Louis F. "Bo" Polk Jr. (born c. 1930) is an American businessman who was briefly president of

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Biography

Polk had studied engineering at Yale and had an MBA from Harvard. He joined

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in 1960, working as financial controller and director, instigating rapid change, becoming a youth-conscious organization with a growing group of young managers and closing almost half of their mills and diversifying into other businesses such as

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and

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. He had no previous involvement in movie making but he had impressed Edgar Bronfman, Sr. then the major shareholder in MGM. There was opposition to his appointment within MGM but he was elected as a director in December 1968 and named president in January 1969. Polk replaced Robert O'Brien. He was greeted with reports of MGM incurring a loss of $2.5 million for the first financial quarter. Polk said he became interested in making the film after watching ''Blow Up''. He hired Harvard MBAs to work as executive assistants at the studio and appointed

Herbert F. Solow Herbert Franklin Solow (December 14, 1930 – November 19, 2020) was an American motion picture and television executive, screenwriter, motion picture and television producer, director and talent agent. Biography Solow was born to a Jewish ...

as head of production. During the year it became apparent MGM would record a loss of $19 million. Polk and Solow decided to drop a number of projects to which MGM had the rights, including ''Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead'', ''The Homecoming'', ''Baker Street'' and the musical ''Say It with Music''. The following films were announced under Polk's regime: *''

False Witness ''False Witness'', also known as ''The Diplomat'' internationally, is a two-part Australian television mini-series, produced by Screentime Australia, and broadcast simultaneously on the Australian subscription television channel UK.TV and BBC ...

'' *''

The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart ''The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart'' is a 1970 American film distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) about a confused college student's experiences with sex, relationships, and drugs in late 1960s New York City. Produced by Martin Poll an ...

'' *''

The Moonshine War ''The Moonshine War'' is a 1970 American crime comedy-drama film directed by Richard Quine, based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. It stars Patrick McGoohan, Richard Widmark, Alan Alda, and Will Geer. Plot John "Son" Marti ...

'' *''

The Strawberry Statement ''The Strawberry Statement'' is a non-fiction book by James Simon Kunen, written when he was 19, which chronicled his experiences at Columbia University from 1966–1968, particularly the April 1968 protests and takeover of the office of the dean ...

'' *''The Adventures of Augie March'' directed by

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*''Man's Fate'' to be directed by Fred Zinnemann *''She Loves Me'' directed by

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and starring

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– adapted from ''

The Shop Around the Corner ''The Shop Around the Corner'' is a 1940 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, and Joseph Schildkraut. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson is based ...

'' *''The Ballad of Dingus McGee'' *''Tai Pan'' from the novel by James Clavell starring Patrick McGoohan ''Augie March'', ''Man's Fate'', ''Tai Pan'' and ''She Loves Me'' were all cancelled and ''Dingus McGee'' was made later. There were also several TV series made at the studio: ''

The Courtship of Eddie's Father ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', ''

Then Came Bronson ''Then Came Bronson'' is an American adventure/drama television series starring Michael Parks that aired on NBC. It was created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, and produced by MGM Television. ''Then Came Bronson'' began with a television film pilot t ...

'' and '' Medical Center''. Polk lasted less than a year in the job.

Kirk Kerkorian Kerkor Kirk Kerkorian (; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian ...

moved to control the company and eventually succeeded. When he did so he put James T. Aubrey as president. Following Polk's resignation MGM reported a $35 million loss, as opposed to the predicted $19 million. Polk then sued MGM and Kerkorian for $4 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polk, Louis F. Year of birth uncertain Living people General Mills people Harvard Business School alumni Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives Yale University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)