Editing Mervyn LeRoy (section)

== Interlude as producer: M-G-M: 1938–1939 ==

LeRoy arrived at M-G-M fully expecting to finish his career as the studio's chief production executive.<ref>Barson, 2020: "LeRoy left Warner Brothers for the greener pastures of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), where he was offered an unusual deal that allowed him to function as either a producer or a director. He began by producing the films of other directors: Robert Sinclair's Dramatic School (1938), W.S. Van Dyke's ''Stand Up and Fight'' (1939), Eddie Buzzell's At the Circus (1939), and Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz (1939)."</ref> His first assignments were modest:<ref>Whiteley, 2020: "LeRoy's time at MGM was noteworthy for the change in the emphasis and genres of his movies."</ref>

'''[[Dramatic School (film)|''Dramatic School'']]''' (1938) directed by [[Robert B. Sinclair]]: A romantic drama starring [[Luise Rainer]] and [[Paulette Goddard]] and LeRoy's first picture at M-G-M. Biographer John Baxter attributes Rainer's "coherent, moving and truthful" performance to producer LeRoy and "a fitting to [the filmmakers] rich Thirties career."<ref>Baxter, 1970 p. 89-90: Rainer "an actress apparently limited in talent..."</ref><ref>Whiteley, 2020: His first production for his new employer was ''Dramatic School'' in 1938."</ref>

'''[[Stand Up and Fight (film)|''Stand Up and Fight'']]''' (1938), directed by [[W. S. Van Dyke]]: A [[Wallace Beery]] vehicle, with costars [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]] and [[Florence Rice]]. The screenplay was co-written by crime fiction writer [[James M. Cain]], and [[Jane Murfin]], who wrote the adaptation of [[Booth Tarkington]]'s novel the [[Katharine Hepburn]] vehicle ''[[Alice Adams (1935 film)|Alice Adams]]'' (1935).<ref>Nixon, 2004 TCM: "The screenplay came from...and Murfin [who] penned several Katharine Hepburn films, including the screen adaptation of Booth Tarkington's novel ''Alice Adams'' (1935)...James M. Cain...was best known for gritty urban crime thrillers."</ref>

'''''[[At the Circus]]''''' (1938) directed by [[Edward Buzzell]]: A [[Marx Brothers]] comedy.<ref>Whiteley, 2020: "LeRoy produced the Marx Brothers hit movie ''At the Circus''."</ref>

LeRoy's last picture as M-G-M's production executive was an adaptation of [[L. Frank Baum]]'s children's book ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]''.<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 136-137: LeRoy: "...a gigantic headache...I wanted to direct it..."<br />Canham, 1976 p. 153<br />Baxter, 1970 p. 85</ref>

=== ''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939): ''Magnum'' ''opus'' production ===
{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|fontsize=100%|salign=center|quote= LeRoy had long desired to adapt the Frank Baum books to film and reminisced that "the dream remained merely a dream until I found myself at M-G-M and [[Louis B. Mayer]] asked me what I wanted to make."
"''The Wizard of Oz''," I said. <br />
He didn't look pained or upset or anything. "Okay," he said. "Do it."<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 136-137</ref>}}

In 1938, LeRoy proposed a film version of ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' (1900). Louis B. Mayer purchased the rights to the property from [[Samuel Goldwyn]] for $50,000. Mayer limited LeRoy's role to producer and ultimately [[Victor Fleming]] was enlisted as credited director. LeRoy recalled the scope of the project:

{{blockquote | The preparations were enormous. Nothing like it had ever been done before…[art directors] [[Cedric Gibbons]] [and] [[William A. Horning]] built a model of the set that was one-fourth life size...it took months to finish that alone, and some of the statistics boggle the mind...when the full set was built it covered 25 acres of the studio backlot...we had 65 different sets in the picture, and each of them was concocted out of whole cloth and hard work.<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 137-138 And p. 139: Re: change from director [[George Cukor]] to [[Victor Fleming]] "...a great director, who had that fantasy touch we needed."</ref>}}

LeRoy added that "it took six months to prepare the picture, six months to shoot it, and then a lengthy post-production schedule for editing and scoring. Altogether, ''The Wizard of Oz'' was many months in the making..."<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 140</ref>

Though LeRoy was earning $3,000 a week ($600,000 per year), after completing ''The Wizard of Oz,'' he requested a release from his contract to return to directing, and Mayer complied.<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 136: LeRoy: "...a fantastic salary...twice what I was making at Warners."</ref><ref>Flint, 1987: "The movie maker worked easily with such widely feared studio chiefs as Jack L. Warner and Louis B. Mayer and, by 1938, was earning $300,000 a year."</ref>

{{blockquote |...I quickly became disenchanted with my new job [as producer]...I found myself chafing at the executive's desk. It didn't take long to realize that the fun of the movie business was in the actual directing...About a year after getting to [M-G-M] I went to Mayer and said I wanted out.<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 136:</ref>}}

LeRoy accepted a cut in salary to $4,000 a week as a director at M-G-M and "never again functioned only as a producer."<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 143</ref>