You are going to be as amazed as I was at this short film from 1925 showing off the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Just a year after its founding, the studio complex is massive, and not only is each department shown - wardrobe, sets, makeup, publicity, directing, writing, music, dispatch, executives, etc - the people behind the … Continue reading 1925 ‘Tour’ of MGM Studios Features the Who’s Who of Hollywood’s Young Film Colony.
If you have been following this blog or my Facebook page for more than five minutes, you will know that I am crazy about family history, which is pretty easy on the Cummings/Mayer side because their lives have been heavily documented. Still, I can only go as far back as my maternal great-great grandparents: Isaac … Continue reading That awkward moment when it takes Interpol to find your long-lost father…
It's Monday here in Australia, so no wonder that my friend Scott sent me this peppy video of 8-year-old child prodigy, Frank 'Sugar Chile' Robinson, playing 'Caldonia' to a disbelieving audience of Van Johnson, Keenan Wynn and Patricia Kirkwood in M-G-M's No Leave, No Love (1946). Frank was tiny when he showed unusual gifts for … Continue reading Frank ‘Sugar Chile’ Robinson: The Child Prodigy Who Walked Away From It All
Over the years, the Cummings and Mayer families had a bit to do with the Barrymores -- their lives intersected through the 'picture' business, charitable events, and parties. Then again, Hollywood's early 'film colony', as it was referred to, was really a tiny village with no degrees of separation for a core group of industry … Continue reading The Intersecting Lives of the Mayers and the Barrymores.
Last night I was looking through my grandmother Mitzi's scrapbook, containing the many articles she had written for Photoplay, when I ran into a couple of telegrams from her editor, Helen Gilmore. Here's one below asking if Mitzi can cover the Eleanor Powell/Glenn Ford wedding of October 1943, but from a different angle -- from … Continue reading The Telegram to My Grandmother That Led Me to the Patent for the World’s First Commercial Pager…
More from my great-grandmother Ida Mayer Cummings' scrapbook: A very interesting letter from Mae West to Ida, dated August 15, 1940, stating her deep support for 'the Jewish race' and making a financial contribution to the Los Angeles Jewish Home. (2018 UPDATE: I've learned more about this letter - click here.) What I find so … Continue reading Mae West and Her Eerie Letter of August 15, 1940
My Classic Hollywood crush is Gary Cooper so to find a photo of him with my great-grandmother, Ida Mayer Cummings, at his side (and about half his height) is such a fun start to 2016. I found this photo in Ida's massive scrapbook, which documents several years of her decades of philanthropic and civic duty … Continue reading Gary Cooper, My Classic Hollywood Crush
Happy Birthday to my great-uncle Louis B. Mayer. Co-founder MGM Studios, the MPAA, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, MPDAA, funder of spies to infiltrate American pro-Nazi groups, family man, Saint Johnner. He was the eldest son of Sarah (nee Meltzer) and Jacob Meier (later Mayer); the father of Edie and Irene; husband … Continue reading Happy Birthday Louis B. Mayer
Alicia Mayer will host the inaugural Film Preservation and Restoration Summit as a Google+ Hangout on Air, with a panel of esteemed experts on the topic, who will showcase the delicate, rare and valuable films they are seeking to preserve and restore. The goal of this free event is simple: to increase public awareness of … Continue reading WATCH: World First Film Preservation and Restoration Summit TODAY
The Film Colony ♛ 
You must be logged in to post a comment.