United Artists

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  • (Samuel Goldwyn Studio)


    Founded
    1919
    Charlie Chaplin
    Mary Pickford
    Douglas Fairbanks
    D. W. Griffith


    Headquarters
    MGM Tower, Century City, California


    Key People
    Mark Burnett (CEO)
    Brian Edwards (COO)


    Parent
    Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
    (MGM Holdings, Inc.)
    Independent company (1919-1967)
    Transamerica (1967-1981)


    Website
    www.unitedartists.com


    For more information:-
    United Artists.2009-Wikipedia
    Samuel Goldwyn Studio- Wikipedia


    The History of the United Artists Lot
    (also known as the Samuel Goldwyn Studio)
    by J. A. Aberdeen


    When United Artists was formed in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin,
    Mary Pickford Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith,
    the founders never intended the company to be like a regular Hollywood studio.
    It started solely as a distribution company.
    Its mission was to release films made by independent producers,
    therefore it had no studio lot. However, many of the independent
    producers owned their own property, like the
    Charlie Chaplin Studio on Sunset Boulevard.


    ..


    D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin (seated)
    and Douglas Fairbanks at the signing of the contract establishing
    United Artists motion picture studio in 1919.
    Lawyers Albert Banzhaf (left) and Dennis F. O'Brien (right) stand in the background.



    The closest thing to a studio lot was the 18-acre property owned by
    Pickford and Fairbanks on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard
    and Formosa Avenue in Hollywood.
    It was originally owned by Jesse Durham Hampton, and then
    became known as the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio.
    As United Artists began to lure independent producers
    away from the major studios,
    many of the producers like Samuel Goldwyn .
    Joseph Schenc rented offices and stages on the property.


    ..


    Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks
    at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard
    and Formose Avenue in 1922.
    In the early 1920s, the lot was renamed the United Artists Studio,
    though it was operated as a separate entity from United Artists
    the distribution company.


    Goldwyn and Schecnk financed the expansion of the studio,creating an
    awkward ownership structure.
    Pickford and Fairbanks controlled the deed to the land,
    but Goldwyn and Scheck owned the actual facilities on the lot.
    In 1935 when Scheck left United Artists, Goldwyn took over his share
    And when Fairbanks died in 1939, Pickford reclaimed his portion.
    Thus Mary Pickford and Samuel Goldwyn remained joint owners of the land,
    which caused bitter arguments over the years,
    as both were head-strong independents,but neither had clear majority control.


    When Goldwyn left United Artist under strained conditions in 1940,
    he renamed the lot the Samuel Goldwyn Studio, over the
    protest of Mary Pickford, who still owned half the property.
    Goldwyn and Pickford bickered over the studio until their disagreement
    created a deadlock that landed them in court, and put
    the lot up for sale at auction in 1955. Goldwyn, assisted by James Mulvey,
    outbid Pickford, and became sole owner of the property.



    Scenes from Stagecoach, Red River,
    The High And The Mighty, The Horse Soldiers were shot here


    And also movies like Porgy And Bess, Some Like It Hot,
    Robin Hood, The Roy Rogers Show, The Hawaiians etc.etc.



    The lot provided a home for many independent production companies
    over the years, and continued to be known as the Samuel Goldwyn Studio until 1980.
    Among the famous movies filmed there were Wuthering Heights (1939),
    Some Like It Hot (1959), and West Side Story (1959).
    Television producers also called the studio home, including Sid & Marty Krofft.


    In 1977, after when George Lucas had wrapped principle photography on
    Star Wars at the Elstree Studio in England,
    he re-shot some of the Cantina scenes at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio.



    In 1980 Warner Bros. purchased the site as an auxiliary to its Burbank headquarters,
    and renamed it the Warner Hollywood Studio.
    After Warner sold the property to a private film company in 1999,
    it remained in operation with a new identity called The Lot.



    The UA-Samuel Goldwyn Studio, now known as The Lot (1998).


    Present
    The current United Artists was formed in November 2006
    under a partnership between producer/actor Tom Cruise and his production partner,
    Paula Wagner, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., an MGM company.
    Paula Wagner departed the studio on August 14, 2008.
    Cruise owns a small stake in the studio, a subsidiary of MGM Studios.
    MGM is owned by MGM Holdings, Inc.,
    which was formed by a consortium including Sony,
    Comcast, TPG Capital, L.P. and Providence Equity Partners.


    On November 2, 2006, MGM announced that actor Tom Cruise
    and his long-time production partner Paula Wagner were resurrecting
    (this announcement came after the duo were released from a
    fourteen-year production relationship at Viacom-owned
    Paramount Pictures earlier that year).
    Cruise, Wagner and MGM Studios created United Artists Entertainment LLC and,
    today, the producer/actor and his partner own a small stake in the studio,
    with the approval by MGM's consortium of owners.


    The deal gave them control over production and development of films.
    Wagner was named CEO of United Artists, which was allotted an annual slate
    of four films with different budget ranges,
    while Cruise serves as a producer for the revamped studio
    as well as serving as the occasional star.


    UA became the first motion picture studio granted a WGA waiver in
    January 2008 during the Writers' Strike.


    On August 14, 2008, MGM announced Paula Wagner will leave United Artists
    to produce films independently. Her output as head of UA was two films,
    both starring Cruise, the flop Lions for Lambs and Valkyrie,
    which despite mixed reviews was successful at the box office.
    Wagner's departure led to speculation that an overhaul at
    United Artists was imminent.


    Since then, United Artists has merely served as a co-producer with MGM
    for two releases: the 2009 remake of Fame and Hot Tub Time Machine.
    Throughout the past year, continued debt and credit issues for
    MGM Holdings, Inc., United Artists' parent company has left UA's future,
    as well as MGM itself, in doubt.


    For more information:-
    United Artists.2009-Wikipedia
    Samuel Goldwyn Studio- Wikipedia
    The Lot


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    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 48 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • UA is to be considered in the highest esteem by us Duke fans,
    as it is for them, he made the movie that made him a star, Stagecoach.
    Duke also made for UA, the film that John Ford,
    considered that he could indeed, act!! Red River

    In fact Duke made 10 films for the studio,


    1939. STAGECOACH- (Walter Wagner/United Artists)
    1940. THE LONG VOYAGE HOME- (Walter Wagner/United Artists)
    1947. RED RIVER- (Montery/United Artists)
    1957. LEGEND OF THE LOST- (Batjac/Robert Haggiag/Dear Films/UA)
    1959. THE HORSE SOLDIERS- (Mahin-Rackin/Mirisch/UA)
    1960. THE ALAMO- (Batjac/UA)
    1963. McLINTOCK- (Batjac/UA)
    1964. THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD- (George Stevens Productions/UA)
    1966. CAST A GIANT SHADOW- (Mirisch-Lenroc-Batjac/UA)
    1975. BRANNIGAN- (Wellborn/UA)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited once, last by ethanedwards ().

  • thanks ethan for the post.excellent imformation about UA pictures.did'nt know it changed hands so many times.some great film's came out of the studio.