Filmmaking was something of a family business for the Bermans: his father, Harry M. Berman, was general manager at Universal Studios during the 20s when Pandro entered the industry as an assistant director; and his younger brother Henry was an editor who began at RKO in the mid-30s and later won an Oscar for "Grand Prix" 1966. Berman briefly apprenticed under the likes of Tod Browning, Alfred Santell, Mal St Clair and Ralph Ince before becoming the chief film editor at Film Booking Office (FBO). A prolific but minor production company specializing in routine if enjoyable "bread and butter" action pictures and comedies, FBO put Berman to work on the likes of "Fangs of the Wild" and "Stocks and Blondes" (both 1928). When RKO Studios formed in 1929 from the merger of FBO's studios and the Keith-Orpheum theater chain under the umbrella of RCA and its technology for the new "talkies", Berman soon became an assistant to producers William LeBaron, Charles R Rogers and, later, David O Selznick. Before long, he was handling producing responsibilities himself, cutting his teeth on the landmark early gangster film, "Bad Company" (1931).
Berman was still in his late 20s when he became RKO's most important producer on the lot, earning comparisons with another "boy wonder", MGM executive Irving Thalberg. He produced Katharine Hepburn's third film, "Morning Glory" (1933), which won her an Academy Award, and Bette Davis rose to full-fledged stardom while on loan for his "Of Human Bondage" (1934). That same year, he oversaw "The Gay Divorcee", his first film to win an Oscar nomination as Best Picture. The latter also marked the inauguration of Berman's signature achievement at RKO, producing the eight wonderful co-starring vehicles of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. "Top Hat" (1935) would also garner a Best Picture nomination (as did the same year's Hepburn vehicle, "Alice Adams") and the series also yielded such classics as "Swing Time" and "Follow the Fleet" (both 1936). As he would through much of his career, Berman adroitly kept the lavish production values of his films from swamping their narrative drive; his attention to detail served to complement his stars rather than overwhelm them.
Berman had his ups and downs at RKO: Hepburn's popularity eroded rather abruptly with a series of somewhat precious costume dramas, and Rogers and Astaire were regularly nervous about being known only as half of a team. At his best, though, Berman found ways around his problems, teaming Rogers and Hepburn to brilliant effect in "Stage Door" (1937), his fourth film to net an Oscar nomination. That same year, he was promoted to head of all studio production at RKO, overseeing such triumphs as "Love Affair" and "Bachelor Mother" (both 1939) and helping establish the studio's distribution agreement with Disney for its features beginning with the smash hit "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937). Unfortunately, RKO never had a true mogul at the helm like most of Hollywood's other major players; ownership changed hands many times, with the result that key decisions were made without consulting Berman. He soon got fed up with the situation and, having long been courted by MGM, jumped ship in 1940. He did, however, leave in a blaze of glory: his last major effort at RKO was a masterfully produced version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1939), with Charles Laughton in the title role.
MGM was a decidedly steadier home base for Berman from 1940 until 1965. While the studio's glossy house style meant that producers' efforts seemed less personal, Berman's splendid professionalism responded well to the enormous reserves of craftsmanship and talent on hand. He did, of course, oversee the occasional burst of oddball brilliance; perhaps the best example was eccentric auteur Albert Lewin's adaptation of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945). Much of Berman's tenure was occupied with the star vehicles, literary adaptations and period pictures he had handled so well at RKO. Having established his reputation with musicals, he copped an early triumph with the staggeringly lavish "Ziegfeld Girl" (1941), which securely cemented Lana Turner's stardom. Berman also produced several key films in Elizabeth Taylor's career, beginning with her adolescent breakthrough in "National Velvet" (1944), through her shift into adult roles via the winning "Father of the Bride" (1950; his fifth Best Picture nominee), to her first Oscar win in the enjoyably trashy "Butterfield 8" (1960).
Berman's splashy production of "The Three Musketeers" (1948) inaugurated a period of swashbucklers and other action adventures. Robert Taylor's postwar stardom received a needed boost via such handsome historical epics as "Ivanhoe" (1952; Berman's sixth Best Picture nominee) and "Knights of the Round Table" (1953). British matinee idol Stewart Granger, meanwhile, insured his transition to Hollywood success via Berman's productions of "Soldiers Three" (1951) and "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1952). Amid such films "The Blackboard Jungle" (1955) seemed an unusual example of social commentary in his output, as well as a move back toward contemporary subjects. But this landmark if somewhat overrated study of inner-city school violence also pointed to the importance of the emerging teen audience; Berman's production of one of Elvis Presley's best vehicles, "Jailhouse Rock" (1957), more than confirmed this.
Berman stayed with MGM as the studio system, which had contextualized his entire career to date, was crumbling. His last efforts there included several worthy and intense small-scale dramas: a good adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962) and the sensitive, acclaimed "A Patch of Blue" (1965). Berman signed on with 20th Century-Fox in 1967, but his brief tenure there was frustrating. A reunion with director George Cukor (they had worked together several times since "What Price Hollywood?" in 1932), "Justine" (1969), was so bogged down with haggling during its writing and filming that the result was fated to disappoint, and Berman earned his last credit producing the negligible Elliott Gould comedy, "Move" (1970). In his later years, though, Berman proved a likable and articulate interviewee on several TV documentaries about the Hollywood whose luster he had for so long enhanced.