page_708 < previous page page_708 next page > Page 708 1927, for example, Warner Brothers released The Jazz Singer. Thalberg strongly argued the case for "talkies," while Mayer, just as strongly, doubted their practicality. When introduced to television twenty years later, Mayer dismissed it as a passing novelty. One characteristic common to both men, however, was the recognition and nurturing of new talent. Separately or together, Mayer and Thalberg were responsible for the careers of Greta Garbo, Lon Chaney, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Greer Garson, Spencer Tracy, Wallace Berry, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Charles Laughton, and the Marx Brothers, plus countless writers, directors, and producers, including Lois Weber, Hollywood's first woman director. Beginning with He Who Gets Slapped in 1925, the team of Mayer and Thalberg produced such films as Camille, Ben-Hur, The Good Earth, and A Night at the Opera. After Thalberg's untimely death in 1936, Mayer maintained this tradition in The Wizard of Oz and An American in Paris. World War II and its aftermath rendered the studio system and Mayer's cherished ideas of entertainment obsolete and prohibitively expensive. The war brought about a darkening view of the human condition, which he steadfastly ignored in approving projects for MGM, preferring to continue with the escapist tone of Andy Hardy. Mayer got his way as long as MGM turned a profit. But in August 1951, after several years of losses, the most powerful figure in Hollywood for nearly a quarter of a century was forced to resign from the company he had founded. A brief tenure as chair of the fledgling Cinerama Production Corporation followed, during which Mayer waged an unsuccessful proxy fight to regain control of his former studio. Mayer died of leukemia soon after this final setback. Bosley Crowther, Hollywood Rajah: The Life and Times of Louis B. Mayer (1960); Samuel Marx, Mayer and Thalberg: The Make-Believe Saints (1975). R. FRANCE See also Movies. Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact, signed by English colonists on the ship Mayflower in November 1620, was the first written framework of government established in what is now the United States. The Mayflower carried not only the Pilgrims but a few other settlers as well. When it arrived at Cape Cod, several hundred miles north of its planned destination in Virginia owing to storms at sea, the passengers realized they were outside the bounds of the governmental authority they had contracted with in England. William Bradford, the Pilgrim leader, was alarmed to learn that some of the others felt no obligation to respect the rules of the Pilgrims. In his words, they wanted to "use their owne libertie." The male heads of Pilgrim and non-Pilgrim families therefore drew up a compact that bound all signers to accept whatever form of government was established after landing. The compact created a "Civil Body Politic" to enact "just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices." Every adult male had to sign the agreement before going ashore. The compact remained in effect until Plymouth was incorporated into the short-lived Dominion of New England in 1686 and subsequently absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. See also Bradford, William; New England Colonies. Mays, Willie (1931 ), baseball player with the New York Giants (19511957), San Francisco Giants (19581971), and New York Mets (19721973). Mays is almost universally regarded as one of the half dozen or so greatest baseball players of all time. Among all the ball players who ever played in the major leagues, Mays ranked third in number of home runs, fifth in runs scored, seventh in runs batted in, and tenth in slugging percentage, as of the end of the 1989 season. But statistics alone do not begin to tell the story of his greatness. One had to see him play. Mays, who was born to a black working-class family in Alabama, was a baseball prodigy. On finishing high school, he joined the formidable Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. In 1950 the New York Giants signed him to play with their minor league Trenton club. When, during the following season  < previous page page_708 next page >