Editing Mervyn LeRoy (section)

== Postwar Hollywood in the 1940s ==

The Hollywood film industry reached its zenith in productivity, profitability, and popularity at the end of World War II. The studios collectively enjoyed their most lucrative year in 1946, with gross earnings reaching $1.75 billion.<ref>Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 15: "...the profitable year in the industry's history..."</ref> In the closing years of the decade, organized labor won wage increases of 25% through protracted strikes. Overseas markets imposed substantial taxes on Hollywood films. Studios reacted by cutting expenses on film production and ordering mass layoffs.<ref>Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 15: "Labor troubles...eight-month studio union strike in 1945...crippling British taxes on overseas film earnings would drastically slash Hollywood's income... Britain announced a 75% on foreign film earnings...other sterling countries followed suit..."</ref> Historians Higham and Greenberg describe the qualitative impact on Hollywood films:

{{blockquote |Sudden economy waves threw thousands out of work. Budgets were cut, crowd scenes minimized, epics involving large and expensive sets abandoned in favor of stories emphasizing 'story' and 'realism' rather than lavish production values...efficiency was the keynote everywhere...<ref name="Greenberg p. 15-16">Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 15-16</ref>}}

The formerly "glossy" productions were often replaced with lower budget, black-and-white films, which employed smaller casts and used indoor stages, rather than expensive on-location sites.<ref name="Greenberg p. 15-16" />

Compounding the financial crisis was the [[Red Scare]], launched against the purported Communist influence in Hollywood.<ref>Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 16: "By far the biggest bombshell of 1947 was [HUAC] hearings to investigate alleged Communists [and] alleged communist content in some of its pictures."</ref> The leading studio executives expelled many talented figures in collaboration with [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC). Accused of introducing Communist content into productions, the departure of [[Left-wing politics|Leftist]] screenwriters, directors and actors removed a creative element that had for years contributed to the success of Hollywood pictures. These purgings were considered, in some financial circles and the anti-Communist establishment, a necessary corrective to labor militancy in the industry: "To some observers, [the blacklist] represented a long overdue housecleaning process; to others it meant the beginning of an era of fear, betrayal and witch-hunting hysteria."<ref>Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 17: "What is certain is that Communist influence in Hollywood, if it ever existed, was driven out, and that the ranks of key contributors to the movie-making process were appreciably thinned...the departure of Left-oriented contributors" led to a decline in the quality and profitability of studio productions. And: The blacklist used to "establish Hollywood's political ''bona fides''..." And: See p. 17 for quote on "witch-hunting hysteria"</ref>

LeRoy reflected on the [[Red Scare]] in his 1974 memoir:

{{blockquote |I am strongly pro-American and I had come to recognize that some Communist propaganda was creeping into movies. I felt it was a good thing to root that out, but I deplored that excesses that went into the rooting-out process...there were writers who were supposedly on the Hollywood blacklist that I trusted...I had used [[Dalton Trumbo]], one of the [[Hollywood blacklist|Hollywood Ten]], as writer on ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' in 1945. He turned out a great American story for me, and it had not the slightest hint of anything subversive in it....[The Red Scare] was a sorry period for human relations. Out of fear and self-preservation, men and women informed on their friends, even on their husbands or wives.<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 157-158</ref>}}

By the close of the Forties, the drain of artistic talent, the emerging [[History of Television|television industry]], and litigation that led to the weakening of studio monopolies destabilized the film industry, initiating a decline in the heretofore unlimited power and profitability of the Hollywood movie empire.<ref>Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 17-18: "...at the decades end something vital seemed ebbing ever more swiftly away from the films of Hollywood, a process accelerating in the early Fifties." And p. 18: "The Forties [1940s] may now be seen as the apotheosis of the U.S. feature film, its last great show of confidence and skill before it virtually succumbed artistically to the paralyzing effects of bigger and bigger screens and the collapse of the star system."</ref><ref>Weil, 1987: "In the 1950s, when the film industry seemed to be foundering, Mr. LeRoy made this observation: "Our business was built on 'moving' pictures. But too many sit and talk and talk. That's what's wrong with so many movies today."</ref>

=== Comedies, melodramas and a literary remake: 1946–1950 ===

'''''[[Without Reservations]]''''' (1946): LeRoy's post-war pictures began with a [[Claudette Colbert]] vehicle (reminiscent of her role in ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934)), with [[John Wayne]] as "Rusty" in an uncharacteristic romantic-comedic role. Colbert, as "Kit," utters the memorable and mildly impious phrase, "Thanks, God. I'll take it from here." This is also the title of the book, by Jane Allen and Mae Livingston, on which the movie is based.<ref>Thames, 2003 TCM</ref><ref>Canham, 1076 p. 182: "An uncharacteristic romantic comedy vehicle for John Wayne."<br />Barson, 2020: "''Without Reservations'' (1946) was a pleasant romantic comedy with the offbeat pairing of John Wayne and Claudette Colbert."</ref>

'''[[Homecoming (1948 film)|''Homecoming'']]''' (1948): Like director [[William Wyler]]'s 1946 ''[[The Best Years of Our Lives]],'' LeRoy's Homecoming dramatizes an ex-servicemen's readjustment to civilian life. The film is based on [[Sidney Kingsley]] novel, ''The Homecoming of Ulysses'' (1944), which draws on [[Homer]]'s [[Odyssey|ancient Greek epic]]. [[Clark Gable]] plays Ulysses "Lee" Johnson, a recently discharged war surgeon whose self-complacency is shaken by his personal and professional combat experiences. That softens his misanthropy and eases the nexus with his estranged wife, played by [[Anne Baxter]]. In the third of her film pairings with Gable, [[Lane Turner]] plays an "uncharacteristically unglamorous" Lt. Jane "Snapshot" McCall.<ref>Canham, 1976 p. 160: "Homecoming is...effective as nurse Lana Turner converts a narrow-minded society doctor (Gable) to understanding the reasons for American involvement in the War...the tragic ending satisfies both censorship needs and credibility." And: p. 182: "powerful star vehicle" for Gable and co-stars.</ref><ref>Steinberg, 2004 TMC: M-G-M "traded upon the public perception of [Gable]'s WWII-era triumphs and tragedies in addressing the greater issues of servicemen coming home from conflict irrevocably changed" And: "[Gable] turned to the service in 1942 after the untimely death of beloved wife [[Carole Lombard]], who perished in a plane crash during her return from a war bond drive. Gable patently had to have tapped into these sorrows for his performance here, as the world-weariness and sense of loss that he projects as the home-bound Ulysses are palpable." And: Lana Turner "unglamorous" character.</ref>

'''[[Little Women (1949 film)|''Little Women'']]''': One of several film adaptations of [[Louisa May Alcott]]'s [[American Civil War|Civil War]] era literary classic. The M-G-M Technicolor production offers "a picture postcard prettiness" in lieu of credible performances by [[June Allyson]], [[Janet Leigh]], [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and [[Margaret O'Brien]].<ref>Baxter, 1970 p. 168: "...flawless design by Hobe Erwin..."</ref><ref>Canham, 1976 p. 161: "...emphasis was all on heart and color at the expense of credible acting performances."</ref><ref>Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 132: "...Mervyn LeRoy's unremarkable remake of Little Women (1949)..."</ref>

'''''[[Any Number Can Play]]''''' (1949): Based on an Edward Harris Heth novel, the film describes the personal and professional crisis of a casino owner of high rectitude [[Clark Gable]] who also plays for high stakes, with his family relations in the balance. LeRoy was perplexed that the compelling screenplay by [[Richard Brooks]] and excellent performances delivered by Gable and [[Alexis Smith]] did not register at the box-office. LeRoy reflected on the picture: "I don't know what went wrong. You start out with what you think is a good script and you get a good cast...[but] you end up with a film that is less than you expect. Something happened or, more likely, something didn't happen – the chemistry didn't work and the emotions didn't explode. Whatever the reason, ''Any Number Can Play'' was a disappointment to me."<ref>LeRoy and Kleiner, 1974 p. 166</ref><ref>Arnold, 2004 TCM: "Though Clark Gable gives a commanding performance in Any Number Can Play, backed up by a strong supporting cast, the movie was not a great success. And: "The script...by Richard Brooks from an Edward Harris Heth novel, centers on a casino owner who is 'a nut for human dignity'...He also has a heart condition and family problems, with an estranged wife (Alexis Smith) and son (Darryl Hickman)...eventually he realizes he can have his casino or his family but not both."<br />Barson, 2020: "LeRoy had not had a hit since Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, and make-work pictures such as Any Number Can Play (1949), which featured Gable as a gambler with marital problems, did nothing to reestablish him."</ref>

'''[[East Side, West Side (1949 film)|''East Side, West Side'']]''' (1949): A "dramatic social melodrama", in which the East Side, West Side refers to the class differences that define and divide the "superlative cast" in this M-G-M "high-gloss" production. [[Barbara Stanwyck]], plays the betrayed spouse, supported by co-stars [[James Mason]], [[Ava Gardner]] and [[Van Heflin]].<ref>Canham, 1976 p. 182</ref><ref>Landazuri, 2008. TCM: "A soap opera about infidelity and murder among New York socialites, East Side, West Side (1949) boasts a superlative cast and M-G-M's usual high gloss production values."<br />Barson, 2020: "East Side, West Side (1949) had the benefit of a great cast—Ava Gardner, James Mason, Barbara Stanwyck, and Van Heflin—but was not a success."</ref>