In 1936, Louis B. Mayer and several of his MGM executives attended the funeral of Irving Thalberg, who had contracted pneumonia and unexpectedly died.

As they drove away in a limousine after the ceremony, MGM executive Edgar J. Mannix noticed that his boss had fallen surprisingly quiet and began to wonder whether, despite their animosity in later life, he had feelings for his former protege.

At last Mayer spoke: "Isn't God," he remarked with a smile, "good to me?"