Hollywood has always had secrets.

This week on The Darkives, we step into the golden age of film, where the studios didn’t just make stars… they controlled the narrative. At the center of it all was Edgar “Eddie” Mannix, the powerful MGM general manager whose real job wasn’t just running a studio… it was making problems disappear.

Alongside publicist Howard Strickling, Mannix became Hollywood’s ultimate fixer, quietly handling scandals that could have destroyed careers and exposed the industry’s darker side.

We get into Mannix’s rise at MGM, the system that gave him that kind of power, and the stories that still raise questions decades later. Stories like the death of George Reeves, the fallout surrounding Thelma Todd, the hidden pregnancy of Loretta Young, and the disturbing Patricia Douglas case.

And then there are rumors like Nils Asther’s career troubles, and Joan Crawford’s alleged stag film, rumors that never quite went away.

How much of this was damage control… and how much was something darker? And how far will the movie industry go to protect an image?

This is the story of Eddie Mannix and the version of Hollywood the studios didn’t want you to see.

Serious history. Told not so seriously.

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Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey

Used with permission, Thank you Geoff!

licensed through: Pixabay

Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License