A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
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03 May 2024
Since its release in 1968, Planet of the Apes, the masterful film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston, and its subsequent sequels have asked its viewers challenging questions about contemporary society under the guise of a bold science fiction saga: a fascinating look at a hugely successful pop culture phenomenon.
21 Apr 1996
Richard Dreyfuss hosts a celebration of the 80 year history of Universal Studios. Founded as IMP by Carl Leammle to oppose Edison's Motion Picture Tust, it soon grew under the leadership of 21 year old production head Irving Thalberg with classic silents from artists like John Ford, Erich Von Stroheim, and Lon Chaney and prospered further in the Sound Era under the leadership of Carl Leammle Jr. with such classics as "All Quiet on The Western Front," "Showboat," and the studio's signature monster franchises, "Frankenstein" and "Dracula."
01 Jan 1942
In this "Romance of Celluloid", MGM showcases performers whose careers are just starting. Excerpts from their recently released films are included. The narrator says that moviegoers will have to decide whether these fledgling actors and actresses have that certain quality that made superstars out of MGM players Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Lana Turner.
No one could spin a yarn to make a sale like Ray Lum. Twenty years after their initial meeting, Bill Ferris returned home to Mississippi in the early ‘70s with a camera. The result reveals a look back at the colorful rhythms of Ray’s life—at home, at the auction, joking with strangers outside country stores— and provides a glimpse at Southern manhood, friendship and loss. Now nearly Ray’s age when they first filmed, Ferris has become a Grammy Award winning documentarian and renowned folklorist. Using never before seen 16mm footage and new animations, OKAY, MR. RAY is a short documentary film about how even the tallest tales help us keep the memory alive of the ones we love.
08 Jul 2022
Having survived world wars, stock market crashes, and pandemics, the story of the 1874 bottle of Perrier-Jouët, culminates as the star of the December 2021 auction at Christie's of London.
05 Sep 2009
By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times. The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. These conditions produced a series of box-office flops and pessimistic forecasts: maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn't care. Only a miracle or a magic spell could produce a happy ending. Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairy tale. It's the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits - "Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast ," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," and more - over a 10-year period.
15 Mar 1991
A history of Republic Pictures studios, featuring hundreds of clips plus on-camera interviews with stars, director, stuntman, etc.
18 Jun 2004
Everyone has a skeleton or two in his or her closet, but what about the director behind some of the most successful thrillers ever to hit the silver screen? Could M. Night Shyamalan be hiding a deep, dark secret that drives his macabre cinematic vision? Now viewers will be able to find out firsthand what fuels The Sixth Sense director's seemingly supernatural creativity as filmmakers interview Shyamalan as well as the cast and crew members who have worked most closely with him over the years. Discover the early events that shaped the mind of a future master of suspense in a documentary that is as fascinating as it is revealing.
02 May 2014
In 1972, Moody Anderson bought a ghost town and brought it back to life. Nearly four decades later, Moody faces the heart-wrenching task of dismantling and selling his collection of Americana artifacts used in hundreds of films, from Lonesome Dove and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to the Coen Brothers' remake of True Grit.
30 Oct 1976
A documentary short examining the language and performance of auctioneering, filmed at the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in Pennsylvania.
24 Jan 2019
The untold origin story behind Ridley Scott's Alien - rooted in Greek and Egyptian mythologies, underground comics, the art of Francis Bacon, and the dark visions of Dan O'Bannon and H.R. Giger. A contemplation on the symbiotic collaborative process of movie-making, the power of myth, and our collective unconscious.
09 Apr 1925
A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and gives viewers a glimpse at how movies are made.
16 Oct 2012
On December 10, 2010, Sotheby's auctioned off what could be considered the most important historical document in sports history -- James Naismith's original rules of basketball. "There's No Place Like Home" is the story of one man's fanatical quest to win this seminal American artifact at auction and bring the rules "home" to Lawrence, Kansas, where Naismith coached and taught for over 40 years.
07 Dec 2004
A Turner Classic Movies (TCM) documentary about Keaton's discontented relationship with MGM and the events that eventually led to his career downfall.
16 Mar 1935
This Traveltalk series short visits Los Angeles, California. In one of the highlights of the film, narrator James FitzPatrick visits the Disney cartoon studio and shakes hands with Walt Disney.
27 May 2016
Controversy erupts when an unassuming young man floods the American wine market with fake vintages valued in the millions, bamboozling the wine world elite, in this humorous and suspenseful tale of an ingenious con on the eve of the 2008 stock market crash.
14 Sep 2019
An in-depth, sad, and beautiful documentary about the stop motion and VFX artist Phil Tippett, a man who changed the landscape of visual effects in film.
30 Jan 1985
The film tells about the main stages of the history of the country's largest studio "Mosfilm", about the work of the creative team, introduces the viewer to the outstanding masters of Soviet cinematography, with such unique groups such as the Theater-Studio of Film Actors, with the workshops of the studio.
16 May 2021
Cinecitta is today known as the center of the Italian film industry. But there is a dark past. The film city was solemnly inaugurated in 1937 by Mussolini. Here, propaganda films would be produced to strengthen the dictator's position.
24 Oct 1940
This short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind the scenes to look at how the sound portion of a talking picture is created.