MGM Posters: The Golden Years

Back when studios were ''dream factories,'' artists such as Al Hirschfeld created highly stylized, visually arresting posters to help market those dreams to the public. The collection of designs in MGM Posters: The Golden Years spans MGM's heyday and beyond, taking us from '20s melodrama to mid-'60s midriff-baring kitsch. It's fascinating — not to mention great fun — to discover how some of our favorite films were promoted, almost as good as viewing scenes lost to the cutting-room floor. A 1950 poster for Father of the Bride, with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor, proclaimed boldly: ''The Bride gets the thrills! Father gets the bills!'' ''When Pretty Girls T-e-a-s-e-d Men Into Marriage!'' was 1940's take on Pride and Prejudice, starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson. ''Strange drama of a captive sweetheart,'' a copywriter wrote perkily of the mood piece Gaslight, while ''Gaiety! Glory! Glamour!'' was the odd way The Wizard of Oz got pitched to the American people — not that it ended up mattering in the long run. A