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.

History

Founded by the

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-based theater owner

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...

, it functioned as a high-class producer of films for the first-run market. One of the leading Mayer stars was

Anita Stewart Anita Stewart (born Anna Marie Stewart; February 7, 1895 – May 4, 1961) was an American actress and film producer of the early silent film era. Early years Anita Stewart was born in Brooklyn, New York as Anna Marie Stewart on February 7, 18 ...

who was recruited from Vitagraph Studios.Eyman p.50 The company had a long-running distribution arrangement with First National Pictures. Mayer appointed

Irving Thalberg Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...

as head of production following his stint at

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. In 1924, the company was part of a series of mergers by

Marcus Loew Marcus Loew (May 7, 1870 - September 5, 1927) was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loew's Theatres and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio (MGM). Life and career Loew was born in New York City, ...

that brought together

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leased f ...

and Goldwyn Pictures into a single outfit

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, which was a central

major studio Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, th ...

of the

classical era Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

. 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.

Films

References

Bibliography

* 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. American film studios Film production companies of the United States 1918 establishments in the United States 1924 disestablishments in the United States Mass media companies established in 1918 Mass media companies disestablished in 1924 1924 mergers and acquisitions {{US-film-company-stub