20th Century Fox
Darryl F. Zanuck
The Fox Film Corporation was founded by
William Fox in 1915. Its first star was Theda Bara and it continued to
grow in the 20s with films like John Ford's The Iron Horse (1924) and
F.W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927). Fox followed fast behind Warners in the
transition to sound, they favoured a more advanced sound-on-film system
instead of Warners' sound-on-disc and eventually this became the
standard for the whole industry. The studio struggled through the early
years of the Depression before it merged with the smaller but more
healthy 20th Century Pictures in 1935.
The new 20th Century Fox company was headed by Darryl F. Zanuck. In the 1930s it was studio of Shirley Temple, Will Rogers, Alice Faye, Sonja Heine, Don Ameche and Tyrone Power. The emphasis was on romance and musical comedy with In Old Chicago (1937) and Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938). Westerns were also popular including two films about the renowned outlaw Jesse James.
John Ford directed The Grapes of Wrath (1940) probably Fox's all-time greatest film and How Green was My Valley (1941). The mid 40s saw the studio at its peak with Laura (1944), My Darling Clementine (1946), A Walk In the Sun (1946) ,Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). All About Eve (1950) won the Best Picture Oscar in 1950 but as the decade progressed the studio's output became less consistent. They had the biggest star to emerge during these years under contract : Marilyn Monroe and introduced Cinemascope in The Robe (1953) but Zanuck resigned in 1956 and by the early 60s Fox was in desperate trouble.
Darryl Zanuck returned to pick up the pieces in 1962 with his son Richard hired to run the studio but it looked for a time as if 20th Century Fox might not survive. The crippling costs of Cleopatra (1963) were not recouped for many years and the studio had to rely on the success of The Sound of Music (1965). The Zanucks finally severed their links with the studio in the early 70s by which time Fox was moving back into profit with The French Connection (1971) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) before Star Wars (1977) changed film economics forever.
The new 20th Century Fox company was headed by Darryl F. Zanuck. In the 1930s it was studio of Shirley Temple, Will Rogers, Alice Faye, Sonja Heine, Don Ameche and Tyrone Power. The emphasis was on romance and musical comedy with In Old Chicago (1937) and Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938). Westerns were also popular including two films about the renowned outlaw Jesse James.
John Ford directed The Grapes of Wrath (1940) probably Fox's all-time greatest film and How Green was My Valley (1941). The mid 40s saw the studio at its peak with Laura (1944), My Darling Clementine (1946), A Walk In the Sun (1946) ,Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). All About Eve (1950) won the Best Picture Oscar in 1950 but as the decade progressed the studio's output became less consistent. They had the biggest star to emerge during these years under contract : Marilyn Monroe and introduced Cinemascope in The Robe (1953) but Zanuck resigned in 1956 and by the early 60s Fox was in desperate trouble.
Darryl Zanuck returned to pick up the pieces in 1962 with his son Richard hired to run the studio but it looked for a time as if 20th Century Fox might not survive. The crippling costs of Cleopatra (1963) were not recouped for many years and the studio had to rely on the success of The Sound of Music (1965). The Zanucks finally severed their links with the studio in the early 70s by which time Fox was moving back into profit with The French Connection (1971) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) before Star Wars (1977) changed film economics forever.
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
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