Greg and Tom interview Steve Bingen Studio Archivist and Hollywood Historian about his two new books. (available on Amazon)
The MGM Effect: How a Hollywood Studio Changed the World
50 MGM Films That Transformed Hollywood: Triumphs, Blockbusters, and Fiascos
We talk to Steve about the latest book
The MGM Effect: HOW A HOLLYWOOD STUDIO CHANGED THE WORLD
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s emblem, which has opened thousands of movies since 1924, is the most recognized corporate symbol in the world. Not just in the entertainment industry, it should be noted, but of any industry, anywhere, in the history of human civilization.
And we talk to him about his next MGM book 50 MGM Films that Transformed Hollywood (available for purchase on November 1st.
Movies don’t exist in a vacuum. Each MGM movie is a tiny piece of a large, colorful (although often black & white) quilt, with threads tying it into all of the rest of that studio’s product, going forward, yes, but also backwards, and horizontally and three dimensionally across its entire landscape. Not necessarily a “best of” compilation, this book discusses the films that for one reason or another (and not all of them good ones) changed the trajectory of MGM and the film industry in general, from the revolutionary use of “Cinerama” in 1962’s How the West Was Won to Director Alfred Hitchcock’s near extortion of the profits from the 1959 hit thriller North by Northwest.
Steven Bingen is an author, archivist, lecturer and Hollywood insider who has written or contributed to dozens of books, articles, and documentaries regarding popular culture, film history, and in particular, Hollywood’s physical past, including MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot, Warner Bros.: Hollywood’s Ultimate Backlot, Paramount: City of Dreams, and recently, Hollywood’s Lost Backlot: 40 Acres of Glamor and Mystery. He lives in Los Angeles
L-R Greg Dyro, Steve Bingen and Ron Barbagallo
At the Academy Museum in front of an original Mt. Rushmore backdrop from North by Northwest
“Nurturing talent and giving promising cinematographers the crucial exposure they need to succeed in the Motion Picture Industry lies at the heart of Local 600’s annual Emerging Cinematographer Awards.”
Steven Poster, ASC
