As Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s most important publicist for more than thirty years, Howard Dietz (1896-1983) probably had a hand in the success of most of the studio’s musicals up to his retirement in 1957. But his most significant contribution had nothing to do with his day job because, in addition to being the man who gave MGM its lion logo, Dietz had a side hustle as a lyricist, making some major contributions to the Great American Songbook.
Dietz and composer Arthur Schwartz contributed songs to a Broadway revue in 1929, and they continued to work together, on and off, for over thirty years, writing more than a dozen musicals. Well-known songs from the pair included ‘You and the Night and the Music’, ‘Dancing in the Dark’, ‘I Love Louisa’ and the anthemic ‘That’s Entertainment’.
In 1934, Dietz collaborated with Walter Donaldson on a number for MGM’s Hollywood Party, for which he also contributed to the screenplay and apparently acted as supervisor. But his outstanding contribution was to be The Band Wagon, a major musical constructed around the Dietz-Schwartz back catalogue. Towards the end of his life, Dietz also wrote original lyrics for the compilation film That’s Entertainment, Part II (1976).
