Editing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (section)

===Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.===
====MGM in the 1960s====
In 1959, MGM enjoyed what is quite probably its greatest financial success of later years, with the release of its nearly four-hour [[Technicolor]] epic ''[[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben–Hur]]'', a remake of its 1925 silent film hit, loosely based on a true story{{emdash}}despite being adapted from the novel by [[Lew Wallace|General Lew Wallace]]. Starring [[Charlton Heston]] in the title role, the film was critically acclaimed, and won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, a record that held until ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' matched it in 1997 and ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'' also did in 2003.

During this period, MGM fell into a questionable practice that eventually nearly doomed the studio: an entire year's production schedule relied on the success of one big-budget epic film each year.{{Citation needed|date=September 2016}} This policy began in 1959, when ''Ben–Hur'' proved profitable enough to carry the studio through 1960. However, four succeeding big-budget epics—like ''Ben–Hur'', each a remake—failed: ''[[Cimarron (1960 film)|Cimarron]]'' (1960), ''[[King of Kings (1961 film)|King of Kings]]'' (1961), ''[[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)|Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]]'' (1961), and, most notoriously, ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1962). The Cinerama film ''[[The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm]]'' (also 1962), the first film in [[Cinerama]] to actually tell a story, was also a financial failure. One other big-budget epic that was a success, however, was the MGM-Cinerama co-production ''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]'' (1962), with a huge all-star cast. ''King of Kings'', while a commercial and critical bomb at the time, has since come to be regarded as a film classic. The losses caused by these films led to the resignations of Sol Siegel and Joseph Vogel who were replaced by [[Robert M. Weitman]] (head of production) and [[Robert O'Brien (executive)|Robert O'Brien]] (president).
[[File:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1966.png | thumb|right | Logo used from 1966 to 1982]]
The combination of O'Brien and Weitman seemed to temporarily revive the studio. MGM released [[David Lean]]'s immensely popular ''[[Doctor Zhivago (film)|Doctor Zhivago]]'' (1965),<ref>{{cite web |author=Uncle Scoopy |url=http://www.scoopy.com/doctorzhivago.htm |title=Doctor Zhivago |publisher=Scoopy.com |access-date=December 15, 2011 |archive-date=January 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104153925/http://www.scoopy.com/doctorzhivago.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> later followed by such hits as ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]'' (1967), ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' (1968) and ''[[Where Eagles Dare]]'' (1968). However the company's time was taken up [[proxy fight|fighting off proxy]] attacks by [[corporate raid]]ers,<ref>{{cite web |title=Levin v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. |url=https://www.quimbee.com/cases/levin-v-metro-goldwyn-mayer-inc |website=Quimbee |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=August 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803102643/https://www.quimbee.com/cases/levin-v-metro-goldwyn-mayer-inc |url-status=dead }}</ref> and then MGM backed another series of box office failures, including the musical remake of ''[[Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969 film)|Goodbye, Mr. Chips]]'' (1969) and ''[[Ryan's Daughter]]'' (1970). Weitman moved over to Columbia in 1967 and O'Brien was forced to resign a few years later.

In the mid-1960s, MGM began to diversify by investing in real estate.<ref name=fu/> [[Edgar Bronfman Sr.]] purchased a controlling interest in MGM in 1966 (and was briefly chairman of the board in 1969),<ref>{{cite book|last=McDougal|first=Dennis|title=The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood|date=2001|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=[New York?]|isbn=0306810506|edition=1st}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Newman|first=Peter C.|title=King of the Castle: The Making of a Dynasty: Seagram's and the Bronfman empire|url=https://archive.org/details/kingofcastlemaki00newm|url-access=registration|date=1979|publisher=Atheneum|location=New York|isbn=0689109636|edition=1st}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}} and in 1967 [[Time Inc.]] became the company's second-largest shareholder.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert T. Elson|editor=Duncan Norton-Taylor|title=Time Inc: The Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise, 1960–1980|date=1985|publisher=Atheneum|location=New York|isbn=0689113153|edition=1st}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}}<ref>Diamond, Edwin. ''The Power Vacuum at Time Continues.'' ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]].'' October 23, 1972.</ref>