M-G-M's Greatest Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit

At MGM there were three units responsible for producing music. None was so prestigious, by the many talents that she had, as Arthur Freed unit. Freed of musicals knew, he was a musician and wrote the lyrics of the compositions with Nacio Herb Brown were made for the very first MGM musicals like famous Broadway Melody of 1929.Mandated after the unit bearing his name, was commissioned to produce what are undoubtedly the best musicals ever made, not only in Hollywood but worldwide. This is thanks to the enormous talents who worked with him.This book is the story of the production of each of these music and its protagonists, such as An American in Paris, Singin 'in the Rain, Gigi, The Band wagoon, Show Boat, Easter Parade and many more. It is full of anecdotes, all the difficulties described in the pre and post production, box office success and ultimately the cause of the decline of the music. All in a friendly, the author researched and know the subject exhaustively.For lovers of the music of the Metro, this book should be in your possession.

I read the original version of this wonderful book years ago, and had thought it was long out of print, so I was thrilled to see this paperback version available, albeit with a new title. But as another reviewer has noted...beware if you are replacing an old copy of the book with this version! The photographs are very, very disappointing. They look as if they were copied on an old mimeograph machine. Because the photos were black and white to begin with, they are now very blurry and hard to recognize. I can't imagine why a company would go to the trouble to reproduce such an exhaustive look at the era of movie musicals...and then wimp out on the photos, many of which are previously unpublished from Arthur Freed's personal collection! The text is still great, but I am really disappointed in the quality of this reprint. Part of the appeal of this book has always been the photos.

I bought this mainly for the picture on p. 6, because it appears to be the only photograph of Louis B. Mayer and his executive secretary Ida R. Koverman, and the added plus of Judy Garland. The picture caption does not correctly identify the individuals. I have tried contacting USC where they house the Arthur Freed Archives are (from whence the picture is noted to have apparently come) but to no avail. If there is another source for the picture I would love to know. From left to right are seen Judy Garland (correct), then incorrectly Irene Mayer (daughter of Louis B. Mayer and wife of David O. Selznick who is standing in the distance at the back right). I'm suggesting it is Deana Durbin, but either way, it is not Ida Mayer (Cummings), sister of Louis B. Mayer. It is actually Ida R. Koverman, L.B. Mayer's executive secretary standing next to Louis B. Mayer.

This is a terrific under the hood look at Arthur Freed’s Hollywood. Each chapter includes notes and letters and scripts while the narrative ties together what was going on at the time and the results. Highly recommend.

The Freed Unit was a creative epoch in Hollywood's studio system never known before and never equaled since.This film by film history is an absolute must .

Great facts and packed with details about all the stars of the era. However it was a bit dry in my opinion. At least once or twice a chapter there are entire pages dedicated to photocopied transcriptions of memos passed between Freed and some other producer or director and after awhile I just skipped over these details completely. I guess I was just looking for something more exciting. But for information and facts about Freed and his producing, you can't beat this book.

Love Those MUSICALS. GREAT resource for MGM movies. Loved finding details about movies now being shown on TCM.

Just a cut and dried collection of production dates and box office receipts illustrated with few pictures -- and those are the same old ones that have been around forever. No insight into the personalities who made these films come alive. Dull and uninteresting.

I have just finished this magnificent book and wanted to add my praise to the other reviews. Arthur Freed produced some magnificent films and seemed to have the knack of choosing the right people at the right time. These were people of real talent and humanity from whom Freed extracted the very best to produce films that will last forever. What a contrast to today's talentless 'celebrities' - who will remember them?I can't give the book the full 5 stars because of the physical production. This 1996 edition looks like a photocopy. The photos are very poorly reproduced and there are parts of the text that are obscured (as often happens if you photocopy on a machine that has marks on the glass plate).See if you can get hold of a copy of the original edition.

It documents the making of the Freed Unit flims in detail. I had the original copy from 1975 which was called "The Worlds Of Entertainment - Hollywoods Greates Musicals". The quality of the print and photos is very good but it is falling apart so I am pleased to get a newer copy. However, I have only given it 4 stars as the print and photo quality is poor. If you love musicals, you'll love this book.

thrilled to get this excellent book, thanks']BlessingsMike