Silence of the Lion - MGM Studios

I recently wrote a piece regarding film noir. During my research for the article I stumbled upon some information that was not surprising, but quite disturbing.

In June 1937 a sales convention was held on the MGM Studio lot, celebrating a job well done for the studios sales representative from all across the nation. Conventions were and have been notorious for the Las Vegas (what goes on here stays here) atmosphere. I feel that this especially holds true in a decade where the sexual mores, of the era, were confining and stifled.

There was a casting call of sorts where underage girls, under contract with the studio, were told they had to report to a barn on the lot for "auditions". Included in this "cattle call" was a 13 year old singer named Dorothy Dandridge who provided the entertainment. In actuality these young women were used by studio heads to "entertain" the visiting salesmen.

A young woman by the name of Patrica Douglas was also in attendance, listed as Girl 27 on the call sheet. This child was drugged and brutally raped during the wild festivities, on studio grounds, by a studio executive. There was an eyewitness, allegations, a trial and that was it. People were paid off, including the victims mother, the only witness, her attorney, the DA and her claim of rape was silenced. Her legal fight was an exercise in futility due to the overwhelming power of Louie B. Mayer, and his movie empire known as MGM Studios.

Seventy years later the victim finally vindicated herself, and was able to tell her story. Unfortunately, the experience left Patricia a lonely, bitter person unable to maintain close relationships even with her only daughter.

Many a star whose light shone brightly during their stay at MGM, were troubled souls, who lead shallow existences. Studios in the early days, were known to ride roughshod over those on their rosters. Grooming a potential starlet included lessons in diction, etiquette, they were taught how to walk, sit, dance, dress every aspect of their lives was under a microscope.

Not that there was anything particularly sinster about grooming, but say an actress had an issue with weight gain, pills were dispensed to assist her with the loss. Unplanned pregnacies were taken care of in calestine back rooms.

Take for example;  November 6, 1935, single actress Loretta Young gave birth to a baby girl named Judy Lewis, her father; Clark Gable. When asked about her weight increase, if she was with child she said no. After the birth, the child was put up for adoption. Eighteen months later Ms. Young made an announcement that she was adopting a child, it was her own. As Judy grew older she quizzed her mother on why, if she was adopted, did she look so much like her mother. Loretta's answer; because we live in the same household . . alrighty then.

Judy was told later who her father was, and she claims that she readily believed it because she had inherited his ears. Which later she had surgically pinned back, because they were so large, she also commented that she was never allowed outside with out a hat or bonnet due to her "Gable" ears.

Jean Harlow, the platinum bombshell, Paul Bern, a studio executive with MGM tried to convince Louis B. Mayer to buy out Harlow's contract from Howard Hughes, and RKO Studio. Mayer was beside himself at the suggestion, Harlow's previous roles had portrayed her as a woman of ill repute. This was not the type of actress that represented MGM.

Bern, so taken with Jean Harlow, did not let Mayers rejection dissuade him, he approached a friend, Irving Thalberg with his idea. After much thought Thalberg agreed to Bern's proposal and purchased the contract from Hughes for $30,000.00 on March 3, 1932 Jean Harlow's 21st birthday.

In July of 1932 the much older Paul Bern and Jean Harlow were married. All seem like a fairy tale to the young starlet, but the union soured at the beginning. On the second day of their ill fated honeymoon, Bern beat the young Harlow so badly that he damaged her kidneys. In September of the same year, Paul Bern's body was found, naked, shot in the head at the home they shared on Benedict Canyon Drive. Various studio executives arrived at the home before police were summoned, and there were rumors of evidence tampering. A cryptic suicide note, left more questions than answers and it is rumored that Harlow took a handful of pills. The studio fabricated the story that Bern was impotent, could not please Harlow and therefore took his own life . . death by impotency.

The rumor mills began churning. Some felt that, Dorothy Millette, Paul Bern's former common-law wife, had killed him. She committed suicide by jumping from a ferry boat two days after his death. I've also heard that Bern may have been a transgendered person or a latent homosexual.

The general consensus was Harlow had done the deed. The star was never questioned, charged or arrested. In her testimony before the grand jury she merely said she knew nothing of what happened even though she was present at the time. The mystery increased her stardom, but five years after the death of Paul Bern, Jean Harlow died from the damage to her kidneys from the horrific beating she had received.

MGM had its own police force, literally and rumor has it that the Los Angeles Police Department were also on MGM's "payroll". The power of this studio coupled with its own police force enabled Louis B. Mayer to keep a tight lid on any illegitimate activities of those stars who filled his roster. In those days film stars reputations had to maintain a clean bill of health on and off the screen, and the powerful machine of MGM Studios would do whatever was necessary to protect its product.

Copyright © 2011 - 2012 Writer pmccray™. All Rights Reserved