You need to be of a certain age to understand why so many people in Hollywood are caring about the possible closing down of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (米高梅电影公司)．For the past 40 years, its output has been good, but now it is on the ropes, with debts of $ 3.7 billion and will have to sell off its most valuable assets. In its golden time, MGM stood for something．If Warner Brothers meant social dramas and gangster movies, and Disney meant cartoon films, then MGM was healthy fantasy．This business model found its most glorious expression in its musicals of the post-war era．It also featured such many famous stars as Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. But MGM had always put its hopes on the quality of stars it could attract．From the time MGM became a company in 1924, the studio and his associate proved themselves good at creating big names. For 35 years, this worked well enough, but the growing power of television disturbed Hollywood．MGM continued to throw money into making gorgeous-looking musicals, but despite some big successes audiences gradually started to drift away．Throughout the sixties, MGM's decline set in．Things went from bad to worse．In 1973, MGM stopped distributing its own films．Since then, the Lion's roar has been reduced to a whimper (呜咽). How far MGM has fallen can be shown by its recent releases．This was a studio that for years offered a reliable supply of first-class films．Yet last year its total output was three．To make it worse, all were co-produced with other studios．And this year? Only one so far, and maybe the last. What now? MGM will probably be sold, though recent buyers have been cautious about a price thought to be around $ 2 billion. 小题1:MGM is becoming the focus in Hollywood because it _______．
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