Feb. 5, 1919: Four giants of American cinema, actors Charlie Chaplin (pictured far left), Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and director D.W. Griffith establish a film studio called United Artists. The group formed the venture as way to exercise artistic and financial control over their creative work. Despite the pedigree of its founders, UA struggled throughout its early history. Griffith and Fairbanks drifted away while Chaplin and Pickford attempted to cobble together productions with a constantly changing cast of characters. In 1951, with the studio hanging by a thread, two lawyers proposed to the remaining founders that they be allowed to run UA, with an option to buy it if they could turn a profit. Beginning with “The African Queen” in 1951, UA began building the library—which grew to include the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises—that would become its most valuable asset. The studio went public in 1956 and was bought by insurer Transamerica in 1967, and its decline into absurdity began soon thereafter. UA released future cinematic punch line “Heaven’s Gate” in 1980, a huge flop that opened the door for an acquisition by Kirk Kerkorian the following year. Kerkorian sold UA to Italian self-promoter Giancarlo Paretti in 1990 and got it back in 1997 after Paretti lost control through foreclosure. Today, the once-proud UA is directed by current cinematic punch line Tom Cruise, who is seeking a way to exercise artistic and financial control over his Body Thetans.—Jeffrey Kanige
Continue reading below
