pplpod Episode 4 takes a clear-eyed tour through the life and legacy of Louis B. Mayer, the force behind MGM’s roaring lion and the golden age of Hollywood. We follow his journey from immigrant exhibitor to studio chief, the merger that formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the ironclad star system that turned Garbo, Gable, Garland, and Rooney into icons. Along the way, we unpack Mayer’s partnership and tensions with Irving Thalberg, his role in shaping the Production Code era, his influence over the Academy Awards, and the contract-and-publicity machinery that defined studio power. We also sit with the costs—labor battles, image-making, and the postwar unraveling that led to Mayer’s 1951 ouster—and trace how his fingerprints still mark modern Hollywood.

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