Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
From the 1920s through World War II, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest movie studio in Hollywood. They made more money than any other studio. At its busiest, MGM made about one movie a week and also made many short movies and cartoons. By the mid-1930s MGM had 4,000 employees. It had 23 Sound stages on their 117-acre lot. In 1939 MGM's assets were worth $144 million USD. In the 1940s the studio had problems. Movie theatre attendance was declining and television was starting to draw people away from the movies. In 1948, the Supreme Court decision United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. put an end to movie studios owning their own theatres. Lowes continued to be the parent company of MGM. But in 1954 Lowes Theatres was formed to control most of the movie theatres. In the late 1960s and 1970s, MGM sold off most of their back lot. They sold MGM's British studios and MGM Records.