How many stars did MGM have in its heyday?
In 1938, MGM had about 120 stars and featured players under contract.
Special-effects man Ken Strickfaden designed the electrical machinery used to create life in Frankenstein (1931).
Ismail Merchant was born in 1936 in Bombay, India. James Ivory was born in 1928 in Berkeley, California. The two have collaborated since 1961.
“D. W.” in director D. W. Griffith’s name stands for David Wark (1874-1948).
Played by John Wayne, The Shootist was John Bernard Brooks. It was John Wayne’s last film.
The brand that Tom Dunson (John Wayne) draws at the end of Red River (1948) was a river with a D on the top and an M on the bottom. The D is for Dunson, the M is for Matthew Garth (Montgomery Clift). Dunson tells Garth, “You’ve earned it.”
In the opening lines of Sunset Boulevard (1950), William Holden says, “Yes, this is Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. It’s about five o’clock in the morning. That’s the homicide squad, complete with detectives and newspapermen. A murder has been reported from one of those great big houses in the ten-thousand block.”