Picture of MGM Stars in 1943

[AmateisGal]

This is pretty darn cool.

If you'd like to see a bigger picture, you can go to the link here.

 

[Worf]

Great pic. I wonder who decided the seating "pecking" order. Probably Louis B himself!

Worf

 

[AmateisGal]

Good question! I can identify a few of the stars, but don't know all of them.

 

[Miss Golightly]

Brilliant photo - thanks for posting! I recognise a few of the stars - a lot of them I'm not sure of - I think that's Margaret Sullavan beside James Stewart (currently reading the bio Haywire) - can anyone confirm?

I just love the style of everyone involved - fabulous!

 

[Rudie]

Wow, Katharine Hepburn was forty years ahead in time. She's wearing white socks and sandals. Anybody know if she had German ancestors?

 

[McMurdo]

I love the look on William Powell's face, and of course how well turned out they all are. It makes me wonder what a group shot of today's stars would look like.

 

[Atomic Age]

The odd thing that I notice about the photograph, is that with a few exceptions, they are all NOT looking at the camera that took the photograph. Makes me wonder why they were shooting this with at least 2 cameras, and where the other camera's photograph is?

Doug

 

[Atomic Age]

Lets see how many I can get...

Front row left to right....Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan?, Lucille Ball, Hedy Lamarr, Katharine Hepburn, Louis B. Mayer, Greer Garson, Unsure of the next 3 ladies, Lionel Barrymore.

Second row from left....Harry James, Character actor who's name escapes me, Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney, William Powell, Can't think of his name, Spencer Tracy, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Taylor, Rudy Vallee?, Don't Know, Gene Kelly.

Third row from left..... Don't know the first 3, Robert Preston?, Donna Reed, Van Johnson, don't know the next 2, Ruth Hussey, Marjorie Main?, Robert Benchley.

Fourth row from left....the only one I'm sure of is the 6th in Esther Williams.

Fifth row from left..... The only one I know here is 6th in June Allyson.

Top row from left.....first 2 I know the faces but not the names, Keye Luke, Name on the tip of my tongue, Desi Arnaz, not sure on the rest.

Doug

 

[Atomic Age]

Double post

 

[MGM]

Came across this photo in B&W and trying to see what its origins are. I've only seen colour ones online and from Life Magazine. A bit worn at the corners with some cracks, but otherwise in good shape. I am wondering if this is an original from 1943 or a reprint years later?

 

[Fading Fast]

Hedi Lamarr looks like she dressed the part of the MOVIE STAR for this shot, also, odd to see Greer Garson's hair a bit wild - always so well coiffed in her movies. Van Johnson had his movie star smile turned on. And, yes, Hepburn looks ahead-of-her-time (which she was) in dress (and attitude). While clearly thought out, there is also a bit of a feel of they rounded up everyone in a bit of a hurry - no?

 

[AmateisGal]

You can see the entire photo and article in LIFE magazine here: https://books.google.com/books?id=Y...-9&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[MGM]

Cool link. Thanks for sharing. This is the one in color, but the one I found is in B&W. I am corresponding with a few rare photo shops, so we will see what they say. I will definitely update you here when I find out more.
Really enjoy learning about the studio history. No CGI. Real sets!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Notice how nobody wants to sit too close to L. B.

 

[Fading Fast]

Notice how nobody wants to sit too close to L. B.

Good catch. There's some serious body English at work there: Hepburn is practically leaning into Lamar's chair and Garson has shifted her back to him and also looks like she's clenched her entire body incase LB tries to touch her.

 

[Stanley Doble]

The odd thing that I notice about the photograph, is that with a few exceptions, they are all NOT looking at the camera that took the photograph. Makes me wonder why they were shooting this with at least 2 cameras, and where the other camera's photograph is?

Doug

As an actor the first thing you have to learn is never look at the camera

 

[Benzadmiral]

Lets see how many I can get...

Front row left to right....Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan?, Lucille Ball, Hedy Lamarr, Katharine Hepburn, Louis B. Mayer, Greer Garson, Unsure of the next 3 ladies, Lionel Barrymore.

Second row from left....Harry James, Character actor who's name escapes me, Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney, William Powell, Can't think of his name, Spencer Tracy, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Taylor, Rudy Vallee?, Don't Know, Gene Kelly.

Third row from left..... Don't know the first 3, Robert Preston?, Donna Reed, Van Johnson, don't know the next 2, Ruth Hussey, Marjorie Main?, Robert Benchley.

Fourth row from left....the only one I'm sure of is the 6th in Esther Williams.

Fifth row from left..... The only one I know here is 6th in June Allyson.

Top row from left.....first 2 I know the faces but not the names, Keye Luke, Name on the tip of my tongue, Desi Arnaz, not sure on the rest.

Doug

The "character actor whose name escapes" you is Brian Donlevy.

The guy in the 2nd row next to Gene Kelly is the actor who played Mickey Rooney's dad in all those Andy Hardy films, I think.

3rd row, second from left, might be the actor who played "Inspector Henderson" in the TV Adventures of Superman.

4th row, 3rd from left, is Keenan Wynn. The last three in that row: David Niven (? maybe?), Hugh Marlowe (?? or Richard Carlson?), and Mary Astor.

5th row, 4th from left is Bert Lahr of "Cowardly Lion" fame. Spring Byington is third from the right end of the row. I think the girl who played with her in the TV series December Bride, Frances Rafferty, is to her right, our left.

6th row: The "tip of [your] tongue" fellow between Keye Luke and Desi Arnaz is Barry Nelson, light comedian and, strangely, the very first James Bond.

And yes, a lot of them, Arnaz, Tracy, and Van Johnson in particular, look as if they'd been hauled right off their current sets for the shot.

 

[Frunobulax]

So who's the kid?

 

[Benzadmiral]

The kid's hairstyle reminds me of Tommy Rettig of TV's Lassie, but he was born only 2 years before this pic was taken. No idea. . . .

 

[Fading Fast]

The kid's hairstyle reminds me of Tommy Rettig of TV's Lassie, but he was born only 2 years before this pic was taken. No idea. . . .

Isn't this where Lizzie usually jumps in, not only to tell us who the kid is, but that he either went on to be a writer who was blacklisted in the '50s or was the voice of the very popular so and so in the the radio program this or that?