Post by Doghouse6 on Jul 13, 2021 3:58:49 GMT
Loved your remarks, wmcclain (especially those behind the spoiler; very nicely interpreted and articulated).
Along with pictures like Battleground and The Bad and the Beautiful, The Asphalt Jungle was emblematic of the harder edge that MGM adopted in its product under the production leadership of Dore Schary. He and earlier production chief Irving Thalberg provided figurative bookends to Louis B. Mayer's years as head of the studio. With differing entertainment tastes and philosophies, Thalberg and Mayer soon became thorns in one another's sides, and upon learning of Thalberg's death, Mayer was reported to have said to an associate, "See? I've told you God's good to me."
For roughly a decade, Mayer ran things as he liked, but when Schary was brought over from RKO, Mayer had another thorn in his side. Their clashes finally resulted in a "him or me" ultimatum from Mayer to suits at parent company Loew's, and this time Mayer came out the loser. In 1951, he was out of the studio he'd been instrumental in establishing. Schary's own tenure there lasted only a decade, and Mayer lived long enough - only just - to see Schary ousted in 1957, after several years of diminishing box office and profits.
That's quite intriguing. One film that allowed Hayden to display some uncharacteristic warmth was 1952's The Star, in which he played a marine mechanic who, years earlier, had been promoted as a young actor by titular star Bette Davis, and had quit the business with disgust at it and his own abilities. Perhaps just coincidence, but in any event, those seemingly autobiographical elements may have contributed to his performance.
Along with pictures like Battleground and The Bad and the Beautiful, The Asphalt Jungle was emblematic of the harder edge that MGM adopted in its product under the production leadership of Dore Schary. He and earlier production chief Irving Thalberg provided figurative bookends to Louis B. Mayer's years as head of the studio. With differing entertainment tastes and philosophies, Thalberg and Mayer soon became thorns in one another's sides, and upon learning of Thalberg's death, Mayer was reported to have said to an associate, "See? I've told you God's good to me."
For roughly a decade, Mayer ran things as he liked, but when Schary was brought over from RKO, Mayer had another thorn in his side. Their clashes finally resulted in a "him or me" ultimatum from Mayer to suits at parent company Loew's, and this time Mayer came out the loser. In 1951, he was out of the studio he'd been instrumental in establishing. Schary's own tenure there lasted only a decade, and Mayer lived long enough - only just - to see Schary ousted in 1957, after several years of diminishing box office and profits.
I read part of Sterling Hayden's memoir, Wanderer. He had considerable self-loathing and considered himself a phony as an actor.