Benjamin Thau (15 December 1898 – 5 July 1983) was an American businessman who became vice-president of the
Hollywood film studio
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
(MGM), a subsidiary of the
Loew's
Loews Cineplex Entertainment, also known as Loews Incorporated, is an American theater chain operating in North America. From 1924 until 1959, it was also the parent company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM).
The company was originally cal ...
theater chain. From 1928 he was in charge of casting, in the business of discovering and developing talented performers. He was known for his quiet and calming influence with often temperamental stars. Towards the end of his career he was head of the studio from 1956 to 1958.
Casting director
Born to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family, Thau started his career as a vaudeville booking agent for
Keith's and the
Orpheum Circuit.
In 1927 he joined Loews as a head booker for their theatres. In 1932 he joined MGM as a casting director. He worked closely with
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...
and
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
and eventually became Mayer's assistant.
Thau had a pleasant nature and was regarded with affection by many of the workers at MGM, but wielded considerable power.
Thau belonged to Mayer's executive team, called "the college of cardinals", along with
Eddie Mannix
Joseph Edgar Allen John Mannix (February 25, 1891 – August 30, 1963) was an American film studio executive and producer. He is remembered for his work as a " fixer", who was paid to cover up Hollywood stars' often colorful private lives to pro ...
,
Lawrence Weingarten
Lawrence Weingarten (December 30, 1897 – February 5, 1975) was an American film producer. He was best known for working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and producing some of the studio's most prestigious films such as ''Adam's Rib'' (1949), ''I'll Cr ...
and
Hunt Stromberg
Hunt Stromberg (July 12, 1894 – August 23, 1968) was a film producer during Hollywood's Golden Age. In a prolific 30-year career beginning in 1921, Stromberg produced, wrote, and directed some of Hollywood's most profitable and enduring films, ...
.
Thau managed the pool of talent, called by the publicity department "more stars than there are in heaven."
In 1938 Thau, along with other executives, agreed to produce a
film version
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...
of
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque (, ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during World ...
's classic novel ''
Three Comrades'', but watered down the script to avoid anything that could offend Germany's Nazi government.
George Sidney
George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgr ...
described Thau as "a very quiet man, a gentle man." He would be brought in to calm down the performers when they got upset. He said, "Benny spoke very quietly. You could almost never quite hear what he said. But he would talk to this one and that one and had the ability to calm things down.
A
Vanity Fair article by
Bob Colacello
Bob Colacello (born 1947) is an American writer. Born in Bensonhurst, New York, and raised in Plainview, Long Island, he graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1969, and also has an MFA degree in f ...
described Thau in 1949 as a "short, heavyset man with thinning hair", and quoted the biographer
Charles Higham as saying "Thau's casting couch was the busiest in Hollywood".
Relationships with the stars
Benny Thau was trusted by the stars. For example,
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...
never had a formal contract with MGM. The director and producer
Gottfried Reinhardt
Gottfried Reinhardt (20 March 1913 – 19 July 1994) was an Austrian-born American film director and producer.
Biography
Reinhardt was born in Berlin, the son of the Austrian theater director Max Reinhardt (until 1904: Max Goldmann), manage ...
recalled that at one time Thau explained to Garbo that if she accepted a sizable salary reduction she would move into a lower tax bracket and receive the same net pay. She understood the logic and agreed to the cut on a handshake.
When MGM first approached
Rosalind Russell
Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...
for a
screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a came ...
in the early 1930s she was not enthusiastic, remembering poor treatment at her audition for Universal. When she met MGM's Benny Thau and Ben Piazza she was surprised, as they were "the soul of understanding."
![Greer Garson-publicity](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Greer_Garson-publicity.JPG)
During her first years at MGM
Greer Garson
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...
was Thau's mistress.
Thau was a strong supporter of Garson, who received an Oscar nomination in 1941 for ''
Blossoms in the Dust
''Blossoms in the Dust'' is a 1941 American biographical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt, Fay Holden and Samuel S. Hinds. It tells the true story of Edna Gladney, who helped o ...
''.
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was si ...
, a more established star, was angry that she had not received any recognition, and blamed Thau.
She left the studio. However, in 1953 she was surprised to get a call from Thau offering her a starring role in ''
Torch Song
A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...
'' (1953).
Elizabeth Taylor was given a role by MGM in ''
Lassie Come Home
''Lassie Come Home'' is a 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor feature film starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor Pal, in a story about the profound bond between Yorkshire boy Joe Carraclough and his rough collie, Lassie. The film was dire ...
'', and was offered a long-term contract at the beginning of 1943.
She chose MGM because "the people there had been nicer to her when she went to audition", Taylor recalled.
Benny Thau was to remain the "only MGM executive" she fully trusted during subsequent years, because, according to Alexander Walker, "he had, out of kindly habit, made the gesture that showed her she was loved".
He played a key role in Taylor's career, managing her contracts and helping her get what she wanted on each of her films.
She said she saw Thau as her surrogate father, and went to him "for help and advice".
Thau remembered her as a "little dark-haired beauty ...
ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
those strange and lovely eyes that gave the face its central focus, oddly powerful in someone so young."
Thau said of
Nancy Davis
Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was born in New ...
, the future wife of
Ronald Reagan, "I always recommended Nancy for parts. She was sweet and appealing – one of the most popular girls on the lot.
Thau escorted Nancy Davis, to many events in Hollywood. This caused gossip about the relationship between the two.
Kitty Kelley described Thau as "Nancy Davis's boyfriend", saying he paved the way for her Hollywood career, in her 1991 ''Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography''.
Studio head
In November 1956, MGM president Joseph Vogel sacked
Dore Schary
Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...
as head of production, a job Schary had held since 1951, also being vice-president since 1948. Vogel said he intended not to have a production head - he wanted a "businessman" like Ben Thau or Eddie Mannix. In December 1956, Thau was appointed as chief of executive staff. Vogel called Thau "one of the best known executives in the motion picture industry and perhaps one of the least known to the public - quiet and unassuming his name rarely appears in public."
["SCHARY JOB GOES TO BENJAMIN THAU: New MGM Studio Boss, Company Executive Since 1932, Was Louis Mayer Aide", ''Los Angeles Times'', 5 Dec 1956: B2] The appointment was commonly interpreted as a short term one.
In January 1957, Thau bought the screenrights to ''Some Come Running''.
In May 1957, Vogel appointed
Sidney Franklin to work as Thau's associate. Also in May 1957, shooting began on ''
Jailhouse Rock'',
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
's third film and his first for MGM. As the producer
Pandro S. Berman
Pandro Samuel Berman (March 28, 1905July 13, 1996), also known as Pan Berman, was an American film producer.
Early life
Berman was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh in 1905. His father Henry was general manager of Universal Pictures durin ...
was busy on ''
The Brothers Karamazov
''The Brothers Karamazov'' (russian: Братья Карамазовы, ''Brat'ya Karamazovy'', ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing '' ...
'', he let Thau, then head of the studio, and
Abe Lastfogel, president of the
William Morris Agency
The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ag ...
, decide the cast.
In 1957 MGM's management faced several take-over attempts led by Joseph Tomlinson, with Louis B. Mayer backing them. In October 1957 these attempts were defeated, and Mayer died at the end of the month.
Thau took charge of MGM at a point when the studio was in decline and inherited poorly-conceived projects from Schary. Of the twenty films produced in house in 1956–57, all but one lost money, but Thau turned a loss of almost $500,000 in 1957 into a profit of $5 million the next year. By January 1958, the studio’s financial position had stabilised.
In April 1958, Thau was replaced as studio boss by
Sol C. Siegel, who was appointed as head of studio operations for three years. Siegel also became vice-president in charge of production a month later. Vogel had wanted to hire Siegel at the outset, but they had not come to terms.
Later career
After the appointment of Siegel as head of studio, Thau stayed on at MGM as studio administrator, while in June 1958 his assistant Franklin left the studio and was reported to be quitting in a rift. In 1959, Thau was head of contracts.
Benny Thau died in the
Motion Picture Home
The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as temp ...
, Los Angeles, in July 1983, after a crippling heart attack.
MGM Films Greenlit Under Thau
*''The Brothers Karamazov''
[MGM Readies 36 Pictures for 1957-58 Screen
Los Angeles Times 8 Apr 1957: B3]
*''Some Came Running''
*''Gigi''
*''Jailhouse Rock''
*''Merry Andrews''
*''The Wreck of Mary Dear''
*''Imitation General''
*''The Tunnel of Love''
*''Ben Hur''
*''Tom Thumb''
References
Citations
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thau, Benjamin
1898 births
1983 deaths
American Jews
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives
American casting directors
Hollywood talent agents