Yesterday’s announcement of the cancellation of the James Bond franchise by MGM was extremely disheartening for many. MGM now has $3.7 billion in debt, and its lenders are now impatient after years of delays in repayments. They are pushing for a sale or a thorough restructuring. Many websites and newspapers have already started highlighting highs and lows of one of the motion picture industry’s longest-living and most influential studios. I thought I might do it too. Above is the recording of MGM’s lion in 1929. Since its inception as the mascot of the Goldwyn pictures, five lions have graced the beginnings of every MGM movie and the above is the 1929 photo and recording session for its second lion, Jackie.
Neatorama has a nice feature on the movie studios’ logos including MGM’s.
I have a photo of the original lion with my grandfather who was in partners with mgm