This one’s for MGM, who are going through some serious financial issues at the moment that threaten to wipe out one of the most successful and best known studios of all time.
So where did MGM start? Well, when the Metro and Goldwyn companies were bought up (and Louis B Mayer suggested that since he was fronting quite a bit money it might be nice if his name was in there too) both studios had a few projects in the works. These the nascent MGM inherited and would become it’s first releases, they included the ill-concieved epic Ben Hur (the most expensive film of the era) and Erich Von Stroheim’s monumental Greed, which was edited down from it’s 8 hour run time, much to the horror of it’s autocratic director.
But none of these are really MGM films per se. Sure they have some of the hallmarks of that studio but they were hand-me- downs. The first true MGM film was the first to be concieved and made at the studio, and this was the fascinatingly titled ‘He Who Gets Slapped’ starring Lon Chaney and drected by Victor Seastrom.
I’ve talked about Chaney before in this blog as he is a favourite actor of mine, but the truth is that, while his acting is always of the highest quality, many of his films are not. Chaney would become the biggest star MGM had in terms of box office receipts, largely because MGM knew how to use him; they spent little on the films and let Chaney’s name sell them. But He Who Gets Slapped is a different matter, Seastrom was a renowned artistic director who makes the film look amazing. The story, though bizarre, is well acted and compelling. It’s a testament to what happens when someone says ‘screw the focus group, let’s make something good.’
MGM rarely took risks but on this occasion they did, they opened their doors with an artistic film that would wow the critics and then hoped that the public would come along too. Chaney had only just joined the top rank of stars following his career making performance in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, his name was not yet enough to open a film. Seastrom was highly respected in his native Sweden (where he is known as Victor Sjostrom) but was a virtual unknown in Hollywood. The film was sold on it’s own merits, a gamble which paid off and got MGM off to a flying start.
And that title? Well, Chaney’s character is a disgraced scientist who hides out in a circus as a clown, his act is to be slapped by all the other clowns. Seastrom films this sequence brilliantly and it becomes more thana circus act, it is a representation of the self loathing that HE feels.
As I said, Chaney went onto great things. Few of the films he made were as good as He Who Gets Slapped, but that’s a harsh measure and he certainly made some other great ones. Tragically his career was cut short by his early death in 1931 after making only one talkie.
While MGM was a great environment for actors and writers, it was not so kind to directors. MGM directors were not permitted to follow their own ideas, they shot a standard coverage and gave the footage to editors who would cut the film without help from the director. Artistic directors like Seastrom had it tough, and needed the help of a strong star to make filsm the way they wanted. Seastrom got lucky when Lillian Gish requested him, and the two films they made together, The Scarlett Letter and The Wind, are classic of the silent era (although studio interference blunted the end of the latter picture). With the arrival of the talkies Seastrom headed home and became a mentor to many up and coming Swedish directors, including Ingmar Bergman.
As for MGM, they went from strength to strength, one of the few studios who stayed in the black during the Depression. But by the fifities the old management was starting to show it’s age while the new management had nowhere near the love of film that the company’s founders had. The studio has had some ups and downs since then so lets hope it comes out of it’s current slump. And it could do worse than looking to it’s past and remembering that great films don’t need big name stars, they sell themselves.



