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The Dream Factory is a podcast about the sometimes magical, sometimes terrifying world of MGM studios during Hollywood's golden age. Join host Derek Lajeunesse and fellow movie fans as they reawaken the ghosts of MGM, deep diving into people and the films that defined an era of moviemaking.
21 Episodes
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Every great movie musical has a big dance number at a party and MGM’s Summer Stock is no exception. Nate once again joins me as Judy and Gene turn a country square dance (“The Portland Fancy”) into a red hot number where they both tear up the barn floor! We start this episode with a “tour” of the musical production units that created the idea of the MGM Musical, giving the studio its most identifiable genre. We then dive into the lives of some child and character actors and some of the ...
Happy Halloween! We interrupt our regularly scheduled Technicolored programming on the Dream Factory, sorry I mean the SCREAM FACTORY, for a seasonal change of pace. I travel back to MGM in 1935, a place of glitter and glamour but not many ghouls, to take a bite out of the horror film Mark of the Vampire. Hollywood was horror movie crazy at this time and MGM jumped on the bandwagon resulting in the atmospheric but messy Mark of the Vampire directed by the legendary Tod Browning. F...
Nate and I put on our dungarees and help out on Judy Garland’s farm as we continue our exploration of the 1950 MGM musical Summer Stock! We’re about as much help as Gene Kelly’s theatre troupe with the farm chores but we do dig into the plot and more supporting characters in the film. We traverse the careers of MGM ingénue Gloria DeHaven, boy-next-door Carleton Carpenter and vocal technician Hans Conried, all of whom make up the stellar acting ensemble of Summer Stock. And please check out th...
Now that Judy Garland as Jane Falbury has her beloved tractor the plot of Summer Stock (1950) can really get cooking. Talented and studly Gene Kelly finally enters the picture and shakes up not only Falbury farm but Jane herself! Nate Hallett returns as my wonderful co-host as we venture back to stage 27 at MGM studios to talk about the leading man of Summer Stock, the incomparable Kelly. We also talk about Gene’s second wife who appears as a dancer in this movie- look for her in the white sh...
Nate and I continue our scene by scene dive into the 1950 movie Summer Stock, a movie remarkable for being the third onscreen pairing of Gene Kelly and Judy Garland and for being Garland’s last film at MGM. This episode is fun as we get to explore the background of a few of the characters actors in the movie (Erville Alderson anyone???) as well as getting into different versions of the film’s initial scripts. Plus Judy gets her first chance since she played Dorothy to sing a knockout of a son...
Our deep dive into the 1950 MGM film Summer Stock ramps up as we enter into our first scene and it’s a scandalous one…Judy gets her Janet Leigh moment in the shower, without the violins and screaming! Nate again joins me and brings his unique expertise as we delve into Judy’s sensitive state when she started filming Summer Stock in 1949. Far from a tragic person, we see the true resilience of Garland at a low point in her life and this movie is a testament to her greatness. Please note: these...
Howdy neighbour! The Dream Factory now steps into exploring a new Judy Garland film: the 1950 musical Summer Stock! While not revered when first released, the movie has gained a beloved following in recent years, not only because of Judy but also her stupendously talented co-star Gene Kelly. The wonderful Nate Hallett makes his triumphant return to the pod as my co-host. Nate brings not only his unbridled enthusiasm and stellar research to us but also his expertise as a therapist as we ...
Oh no, our last Harvey Girls episode! Will the straight-laced waitresses prevail or will the saloon girls dance away with the men of Sandrock? They have a big dancing party to fight it out! Conor Grant joins me one last time as we wrap up our analysis of the 1946 Judy Garland film. Our main goal is trying to piece together the heavily edited last act of this film, we had to be forensic experts for this! Plus we get the Dorothy and Scarecrow reunion we’ve always longed for (we missed them most...
Our latest episode exploring the MGM musical The Harvey Girls finally turns our attention to the other women in the cast: the deadpan and fabulous singer Virginia O’Brien and the gifted dancer soon to be MGM superstar Cyd Charisse. The movie is forging ahead and Conor and I are trying to keep up with the numerous characters and even more numerous cut scenes plus some cool filming locations! And we end with a fabulous fight scene between the good Harvey girls and the sassy saloon girls. Than...
In this episode of our breakdown of the MGM classic The Harvey Girls, I’m once again joined by Conor to sing the praises of some incredible women who contributed so much to this film. Plus we discuss what happens when “Judy gets the meat”! Musical arranger turned author Kay Thompson was a key member of the Freed unit at this time, adding the stylish sophistication to the unit that is unmistakably present in The Harvey Girls. The legendary Angela Lansbury played the villainous showgirl Em at j...
The Harvey Girls dissection continues as Conor and I discuss the scenes that follow the epic “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” musical number where our heroine Judy Garland meets her fiance via correspondence for the first time and realizes she’s been catfished! We also explore the lives of some of the film’s key character actors (Chill Wills!) and discuss the young upstart director of this movie, George Sidney. We also explore the climate of MGM in 1945 and the growing power of the musi...
If The Harvey Girls is remembered for anything it’s the incredible music number “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe.” Conor and I discuss the entire 8.5 minute cinematic extravaganza in detail, highlighting the cast and musical geniuses behind the scenes who make this rousing, Oscar-winning moment come to life onscreen. The term “deep dive” was invented for episodes like this as we explore unsung performers like Dorothy Tuttle, Ben Carter, Eleanor Bailey, Dorothy Raye, all of whom hav...
Our deep dive into the 1946 MGM musical The Harvey Girls continues with the first few scenes of the film where we meet the bulk of the cast and the Harvey girls themselves! Hear about some of the actresses who filled these roles and the character building moments that ensue from matrimonial ads to saloon girls to chicken sandwiches. Conor Grant from the @thegarlandgab and I also discuss what it took to be an actual Harvey Girl in the 19th century and what brought some of these women out west ...
Thanks for listening to the Dream Factory! This week we’re finally entering into the film itself chatting about the main titles of The Harvey Girls as well as Judy’s first musical number “In the Valley” which she sings hanging off the back of a moving train! Conor (@gethappyconor from @thegarlandgab) and I love talking about our leading lady and her unparalleled voice and lipsyncing abilities. We also get into some of the more technical aspects of how main titles worked in the old Hollywood...
Welcome to the first episode of our breakdown of the 1946 film The Harvey Girls. Starring our favourite gal Judy Garland, this Technicolor fun-fest has everything we love about MGM musicals; great songs, colourful settings and wonderful performers. Set in the 1890s American west, a group of wholesome waitresses attempt to “settle” a wild frontier town with just the help of some steak, coffee and some singing and dancing! Conor Grant from The Garland Gab joins me for our initial thoughts and p...
In our second of two episodes discussing the amazing legacy of Judy Garland's MGM career, Conor from the Garland Gab and I pick up in the mid-40s and break down her most difficult years at MGM culminating in her leaving the studio in 1950 under a cloud. These overview episodes are to provide a wider context as our next episodes we will do in-depth breakdowns of the production of two Garland Technicolor classics. Thanks for listening! Derek Instagram: @thedreamfactorypod bio.site/th...
Before we get super nerdy with our movie breakdown episodes, I am joined by Conor of the fabulous podcast The Garland Gab for part one of our overview of Judy Garland's 15 years working at MGM. To start our season focused on two of the movies from the one-of-a-kind talent Judy Garland, we are going to get chatty about her full movie career while at MGM. We start with our first introductions to Judy then trace here career from her first auditions with the the studio to her biggest hit wh...
For our third and final MGM history episode, Nate and I conclude our look at a movie company that was a small city unto itself in Culver City. Riding high in the mid-40s, the studio faced external forces that threaten its existence by the end of the decade. New stars like Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr and Van Johnson enter the scene after the exit of MGM stars like Garbo, Shearer and Crawford and the tone of MGM changes with the war. At this time producer Arthur Freed forever puts MGM musicals on ...
Episode two of our deep dive into the history of movie factory MGM is here! I am once again joined by Nate and together we travel back to the Culver City of over 80 years and further explore who were the artists who created these movies throughout Metro's reign as a film giant. The shock of Thalberg's death in 1936 rocked the studio and paved the way for L.B. Mayer's to be the singular leader of MGM into the profitable late '30s and into the war years. Mayer's vision changes the directi...
Welcome to the Dream Factory! For our first episodes we are taking a documentary style approach to the history of the first 50 years of MGM. I am joined by movie buff Nate Hallett to explore the history of the people and films that were the backbone of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during Hollywood's Golden Age. We start before the establishment of the studio in 1924 to the events and people who made the creation possible. We trace early MGM successes and the bumpy transition to the talkies...
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