After nearly a decade at Warner Bros., where he helped to create the studio's gritty urban style, Mervyn LeRoy left the lot to direct films for MGM. MGM was Hollywood's foremost fantasy factory. While Warner Bros. was known for gangsters and gold diggers, MGM produced art deco all-star affairs, such as Grand Hotel (1932). LeRoy quickly adapted to the new territory and gave his films a glossy glamour. Lana Turner was still a struggling actress when LeRoy cast her in They Won't Forget (1937). The film told the true story of an innocent man lynched for the murder of a female high school student. Lana winds up dead-but the role was a star-making turn. At MGM, LeRoy developed Turner into one of the studio's sexiest starlets. In Johnny Eager (1942), Lana is framed as a film noir femme fatale-a sultry role that prepped her for her most memorable siren, the duplicitous Cora in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). In later years, LeRoy directed the proven sex symbol in Latin Lovers (1953), a more opulent romp that paired the voluptuous star with Ricardo Montalban. List of films Today! on TCM Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) Little Women (1949) Gypsy (1962) Great American Film Directors in Photographs by Richard Koszarski The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929-1968 by Andrew X. Sarris While Lana Turner is best remembered as a dangerous woman who seduced men with her enticing figure and platinum blonde coiffure, Mervyn LeRoy also helped to create the screen icon of one of Hollywood's most strong-willed, self-sufficient women-Greer Garson. In Blossoms in the Dust (1941) Garson proved herself as one of the screen's most dignified characters in the true story of Edna Gladney, a woman who led a tireless campaign to support orphanages and illegitimate children. The following year, Garson played a good-natured dance hall girl who falls in love with a shell-shocked WWI vet in Random Harvest (1942). Despite a far-fetched story, Garson and LeRoy wove a magic movie that became one of MGM's biggest box office successes in 1942. Garson was in a class by herself, forgoing sex symbol status to portray formidable female characters. When a biography of Madam Curie (1943) was planned, Garson was the obvious choice. LeRoy transformed the scientist's solitary research into a credible melodrama and guided both Garson and co-star Walter Pidgeon to Oscar nominated performances. LeRoy and Garson teamed together again for Desire Me (1947), the story of a post-war romance. Garson is plagued by guilt after she learns that her husband (Robert Mitchum) didn't die fighting on the front lines of WWII. She finds comfort in the arms of her husband's good friend-until her husband returns. In the confusion of war and its aftermath, Greer Garson presented female viewers with a strong, outspoken role model. Far from the coarse humor of his Warner Bros. films and the dangerous curves of his femmes fatales, Mervyn LeRoy developed a refined style while working at MGM. He corralled some of the studio's top talent for an all-starlet version of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1949). With June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O'Brien and Janet Leigh, LeRoy's version of the classic story came to life in brilliant Technicolor tones. Even when he was working with an all-male ensemble in Mister Roberts (1955), LeRoy brought a lighthearted humor to the gruff service men, which included Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon. Many Hollywood directors stuck with a particular style or theme. Mervyn LeRoy changed with the times to complement his studio and stars. TCM's 30-film salute to the director takes you through great gangster films, women's films, war films, musicals and even historical epics. LeRoy once said that he never did the same picture twice. Although he never received an Academy Award for directing, LeRoy was honored with the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award in 1975.