it has to be a place where films are made and not some sort of untouchable sacred museum. Personally I’m very happy that, in the 21st Century, Sony (I do hate that name, why can’t they call the place Columbia Studios anyway?) can still make their product at a facility that predates the first World War! It’s kind of a tribute to MGM and all the people that worked there that the place is still relevant, and being used for what it was designed to do.

4)First movie? I couldn’t say. We did find out that “The Big Parade” shot on lot Two right after the property was purchased. But I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that that they were filming out there, maybe even building sets on the property before that. Anyone have any thoughts?
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Steven Bingen »

Dear Movieman –
That 1925 film is pretty intriguing isn’t it? It’s frustrating though that just as the camera starts to roll out onto the backlot they cut away!
The studio employed about 5000 people and covered just under 180 acres in Culver City. For years they would buy up any properties that came available around their lots in hopes of further expansion, and in the 1970’s they started selling their properties off as well -- so the acreage count never involved a fixed number. People hearing about the mighty MGM are sometimes surprised to read that acreage wise, they were a little bit smaller than Fox and considerably smaller than Universal, but MGM had more completed standing sets on their property than anyone else. It amounted to hundreds and hundreds of buildings, lakes and forests where every tree had been planted or designed, formal gardens, castles, entire city blocks corresponding to cities all over the world and all throughout history. Truly, there was nothing else like it in the entire world, and there never will be again, I fear. It intrigues me that people saw these sets and these empty facades seemed so much more real to them, so much better than their real homes, their real lives were. What Gibbons did was kind of magical.
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Steven Bingen »

Dear Moreldo
Thank you so much for the kind words about the book. Where were you when we needed you?

I don’t want to downplay the contributions of Irving Thalberg. And I think its important to note that he forced Mayer, and the studio to take risks and try things that they wouldn’t have done after Thalberg’s death. So he deserves a great deal of the credit he is given.

But, and I kind of hate to say this, because Thalberg is a bit of a hero of mine, I also think that at the end of the day Thalberg could have did what he did anywhere. His record at Universal was admirable before he came to MGM, and apparently, had he survived, he had plans to leave the studio to become an independent producer as David Selznick had done. He was almost a model for the modern producer who makes movies wherever he can get them financed. For Thalberg, it was all about Thalberg, or to say it a nicer way, all about the film itself. His passion wasn’t MGM, which I think he just considered a means to an end. When, years later, Mayer was fired, he didn’t try to set up a deal somewhere else; instead he tried to stage an (unsuccessful) takeover of MGM. So whatever MGM was, good or bad, was largely due, not to Thalberg, the “creative” producer, but to Mayer the “bureaucrat.”

As far as anything being left of the backlot, well, like you say, Lot Two is suburbia, and the streets are named after old MGM stars. I’ve driven those streets many times, and when I see children playing there I can’t help but be amused thinking how astonished those children would be to know that actual pirate ships and circus grounds once stood where their tract homes are now.

Lot Three is made up of condos. I got permission to visit one of them and the building manager there proudly told me that the lake that those condos surround was built for in “Meet Me in St Louis.” I didn’t remember any prominent lake in that movie, but I did take some pictures, thinking that it could have been an actual backlot lake at one time used for…something. I went home and checked its location against my old studio map and discovered the “St Louis lake” stands approximately on the site of a western town! Oh well. I didn’t have the heart to tell her either.
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Steve,

I certainly agree about the "magic" of Cedric Gibbons. It seems that there should be a more permanent legacy for him, but the contributions he made as far as desiging the sets and locales we finally see onscreen is certainly a testament to his talent.

I loved what you said about Mayer being on "Lot 8," when he was probably following the horses. :lol:

And it's nice to know that the "St. Louis Lake" is still around...
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Steven Bingen
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Steven Bingen »

Dear Sue Ann, (your turn. Am I doing this right?)

Most expensive set? It’s always hard to find solid and dependable numbers on anything. (Hollywood accounting indeed) But there are memos complaining about the "St Louis Street" on Lot 3 costing about $250,000, implying that it was the most expensive set constructed to that time.

It is sort of interesting that that set was built at all, because the studio had numerous houses and residential streets already standing at that time, any of which could have played St Louis. We only think St Louis in 1904 looked like that because the movie tells us so. But the studio was all about building once and using forever. And they were right. That set was still being used right up until the bulldozers pushed it over. You can see one of the houses on that street as a bordello frequented by Steve McQueen in “The Reivers,” and another in an episode of “Night Gallery” which aired right after the house was destroyed. There must have been interesting ghosts haunting a place like that…
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Lzcutter »

Steven,

Thanks so much for being here! I am relishing all this info you are sharing with us. I have to admit to one thing, my book (courtesy of Moraldo) is at home with my hubby in my beloved City of Angels while I am currently in the City by the Bay, so I hope you will forgive me if I ask questions covered by your book.

When did MGM start to sell of the back lots? The backlot that I was intrigued by in 1977, which one was that?

What streets bordered Backlot 1 and 2?

And this isn't MGM specific but I'm hoping you might know- the old Selznick studio (now Culver Studios) at one time had a sound stage that dated back to the silent era and had a glass roof. Does that sound stage (and roof) still exist?
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

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Thank you, Mr. Bingen! :lol:
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

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I'm "out there" in Kansas City :lol: and yes, the Cotton Blossom was a huge favorite at Lamar Hunt's Worlds of Fun. It really wasn't more than a huge gift shop, but everyone flocked to it. Lots of older folks, because of the memories of the movies. The kids loved it because they could play at being pirates, river rats, what ever fancy took them. I miss it!
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Moraldo Rubini »

You mentioned that in 1986 Bryan Goetzinger found the streetlight on which Gene Kelly perched at that iconic moment in Singin' in the Rain. Mr. Goetzinger was able to verify this lamppost as the authentic piece via Cedric Gibbons' inventory number. Producer George Lehr also mentioned Gibbons' catalogue. Does this mean that every fire hydrant, ionic column, ceramic roof tile had an inventory number that was catalogued somewhere? [Mind boggling.] Do these lists still exist?

There was mention of building "a bit of Old England down near the beach" for David Copperfield. I can't imagine this happening today, what with city bureaucracies, traffic considerations, costs, etc. Do records show exactly where location sets were built?

There are so many wonderful tales in your book (like the love scene from Paris for which -- to Gibbons' horror -- Thalberg wanted an ocean backdrop), I'm betting there were some great anecdotes that never made it to the publisher. We've become so used to deleted scenes and supplemental materials on DVDs, I'm wishing there were a supplement to this book too. Was there a favorite story or odd tidbit that you wished had gone into the book, but there just wasn't the space for it?

[I can't believe that I've been chatting with knitty all these years, and never knew she had ready access to Magnolia's Showboat!]
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

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sho'nuff, sugah! 8)
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

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I am relishing this so much! The questions and your knowledgeable answers are great, Steven. Thanks so much. I hope you won't mind my asking several more questions and get them out of the way so others can get their's in too. I doubt I'll ever have this opportunity again and I really appreciate your kindness in visiting here, so please forgive me if I am asking too much.

1,) Your mention of the expense of the St. Louis Street reminded me that one of the key points made in your book was that Cedric Gibbons was in a unique position as the art director at MGM, almost a power unto himself. This began to change when he opposed Vincente Minnelli, who was hired by MGM in large part because of his design skills on Broadway and Radio City Music Hall. When Gibbons objected to the expense of that Meet Me in St. Louis street of homes, Mayer overruled him. Did this affect Mayer and Gibbons relationship from then on? How did Gibbons deal with this shift in power?

2.) How many people worked in the research facilities shown in your book on the great map of Lot One at MGM like in its heyday? Have you had a chance to go through many of the records that survive from their incredible amount of research, particularly the projects that helped the art and production departments?

3.) I have read that the MGM art dept. had buyers who scarfed up antiques from all over the world and brought them back to the studio for use in movies--and what they couldn't purchase, they could reproduce. Did the studio recruit craftsmen with certain skills or did they train people in many cases?

4.) I have enjoyed your book about MGM so much, could you please tell me if, as Lynn said, there is any hope that a documentary could come out of the wealth of material you and your co-authors put in the book--and could a follow-up book be in the works? It sounds as though you have so much wonderful material you could not have put everything in one book, right?

5.) As an archivist at Warner Brothers, would you say that studio has more surviving sets, documents, costumes and material from the studio's past than other studios? What is the oldest artifact there that you value for its meaning in that studio's history? Is there anything in the Warner archives from the studio era that you found surprising?

Thanks again!
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Steven Bingen
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Steven Bingen »

Hi Lynn
All of the lots except for one and two were sold off in 1970-71. Lot Two was allegedly sold in 1972, but the sale actually didn’t go through, in spite of a “60 Minutes” piece called “Death of a Backlot” which poignantly said goodbye to the place on national television. Eventually the studio did sell the lot to a scrap metal dealer (!), but then turned around and leased back the property for the rest of the decade. You’re probably thinking of this lot (lot 2) which continued to be used right up until the last set (New York Street) was knocked over in 1980. Some of the movies that filmed there during this period were “Young Frankenstein” the “King Kong” remake, “Sergeant Pepper’s lonely Hearts Club Band.” And even the music video for “Stayin’ Alive.” Lot one, which is separated from lot two by Jefferson Blvd, is bordered by Washington and Culver Blvds, and is what survives of the lot today.

I don’t think any glass roofed stages survive at the Culver Studios, but at MGM one of them was still there up until about 4 years ago. It was being used as a set construction mill and not as a stage and had somehow avoided the wrecking ball for all these decades. The studio built offices on the site.
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Those are great questions, Moira.

Steve, I'd like to add another one if I could, and it's sort of an addendum to Moira's queries. Do you know what happened to the actual library contents?
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

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Dear Moraldo
I’m answering your questions specifically here, but this ties into Christy’s and Moira’s questions about the MGM Research Library as well. Bear with me.

Everything, every asset the studio had was apparently inventoried, I’ve heard too many people mention these lists, but I suspect that they only exist today in fragments. So sad that something that was so carefully maintained for so long could have been thrown away, but apparently that is what happened. Towards the end there were so many management changes, with the new regime wanting to clear away the deadwood left behind by the previous one that it just became so chaotic. There is a great book called “The Ruby Slippers of Oz” that talks about how hard it was to find those shoes for the studio auction. I’d bet that there was probably an existent inventory still around during that period they could have consulted that would have told them exactly where the slippers were at the whole time, if there had been anyone still there to find it.

The idea that such a cataloging system could have been created and maintained boggles the imagination, and I’d be tempted not to believe it myself, except that the MGM Research Library still exists at Warner Bros. And there is a card catalog system there which breaks down not only every book on file, (any library had that), but every useful picture in every book and magazine in the collection! It’s Amazing and I swear that it exists. For example, if the Art Dept. wanted to see what a spittoon in a western saloon might have looked like, when you puled up the right card it would tell you to go to a certain book. Or to an issue of a magazine and see a certain page for a picture of just what you needed. And it would be there. How did they do that? I have no idea.

I found the quote about the “little piece of England” in a book. I suspect it came from someone’s memories rather than from paper records, which again, I fear are long gone.

One story I had hoped to get in the book concerns a studio official whose title was “bosom inspector.” Apparently he knew what the Breen censorship office would allow on screen and would go down to the set (or dressing room) to make sure those rules were enforced. I’d love to have seen his business card.
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Re: Welcome to Steven Bingen, July 20th-22nd

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Thanks, Steve. What a great story! :lol:
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