The Leading Men of MGM

Rating:
Summary: MATINEE IDOLS HAD SOME WILD NIGHTS
Review:
During its golden years Hollywood had mega studio MGM. A wag might comment that it would be more accurate to say that MGM had Hollywood as this studio boasted the biggest, brightest stars. MGM men were top box office draws - Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy, Robert Taylor, Frank Sinatra, and more. These handsome hunks had female hearts aflutter and cash registers ringing. On screen they were larger than life, stars As we learn from Jane Ellen Wayne's tell-all-in-graphic-detail expose, off screen they were often falling stars.

Keeping them in line was such a challenge that Metro-Goldyn-Mayer mogul Louis B. Mayer had a cadre of over 80 police officers on duty 24 hours a day. To protect the golden images of his male idols, Mayer shelled out. "City officials were paid well for their cooperation, discretion and silence in cases of disorderly conduct, adultery, drunken misbehavior, suicide, and even murder."

Mayer disliked homosexuals and wanted his matinee idols to be known as he-men. He went to any lengths to achieve this, even to convincing Evie Wynn to divorce her husband, Keenan, in order to marry Van Johnson. Johnson's career was saved and the pair remained married for two decades until a chorus boy won Van's heart.

However, Mayer also knew that he couldn't keep his men away from houses of prostitution, so he provided one for them "to prevent them from contracting a social disease or getting a one-night stand pregnant." Ladies of this "cat house" were starlets who didn't make the grade. They were checked frequently by studio doctors to ensure their health and cleanliness.

For these tactics and more Mayer was detested by some and admired by others. Whatever one thought of him, his was the largest and most successful movie studio in the entire world.

Devoting some 40 pages to each male star, Ms. Wayne details their career, offers a filmography, and dishes, dishes, dishes. Some of it is recycled gossip, much of it is new (at least to this reader). Most know that Elvis Presley popped pills by the palmful. How many know that he had a foot fetish and "loved to fondle and suck women's toes"?

We learn that Jimmy Stewart was shy and stuttered. At one time he was completely captivated by Norma Shearer but was too embarrassed to be seen riding around in her yellow Rolls-Royce so he always slumped down in the back. She gifted him with a gold and diamond cigarette case but, ever the picture of humility, when she asked him for a cigarette, he pulled out a crumpled pack of Lucky Strikes.

What else is there to say about `Ol Blue Eyes? Plenty, according to this author. He once attempted suicide, and although worth millions when he died left his first wife, Nancy, only $250.000. And, there was the night in Indio, California, when he and Ava Gardner "shot up" the town with his 38s. And, they said theirs was true love. Sinatra once described himself as having "an overactive capacity for sadness and elation." An understatement?

Author Wayne has left no stone, story or starlet unturned in telling the intimate stories of "The Leading Men of MGM."

- Gail Cooke



Rating:
Summary: Nostalgic
Review: I have read every book by Jane Ellen Wayne. Her writing has an easy flow to it and plenty of wit. "The Leading Men of MGM" is a follow up to Wayne's "The Golden Girls of MGM." I bought "The Golden Guys of MGM" in Europe so I am able to review the American version in advance. I especially liked the chapters on Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. These men founded MGM and are forgotten unfortunately. All and all, the book is the story of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, how it became so powerful and how it was destroyed by greed.

Rating:
Summary: The ONLY Leading Men of Hollywood
Review: I never get tired reading about the Hollywood of yesteryear and this book tells it all about Gable, Rooney, Presley and the other great stars. It was my first introduction to the silent era actors like John Gilbert and Ramon Novarro. I think that Jane Ellen Wayne covered MGM and the golden era from beginning to end.It was fun reading.

Rating:
Summary: LIVELY, ENTERTAINING AND INFORMATIVE
Review: I read this book under the title "The Golden Guys of MGM" that was published in England. There will never be a roster of handsome talented leading men as there were in Hollywood's Golden Era. These stars will endure forever and will never be replaced. Under contract to the greatest movie studio in the world, they were protected - their lives and antics kept a secret. MGM strived for perfection and their leading men were just that on the surface. What wasn't known about them comes forth in this book. They don't come across as disappointing, however. I saw them as human, after all. It's easy and enjoyable reading.

Rating:
Summary: When Hollywood had style
Review: There was a time when movie stars were respected. There was a time when we left the cinema with a smile on our faces. There was a time when producers and directors worked for their art, not for money. It's all here in Jane Ellen Wayne's "The Leading Men of MGM" ("The Golden Guys of MGM" in the UK).I loved this book and gave it a five star rating.

Rating:
Summary: The MGM Story
Review: Using the biographies of MGM's leading men, Jane Ellen Wayne has written about Metro Goldwyn Mayer from its birth to its pathetic death. The films of each star are listed at the end of each chapter. It is a book worth reading if you are a movie buff. Great historical information about Hollywood and the really great actors who were naughty and talented and, unfortunately, not with us anymore except for Mickey Rooney and Van Johnson.