Over at the MGM site they're marking the company's 90th anniversary. It amazes me that for nearly a century people have been going to the movies, seeing the MGM lion, and getting the pavlovian expectation that the next two hours would be amazing. (It still gives me chills).
But… after some hard times, crazy debt, mismanagement, and many corporate takeovers, MGM no longer owns its own classics. Nor its famed studios. It's just an office now, really.
After Turner bought it, stripped it of its films and spit out the bones, MGM went on its own buying spree. It bought the libraries of the then-recently defunct United Artists, Orion Pictures and some lesser lights (I'm looking at you American International).
So, its website congratulating itself for its vast history features the James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky franchises … all United Artists creations.
So sad, the company that gave us "The Wizard of Oz," "Gone with the Wind," and "The Thin Man" series, no longer has bragging rights to these classics.
Back in 1990 when Apple unwisely gave the boot to genius founder Steve Jobs, he created the NeXT computer company, and after reading about it, I really really wanted a NeXT computer. This would be an impossibility at the time because they were going for $10,000! Ultimately NeXT went under, Apple bought its OS, and brought back its founder, and years later, I bought a NeXT on eBay at the discount price of $250.
I hope to one day purchase MGM the same way.
