L.B.

Louis B. Mayer, nascido a 4 de Julho de 1884, faleceu a 29 de Outubro de 1957. Co-fundador da Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, os estúdios de cinema de Hollywood, é muitas vezes indicado como criador do "star system" e a sua aposta era que a MGM tivesse "more stars than there are in the heavens". E que estrelas: o rol deixaria qualquer firmamento feliz - Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Norma Shearer, Lon Chaney, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron, John Gilbert, William Haines, Buster Keaton, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Robert Taylor, Wallace Beery, Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Weissmuller, Charles Laughton, os irmãos Marx, Luise Rainer, Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Lana Turner, Leslie Howard, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Tyrone Power, George Cukor, King Vidor, Clarence Brown, Eric von Stroheim, Tod Browning, Victor Seastrom. Abençoada a visão de Billy Wilder e a reminiscência imaginária de um passeio pelos estúdios da MGM ao som de "As If We Never Said Goodbye" (a Paramount que me perdoe o abuso).

"His MGM was a film factory, with stars as assembly-line workers and a hit formula: chaste romance, apple pie and Andy Hardy.

He was the master manipulator, and it was generally acknowledged that of all the great actors on the lot — the Barrymores, Spencer Tracy, Lon Chaney, Garbo — L.B. was No. 1. When Robert Taylor tried to hit him up for a raise, L.B. advised the young man to work hard, respect his elders, and in due time he'd get everything he deserved. L.B. hugged him, cried a little and walked him to the door. Asked, "Did you get your raise?" the now tearful Taylor is said to have answered, "No, but I found a father."

in Time, 100 Builders and Titans, Dec. 7, 1998