Irving Thalberg Analysis

Prolific and legendary vice-president and producer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Irving Thalberg began his Hollywood studio career as Carl Laemmle’s personal secretary at Universal. When Thalberg was 18 years old, he placed an ad in the Journal of Commerce that read: “Situation Wanted: Secretary, stenographer, Spanish, English, high school education, inexperienced—$15” (Boylan). According to Dorothy Herzog, Thalberg first turned down Carl Laemmle’s offer of a secretarial position, claiming his disinterestedness in the profession. At the time, he “didn’t know if Universal pictures were postal cards or tabloid papers” (Herzog 66). Four different companies answered Thalberg’s ad before he finally settled at Universal. When Carl Laemmle went back to

On one hand, people dubbed him the “boy wonder” and “the Miracle Man of pictures” because of his creativeness and ingenuity despite his age (Herzog). On the other hand, they would call him a boy and confuse him as someone’s assistant. Frederick L. Collin’s profile “Meet the Boy Wonder of Hollywood” opens with a dialogue where someone remarked that Thalberg must be someone’s son, to which the other person answered, “Elinor’s son? That’s her employer! Her boss! The baby magnate of moviedom! The nix plus pluto of infant prodigies!” (Collins). In a matter of four years, Thalberg went from an 18 years old boy with little experience to the 22 years old director general of Universal, one of the Hollywood studios that dominated the film industry during the

Mayer’s production company for a salary of $100,000 a year (Los Angeles Times). Although Thalberg claimed that he left Universal on good terms, Herzog points out that he always believed one should “never remain in a job when you have everything from it you can get.” Perhaps Thalberg felt that he had exhausted his capacities and opportunities at Universal and moved onto MGM because Mayer would give him free reign for artistic and creative experimentation. Other sources suggested that Thalberg’s frequent clashes with authorities at Universal were his reason for leaving. He saw as them hindering his policies and ideas, because the studio was more interested in producing films quickly to maximize their profits than the artistry of the films (Los Angeles