New Era

M-G-M Production Chief Dore Schary got the ax last week. Stockholders were dissatisfied because they thought that profits under Schary's eight-year regime had not been high enough (TIME, Nov. 12). What softened the blow for Schary was a $1,000,000-plus settlement to be spread over about ten years. Schary is the fourth Hollywood production boss to go in recent months. The others: 20th Century-Fox's Darryl Zanuck, Paramount's Don Hartman, Columbia's Jerry Wald. Schary's ousting put the movie industry's seal on the end of an old era--the period of major studios with their assembly-line production of dozens of movies every year. The new era features independent production in which each movie gets autonomous handling even when it is done within the framework of a big studio. The man most likely to succeed Schary: Ben Thau, a top M-G-M executive known as a tough businessman.

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