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  • Founded
    June 8, 1912
    Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Carl Laemmle, Founder


    Headquarters
    Universal City, California, U.S.
    Florida


    Key People
    Carl Laemmle, Founder
    Ronald Meyer, President / Chief Operating Officer


    Owner(s)
    United States General Electric (80%)
    France Vivendi (20%)


    Parent
    NBC Universal


    Website
    http://www.universalstudios.com


    For more information;-
    Universal Pictures- Wikpedia


    Universal Pictures
    (sometimes called Universal City Studios or Universal Studios for short),
    a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major movie studios.



    Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, it is one of the oldest American movie studios
    still in continuous production. On May 11, 2004, the controlling stake in the company
    was sold by Vivendi Universal to General Electric, parent of NBC
    . The resulting media super-conglomerate was renamed NBC Universal,
    while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary.
    In addition to owning a sizable film library spanning the earliest decades of cinema
    to more contemporary works, it also owns a sizable collection of TV shows
    through its subsidiary NBC Universal Television Distribution.
    It also acquired rights to several prominent filmmakers' works
    originally released by other studios through its subsidiaries over the years.



    Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California.
    Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City.
    Universal Pictures is the second-longest-lived Hollywood studio;
    Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures is the oldest by a month.
    _____________________________________________________________________________________
    BACKLOT

    SIX POINTS TEXAS



    Despite tour guides telling us the Six Points Texas area has been used since the silent era, only one building dates back to those days (the Livery Stable barn seen in the photo above). The western street from the silent days was closer to the front lot.
    Denver Street is the only western street on the backlot still in it's original position.
    Six Points is so-called because it consists of six Western streets all leading from one point. In the early days of Universal movie-making, visitors would gather at the Western streets to watch up to 6 films being shot simulataneously. As they were silent films, there was no problem with sound getting picked up, so the crowd were able to applaud the good guys and boo the bad guys.
    There are two sets of doorways at Six Points - some are larger than life, to make the damsels in distress seem more vulnerable, and some are slightly smaller than life, to make the cowboys seem more imposing and impressive!
    Tram On-Board Video with Whoopi Goldberg at Six Points (2007)

    The main road through Six Points is named John Wayne Road.
    Some of the buildings that currently make up Six Points were built in 1994/5 for the MGM/UA film Wild Bill, starring Jeff Bridges.



    "Six Points has a history almost as rich as the wild west it imitates.


    It was here that the very first filming was done on the Universal lot in 1915. In those early days, when film had no sound, as many as six different movies could be shot here at the same time.
    Since each western street set is different, movie companies could change 'towns' by merely moving around the corner.


    One of the six converging streets has the livery stable (photo on the right) where Mae West saved W.C.Fields' life in My Little Chickadee. In later years, the boots that walked these dusty streets were worn by men who became legends: John Wayne, James Stewart, Tom Mix, Andy Devine, Audie Murphy and Clint Eastwood, to name a few."
    From Inside Universal Studios, 1990


    SIX POINTS TEXAS - Excerpts from Studio Guide Manual, 1999
    This particular street we're on is known as John Wayne Road, named, of course, after the most famous western star of all. "The Duke" did several westerns here on our lot including The War Wagon and Rooster Cogburn.


    Though most of the sets in this area have been around since the early 1900s, some of the structures were built more recently for the United Artists film Wild Bill, starring Jeff Bridges.


    Historically, this area has been called "Six Points Texas" because there are six different western streets that meet in the central area. When Westerns were shot here frequently, each street was set-up as a complete town, with its own bank, sheriff's office, hotel and saloon. In the silent film days, six different Westerns could be shot at any one time. That's one of the reasons why more movies have been filmed here than any other spot in the world! The great thing about having six different streets is that there were six different towns: whenever the sheriff had to tell a bad guy to get out of town, all he had to do was turn the corner and he was out of town!


    .





    Movies Made Here:-
    Seen on Screen: Universal Studios Hollywood [Six Points]
    ___________________________________________________________________________________
    BACKLOT- Previously


    A 1940's aerial view of the lot.


    A 1924 view of the lot.



    The western street in the early years.

    The fort as seen in a 1955 film


    For more information;-
    Universal Pictures- Wikpedia


    For more information
    Studios, Backlots and Ranches


    [extendedmedia]

    [/extendedmedia]


    N.B
    All information correct at original posting,
    for updated information
    please click on Wikipedia link

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 29 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Duke made 11 movies for Universal,
    and two he made for RKO, that went defunct!


    1936. THE SEA SPOILERS- (Universal)
    1936. CONFLICT- (Universal)
    1937. CALIFORNIA STRAIGHT AHEAD- (Universal)
    1937. I COVER THE WAR- (Universal)
    1937. IDOL OF THE CROWDS- (Universal)
    1937. ADVENTURES END- (Universal)
    1940. SEVEN SINNERS- (Universal)
    1942. PITTSBURGH- (Universal)
    1942. THE SPOILERS-(Universal)
    1950. JET PILOT-(RKO/Universal)
    1957. I MARRIED A WOMAN- (RKO/Universal )
    1967. THE WAR WAGON- (Universal)
    1968. HELLFIGHTERS- (Universal)
    1975. ROOSTER COGBURN AND THE LADY- (Universal)


    The Sea Spoilers (1936)
    was the 1st, in the 6 picture Universal deal,
    but it was not a happy time ,as the films were mediocre,
    followed by Conflict (1936) and the following four.


    California Straight Ahead! (1937)
    Idol of the Crowd (1937)
    I Cover the War (1937)
    Adventure's End (1937)


    Thesen 4 were directed by Athur Lubin, whose films with Abbot and Costello,
    saved Universal from going bankrupt,.
    He was promoted to director of the epic Phantom of the Opera,
    which was a huge success.
    However, he wasn't quite so successful with the films,
    he made with Duke.


    The action films, were entertaining, but were cheaply made,
    and proved to be dissappointing at the box office.
    They could not compete, with pictures that were now, receiving bigger budgets.


    About Adventure's End
    According to Lubin,

    Quote

    This film was intended to be extravagant, ..it was going to be a big picture..
    but I think the reason they selected the script,
    was because there was a boat on the Universal lot,
    and they thought they may as well use it""


    Upon its release, critics dismissed it, as a pale re-hash, of earlier sea epics.


    Duke was to return to Universal 4 years later.
    Co-starring in the Marlene Deitrich movie
    Seven Sinners followed soon after by Pittsburgh
    and The Spoilers


    Jet Pilot (1950) and
    I Married a Woman (1957)
    originally made for RKO, were released later by Universal.


    Ten years later Duke was to release The War Wagon and Hellfighters
    through the studio, with his final Universal film,
    Rooster Cogburn and the Lady in 1975

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 17 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • I thought The Spoilers was also a Universal film. Also, the Florida Universal Park had the War Wagon in it's prop "junk yard" about 10 years ago. It was all rotted and barely recognizable the last time I saw it.

  • I thought The Spoilers was also a Universal film. Also, the Florida Universal Park had the War Wagon in it's prop "junk yard" about 10 years ago. It was all rotted and barely recognizable the last time I saw it.


    Thanks, Yes it was, I checked that list several times,
    and still missed one!!


    Here is a photo of The War Wagon,
    taken at Universal Studios, Florida, a few years back.


    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Thanks for the pic of the War Wagon-it sure didn't look like that last time I saw it in Fla tho. My ex has the pics I took, otherwise I'd post them-probably best remembered in your pic tho-

  • I saw the War Wagon in Florida also, back in the early 90's. It looked bad then, and was missing the turret. They must have did some restoration on it since then.

    I had the wife take a picture of me next to it, but the picture didn't turn out. :cry2:

    Mark

    "I couldn't go to sleep at night if the director didn't call 'cut'. "

  • I saw the War Wagon in Florida also, back in the early 90's. It looked bad then, and was missing the turret. They must have did some restoration on it since then.

    I had the wife take a picture of me next to it, but the picture didn't turn out. :cry2:

    Mark


    Mark, I think my photo is from 1990,
    so it was OK then!

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • I heard they did away with this prop area in the Fla park and replaced it with another attraction. I haven't been there since about 2000, and the WW was, as stated, missing the turrent, and the wheels and bulk of the chasis rotted away at that time. The whole thing was pretty much laying in the dirt, a pile of rotted wood barely recognizable. A sad end to such a cool piece.

  • you can see a glimps of the war wagon in an episode of murder she wrote.the title i think is coal miner's slaughter with chuck connors made in 1988.you can see it when jessica is leaving universal studio western town.