"More Stars Than There Are in the Heavens" is the most recognizable tagline of any motion picture studio in Hollywood's Golden Age, and perhaps the most descriptive. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with its trademark Leo the Lion, was arguably the king of the Hollywood studios, boasting an impressive roster of stars who were exhibited in glossy productions that proved enormously popular.

The studio was formed in 1924 as the corporate brainchild of Marcus Loew. The new company name was derived from a combination of the names of the three subsumed companies, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation (formerly owned by Samuel Goldwyn), Louis B. Mayer Pictures and Metro Pictures Corp. which had been in business since 1915. In a move that foreshadowed the mergers of the 1980s and 1990s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. was formed as a subsidiary of Loew's, Inc., one of the largest theater chains in North America. Under Loew's corporate umbrella and the...