United Artists
United Artists founders : Fairbanks,Griffith,Pickford and Chaplin
In 1919 Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks
Snr, Mary Pickford and the great pioneer director D.W. Griffith formed
the releasing company United Artists to protect their creative
independence from the growing power of the major studios. In the 20s
Douglas Fairbanks starred in a series of swashbuckling costume epics
beginning with The Mark of Zorro (1920). Robin Hood (1922) had the
largest sets yet built which almost caused the film to be scrapped.
Director Allan Dwan used Fairbanks' liking for spectacular stunts to
convince him to go ahead with the film by describing a fight scene to
him in which he escaped two groups of knights by jumping into a curtain
and gracefully sliding down it.
Charlie Chaplin's first comedy released through United Artists was The Gold Rush (1925) in which Georgia Hale replaced Lita Grey (who became Chaplin's second wife) as his leading lady. Buster Keaton's The General (1927) was typical of the ambitious productions released through United Artists.
In the 30s the two most important independent producers to release their films through the company were Samuel Goldwyn and David O' Selznick. Among the film classics distributed by United Artists were The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) with Ronald Colman, John Ford's Stagecoach (1939), Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be (1942), High Noon (1952) with Gary Cooper , The African Queen (1951) with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960).
A new era began for United Artists when Chaplin and Pickford sold their shares in the company. The 60s was a profitable decade with the Bond movies, West Side Story (1961) and Midnight Cowboy (1969). The company also released the Rocky films and the Pink Pather series but was taken over by MGM in 1981. MGM's days as a film production company were also numbered.
Charlie Chaplin's first comedy released through United Artists was The Gold Rush (1925) in which Georgia Hale replaced Lita Grey (who became Chaplin's second wife) as his leading lady. Buster Keaton's The General (1927) was typical of the ambitious productions released through United Artists.
In the 30s the two most important independent producers to release their films through the company were Samuel Goldwyn and David O' Selznick. Among the film classics distributed by United Artists were The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) with Ronald Colman, John Ford's Stagecoach (1939), Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be (1942), High Noon (1952) with Gary Cooper , The African Queen (1951) with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960).
A new era began for United Artists when Chaplin and Pickford sold their shares in the company. The 60s was a profitable decade with the Bond movies, West Side Story (1961) and Midnight Cowboy (1969). The company also released the Rocky films and the Pink Pather series but was taken over by MGM in 1981. MGM's days as a film production company were also numbered.
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
Copyright © The Fedora Chronicles
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