Louis B. Mayer, at the helm of the great film studio MGM, was the guardian of American ideals. He was the most patriotic and romantic of the film makers, creating a dream world for the public in his lavish and luxurious movies. The son of a penniless Russian immigrant, Louis B. Mayer became the most powerful and richest film tycoon in Hollywood. His was the imagination which launched a galaxy of stars, among them Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Vivien Leigh, Gene Kelly, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. This biography is as much an account of their triumphs and tragedies as lt is of the brooding presence of Mayer.