135-480: Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford , who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He was shot in the leg during a gun fight which caused him to walk with a little "hop", hence the nickname. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the character became indelibly associated with actor William Boyd , who portrayed Cassidy first in
270-490: A ranch environment often learn to ride horses and perform basic ranch skills as soon as they are physically able, usually under adult supervision. Such youths, by their late teens, are often given responsibilities for "cowboy" work on the ranch. "Cowboy" was used during the American Revolution to describe American fighters who opposed the movement for independence. Claudius Smith , an outlaw identified with
405-428: A series of sixty-six films from 1935 to 1948, then in children-oriented radio and TV series , both of which lasted until 1952. Boyd's portrayal of Cassidy had little in common with the literary character, being instead a clean-cut, sarsaparilla -drinking hero who never shot first. The plots of the film, radio and TV series were generally not taken from Mulford's writings. At the peak of the character's popularity in
540-553: A 20 percent stake in the common shares of the joint venture, with the remaining 20 percent of common shares held by lawyer and advisor William Gibbs McAdoo . The idea for the venture originated with Fairbanks, Chaplin, Pickford and cowboy star William S. Hart a year earlier. Already Hollywood veterans, the four stars talked of forming their own company to better control their own work. They were spurred on by established Hollywood producers and distributors who were tightening their control over actor salaries and creative decisions,
675-459: A behemoth government catering to lazy ex-slaves. By the 1860s, cattle drives were a feature of the plains landscape, and Democrats had made cowboys a symbol of rugged individual independence, something they insisted Republicans were destroying. The traditions of the working cowboy were further etched into the minds of the general public with the development of Wild West shows in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which showcased and romanticized
810-563: A cattle shipping facility was built west of farm country around the railhead at Abilene, Kansas , and became a center of cattle shipping, loading over 36,000 head of cattle that year. The route from Texas to Abilene became known as the Chisholm Trail , after Jesse Chisholm , who marked out the route. It ran through present-day Oklahoma , which then was Indian Territory . Later, other trails forked off to different railheads, including those at Dodge City and Wichita, Kansas . By 1877,
945-553: A century later. Other successful projects backed in this period included the Pink Panther series, which began in 1964, and Spaghetti Westerns , which made a star of Clint Eastwood in the films of A Fistful of Dollars , For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly . In 1964, the French subsidiary, Les Productions Artistes Associés, released its first production That Man from Rio . In 1965, UA released
1080-667: A connection between the popularized Western code and the stereotypical rowdy cowboy image to that of the "subculture of violence" of drovers in Old West Texas that was influenced itself by the Southern code duello . Likewise, cowboys in movies were often shown fighting with American Indians . Most armed conflicts occurred between Native people and cavalry units of the U.S. Army . Relations between cowboys and Native Americans were varied but were generally unfriendly. Native people usually allowed cattle herds to pass through for
1215-475: A few regional differences in equipment and riding style still remain, and some individuals choose to deliberately preserve the more time-consuming but highly skilled techniques of the pure vaquero or "buckaroo" tradition. The popular "horse whisperer" style of natural horsemanship was originally developed by practitioners who were predominantly from California and the Northwestern states, clearly combining
1350-464: A herd could maintain a healthy weight moving about 15 miles (25 km) per day. Such a pace meant that it would take as long as two months to travel from a home ranch to a railhead. The Chisholm trail, for example, was 1,000 miles (1,600 km) miles long. On average, a single herd of cattle on a drive numbered about 3,000 head. To herd the cattle, a crew of at least 10 cowboys was needed, with three horses per cowboy. Cowboys worked in shifts to watch
1485-518: A lifetime. In the United States, a few women also took on the tasks of ranching and learned the necessary skills, though the "cowgirl" (discussed below) did not become widely recognized or acknowledged until the close of the 19th century. On western ranches today, the working cowboy is usually an adult. Responsibility for herding cattle or other livestock is no longer considered suitable for children or early adolescents. Boys and girls growing up in
SECTION 10
#17327824706511620-473: A local company. In 1941, Pickford, Chaplin, Disney, Orson Welles , Goldwyn, Selznick, Alexander Korda, and Wanger—many of whom were members of United Artists—formed the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP). Later members included Hunt Stromberg , William Cagney , Sol Lesser , and Hal Roach . The Society aimed to advance the interests of independent producers in an industry controlled by
1755-410: A multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend. A subtype, called a wrangler , specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate in rodeos . Cowgirls , first defined as such in
1890-609: A new company with Darryl F. Zanuck , called Twentieth Century Pictures , which soon provided four pictures a year, forming half of UA's schedule. Schenck formed a separate partnership with Pickford and Chaplin to buy and build theaters under the United Artists name. They began international operations, first in Canada, and then in Mexico. By the end of the 1930s, United Artists was represented in over 40 countries. When he
2025-556: A number of uniquely American horse breeds developed in North and South America through selective breeding and by natural selection of animals that escaped to the wild. The mustang and other colonial horse breeds are now called "wild", but in reality are feral horses —descendants of domesticated animals. Though popularly considered American , the traditional cowboy began with the Spanish tradition, which evolved further in what today
2160-579: A person on foot could manage gave rise to the development of the horseback-mounted vaquero . Various aspects of the Spanish equestrian tradition can be traced back to Islamic rule in Spain , including Moorish elements such as the use of Oriental-type horses , the la jineta riding style characterized by a shorter stirrup , solid-treed saddle and use of spurs , the heavy noseband or hackamore , (Arabic šakīma , Spanish jaquima ) and other horse-related equipment and techniques. Certain aspects of
2295-408: A process called horse breaking , or " bronco -busting", usually performed by cowboys who specialized as horse trainers . In some cases, extremely brutal methods were used to tame horses, and such animals tended to never be completely reliable. Other cowboys recognized their need to treat animals in a more humane fashion and modified their horse training methods, often re-learning techniques used by
2430-461: A process that evolved into the studio system . With the addition of Griffith, planning began, but Hart bowed out before anything was formalized. When he heard about their scheme, Richard A. Rowland , head of Metro Pictures , apparently said, "The inmates are taking over the asylum." The four partners, with advice from McAdoo (son-in-law and former Treasury Secretary of then-President Woodrow Wilson ), formed their distribution company. Hiram Abrams
2565-447: A profitable rental library, including Associated Artists Productions , owners of Warner Bros. pre-1950 features, shorts and cartoons and 231 Popeye cartoon shorts purchased from Paramount Pictures in 1958, becoming United Artists Associated , its distribution division. In 1963, UA released two Stanley Kramer films, It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and A Child Is Waiting . In 1964, UA introduced U.S. film audiences to
2700-403: A roundup. Each cowboy would require three to four fresh horses in the course of a day's work. Horses themselves were also rounded up. It was common practice in the west for young foals to be born of tame mares , but allowed to grow up "wild" in a semi-feral state on the open range. There were also "wild" herds, often known as mustangs . Both types were rounded up, and the mature animals tamed,
2835-481: A substantial success, Moulin Rouge (1952). As well as The African Queen UA also had success with High Noon in their first year, earning a profit of $ 313,000 compared to a loss of $ 871,000 the previous year. Other clients followed, among them Stanley Kramer , Otto Preminger , Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions , and actors newly freed from studio contracts and seeking to produce or direct their own films. With
SECTION 20
#17327824706512970-470: A television series to be produced and edited the feature films to broadcast length. On June 24, 1949, Hopalong Cassidy became the first network Western television series . The series and character were so popular that Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the cover of national magazines such as Look , Life , and Time . Boyd earned millions as Hopalong ($ 800,000 in 1950 alone), mostly from merchandise licensing and endorsement deals. In 1950, Hopalong Cassidy
3105-701: A toll of ten cents a head but raided cattle drives and ranches in times of active white-Native conflict or food shortages. In the 1860s, for example, the Comanche created problems in Western Texas. Similar attacks also occurred with the Apache , Cheyenne and Ute Indians. Cowboys were armed against both predators and human thieves, and often used their guns to drive away people of any race who attempted to rustle cattle. In reality, working ranch hands past and present had very little time for anything other than
3240-620: A tradition of self-dependence and individualism , with great value put on personal honesty, exemplified in songs and poetry . The cowboy often worked in an all-male environment, particularly on cattle drives , and in the frontier west, men often significantly outnumbered women. Some men were attracted to the frontier by other men. At times, in a region where men outnumbered women, even social events normally attended by both sexes were at times all male, and men could be found partnering up with one another for dances. Homosexual acts between young, unmarried men occurred, but cowboys culture itself
3375-402: A wild idea: let them take over United Artists for ten years. If UA was profitable in one of the next three years, they would have the option to acquire half the company by the end of the ten years and take full control. Fox Film Corporation president Spyros Skouras extended United Artists a $ 3 million loan through Krim and Benjamin's efforts. In taking over UA, Krim and Benjamin created
3510-574: Is Mexico and the Southwestern United States into the vaquero of northern Mexico and the charro of the Jalisco and Michoacán regions. While most hacendados (ranch owners) were ethnically Spanish criollos , many early vaqueros were Native Americans trained to work for the Spanish missions in caring for the mission herds. Vaqueros went north with livestock. In 1598, Don Juan de Oñate sent an expedition across
3645-455: Is also part of the rodeo circuit. Because cowboys ranked low in the social structure of the period, there are no firm figures on the actual proportion of various races. One writer states that cowboys were "of two classes—those recruited from Texas and other States on the eastern slope; and Mexicans, from the south-western region". Census records suggest that about 15% of all cowboys were of African-American ancestry—ranging from about 25% on
3780-473: Is also referenced in Buddy Alan and Don Rich 's 1970 top-twenty hit, "Cowboy Convention". In 1973, fellow film cowboy Roy Rogers released a nostalgic ballad called "Hoppy, Gene and Me". The 1951 comedy film Callaway Went Thataway is a spoof of the then-ongoing Hopalong Cassidy craze. Heisman Trophy winner and NFL halfback Howard Cassady was known as Hopalong Cassady throughout his career. In
3915-692: Is at the Autry National Center at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California. Fifteen miles east of Wichita, Kansas , at the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper was the Hopalong Cassidy Museum. The museum and its contents were auctioned on August 24, 2007, owing to the failure of its parent company, Wild West World. A "Hoppy Museum" consisting of a collection of products endorsed by William Boyd
4050-747: Is located at Scott's 10th Street Antique Mall in Cambridge, Ohio . Topper's saddle is on display at Twin Cities South Trailers, a horse trailer dealership in Pilot Point Texas. William Boyd's collection, including Hopalong's TV production materials, is archived at the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. In the closing chapter of F. Scott Fitzgerald 's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby ,
4185-457: The 1971 screen version of Fiddler on the Roof . However, the 1972 film version of Man of La Mancha was a failure. New talent was encouraged, including Woody Allen , Robert Altman , Sylvester Stallone , Saul Zaentz , Miloš Forman , and Brian De Palma . With UA being the distributor for Woody Allen's Bananas (1971), it started as the distributor for a series of Woody Allen films. With
Hopalong Cassidy - Misplaced Pages Continue
4320-514: The Calgary Stampede and Cheyenne Frontier Days . Rodeo competition for women changed in the 1920s as the result of several factors. After 1925, when Eastern promoters started staging indoor rodeos in places like Madison Square Garden , women were generally excluded from the men's events and many of the women's events were dropped. Also, many in the public had difficulties with seeing women seriously injured or killed, and in particular,
4455-549: The Civil War , Charles Goodnight modified the traditional English sidesaddle, creating a western-styled design. The traditional charras of Mexico preserve a similar tradition and ride sidesaddles today in charreada exhibitions on both sides of the border. It was not until the advent of Wild West shows that " cowgirls " came into their own. These adult women were skilled performers, demonstrating riding, expert marksmanship and trick roping that entertained audiences around
4590-589: The Great Plains and Rocky Mountains , "buckaroo" is used primarily in the Great Basin and California , and "cowpuncher" mostly in Texas and surrounding states. Equestrianism required skills and an investment in horses and equipment rarely available to or entrusted to a child, though in some cultures boys rode a donkey while going to and from pasture. In antiquity , herding of sheep, cattle and goats
4725-470: The Great Plains and the San Joaquin Valley of California, and later in the Great Basin , from the 18th century to the early 20th century. Large numbers of cattle lived in a semi-feral or a completely feral state on the open range and were left to graze, mostly untended, for much of the year. In many cases, different ranchers formed "associations" and grazed their cattle together on
4860-663: The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the resulting Earp Vendetta Ride . The origins of the cowboy tradition come from Spain , beginning with the hacienda system of medieval Spain . This style of cattle ranching spread throughout much of the Iberian peninsula , and later was imported to the Americas . Both regions possessed a dry climate with sparse grass, thus large herds of cattle required vast amounts of land to obtain sufficient forage . The need to cover distances greater than
4995-692: The Loyalist cause, was called the "Cow-boy of the Ramapos" due to his penchant for stealing oxen, cattle and horses from colonists and giving them to the British. In the same period, a number of guerrilla bands operated in Westchester County , which marked the dividing line between the British and American forces. These groups were made up of local farmhands who would ambush convoys and carry out raids on both sides. There were two separate groups:
5130-535: The Mexican–American War in 1848, New England merchants who traveled by ship to California encountered both hacendados and vaqueros , trading manufactured goods for the hides and tallow produced from vast cattle ranches . American traders along what later became known as the Santa Fe Trail had similar contacts with vaquero life. Starting with these early encounters, the lifestyle and language of
5265-479: The Mirisch brothers , Billy Wilder , Joseph E. Levine and others. In 1961, United Artists released West Side Story , which won ten Academy Awards (including Best Picture ). In 1960, UA purchased Ziv Television Programs . UA's television division was responsible for shows such as Gilligan's Island , The Fugitive , Outer Limits , and The Patty Duke Show . The television unit had begun to build up
5400-559: The Olympics , and Western riding events such as cutting , reining and endurance riding . Today's working cowgirls generally use clothing, tools and equipment indistinguishable from those of men, other than in color and design, usually preferring a flashier look in competition. Sidesaddles are only seen in exhibitions and a limited number of specialty horse-show classes. A modern working cowgirl wears jeans, close-fitting shirts, boots, hat and when needed, chaps and gloves. If working on
5535-479: The Rio Grande into New Mexico, bringing along 7000 head of cattle. From this beginning, vaqueros drove cattle from New Mexico and later Texas to Mexico City. Mexican traditions spread both South and North, influencing equestrian traditions from Argentina to Canada. As English -speaking traders and settlers expanded westward , English and Spanish traditions, language and culture merged to some degree. Before
Hopalong Cassidy - Misplaced Pages Continue
5670-601: The Southwestern United States . In turn, the land and people of the Americas also saw dramatic changes due to Spanish influence. The arrival of horses was particularly significant, as equines had been extinct in the Americas since the end of the prehistoric ice age . Horses quickly multiplied in America and became crucial to the success of the Spanish and later settlers from other nations. The earliest horses were originally of Andalusian , Barb and Arabian ancestry, but
5805-535: The vaquero began a transformation which merged with English cultural traditions and produced what became known in American culture as the "cowboy". The arrival of English-speaking settlers in Texas began in 1821. Rip Ford described the country between Laredo and Corpus Christi as inhabited by "countless droves of mustangs and ... wild cattle ... abandoned by Mexicans when they were ordered to evacuate
5940-573: The vaqueros , particularly those of the Californio tradition. Horses trained in a gentler fashion were more reliable and useful for a wider variety of tasks. Informal competition arose between cowboys seeking to test their cattle and horse-handling skills against one another, and thus, from the necessary tasks of the working cowboy, the sport of rodeo developed. Prior to the mid-19th century, most ranchers primarily raised cattle for their own needs and to sell surplus meat and hides locally. There
6075-534: The "skinners" fought for the pro-independence side, while the "cowboys" supported the British. In the Tombstone, Arizona , area during the 1880s, the term "cowboy" or "cow-boy" was used pejoratively to describe men who had been implicated in various crimes. One loosely organized band was dubbed " The Cowboys ", and profited from smuggling cattle, alcohol, and tobacco across the U.S.–Mexico border. The San Francisco Examiner wrote in an editorial, "Cowboys [are]
6210-635: The 1980s. As part of the deal, UA acquired MGM's music publishing operation, Robbins, Feist, Miller. In 1975, Harry Saltzman sold UA his 50 percent stake in Danjaq , the holding-company for the Bond films. UA released One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975, which won the Best Picture Academy Award and was UA's highest-grossing film, with a gross of $ 163 million. UA followed with
6345-605: The 1985 film Fletch , the eponymous character, played by Chevy Chase , jokes that he was close to buying a house until he learned that Hopalong Cassidy had killed himself there. In 2009, the United States Postal Service featured Cassidy as part of a series of stamps depicting early TV characters. Cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America , traditionally on horseback , and often performs
6480-423: The American , written by and starring Fairbanks, was a success. Funding for movies was limited. Without selling stock to the public like other studios, all United had for finance was weekly prepayment installments from theater owners for upcoming movies. As a result, production was slow, and the company distributed an average of only five films a year in its first five years. By 1924, Griffith had dropped out, and
6615-525: The Americas . Over the centuries, differences in terrain and climate, and the influence of cattle-handling traditions from multiple cultures, created several distinct styles of equipment, clothing and animal handling. As the ever-practical cowboy adapted to the modern world, his equipment and techniques also adapted, though many classic traditions are preserved. The English word cowboy has an origin from several earlier terms that referred to both age and to cattle or cattle-tending work. The English word cowboy
6750-617: The Arabic tradition, such as the hackamore, can in turn be traced to roots in ancient Persia . During the 16th century, the Conquistadors and other Spanish settlers brought their cattle-raising traditions as well as both horses and domesticated cattle to the Americas , starting with their arrival in what today is Mexico and Florida . The traditions of Spain were transformed by the geographic, environmental and cultural circumstances of New Spain , which later became Mexico and
6885-590: The Beatles by releasing A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965). At the same time, it backed two expatriate North Americans in Britain, who had acquired screen rights to Ian Fleming 's James Bond novels. For $ 1 million, UA backed Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli 's Dr. No in 1963 and launched the James Bond franchise . The franchise outlived UA's time as a major studio, continuing half
SECTION 50
#17327824706517020-491: The Cassidy series, but popular demand forced Sherman back into production, this time for United Artists . Sherman gave up the series in 1944, but Boyd wanted to keep it going, and ended up co-producing 12 more films himself, from 1946 to 1948, now with lower budgets. The film series finally ended as "B" westerns were being phased out. In the first film, Hopalong Cassidy (then spelled "Hop-along") got his name after being shot in
7155-612: The English word "cowherd" was used to describe a cattle herder (similar to "shepherd", a sheep herder), and often referred to a pre-adolescent or early adolescent boy, who usually worked on foot. This word is very old in the English language, originating prior to the year 1000. By 1849 "cowboy" had developed its modern sense as an adult cattle handler of the American West. Variations on the word appeared later. "Cowhand" appeared in 1852, and "cowpoke" in 1881, originally restricted to
7290-560: The James Bond, Pink Panther, and Woody Allen films, UA had a series of films based on well known characters in the 1970s. In 1973, United Artists took over the sales and distribution of MGM 's films in Anglo-America . Cinema International Corporation assumed international distribution rights for MGM's films and carried on to United International Pictures (made from CIC and UA's International assets being owned by partner MGM) in
7425-582: The Spanish-descended people who had settled in the parts of Mexico that later became Texas and California. In the modern world, remnants of two major and distinct cowboy traditions remain, known today as the " Texas " tradition and the "Spanish", "Vaquero", or " California " tradition. Less well-known but equally distinct traditions also developed in Hawaii and Florida . Today, the various regional cowboy traditions have merged to some extent, though
7560-648: The United Artists brand as United Artists Digital Studios for the Stargate Origins web series as part of its Stargate franchise , but retired the name after 2019 and instead used its eponymous brand for subsequent releases. A local joint distribution venture between MGM and Annapurna Pictures launched on October 31, 2017 was rebranded as United Artists Releasing on February 5, 2019, in honor of its 100th anniversary. However, Amazon , MGM's now-parent company, folded UAR into MGM on March 4, 2023, citing "newfound theatrical release opportunities" following
7695-600: The West were acknowledged in law; the Western states led the United States in granting women the right to vote, beginning with Wyoming in 1869. Early photographers such as Evelyn Cameron documented the life of working ranch women during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While impractical for everyday work, the sidesaddle was a tool that afforded women the ability to ride horses in public settings instead of being left on foot or confined to horse-drawn vehicles . Following
7830-416: The West with two companions: one young and trouble-prone with a weakness for damsels in distress, the other older, comically awkward and outspoken. The juvenile lead was successively played by James Ellison , Russell Hayden , George Reeves , Rand Brooks , and Jimmy Rogers. George Hayes (later to become known as "Gabby" Hayes) originally played Cassidy's grizzled sidekick, Windy Halliday. After Hayes left
7965-512: The anticipated George Stevens' production of The Greatest Story Ever Told and was at the time, the most expensive film which was budgeted at $ 20 million. Max Von Sydow, in the role of Jesus Christ, led an all-star cast which included Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Martin Landau, Dorothy McGuire, Sal Mineo, Ina Balin, Joanna Dunham, David McCallum, Nehemiah Persoff, Donald Pleasence, José Ferrer and Ed Wynn. The film did not make back its budget and
8100-633: The arrival of railroads and an increased demand for beef in the wake of the American Civil War , older traditions combined with the need to drive cattle from the ranches where they were raised to the nearest railheads , often hundreds of miles away. Black cowboys in the American West accounted for up to 25 percent of workers in the range-cattle industry from the 1860s to 1880s, estimated to be between 6,000 and 9,000 workers. Typically former slaves or children of former slaves, many black men had skills in cattle handling and headed West at
8235-656: The attitudes and philosophy of the California vaquero with the equipment and outward look of the Texas cowboy. United Artists United Artists ( UA ) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios . In its original operating period, UA was founded in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin , D.W. Griffith , Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a venture premised on allowing actors to control their own financial and artistic interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios. After numerous ownership and structural changes and revamps, United Artists
SECTION 60
#17327824706518370-468: The beginning of his career. The 66 Hopalong Cassidy pictures were filmed by independent producers who released the films through the studios. The first "Hoppies", as the films were known, were distributed by Paramount Pictures to favorable returns, and United Artists was the distributor after Paramount. They were noted for fast action and outdoor photography (usually by Russell Harlan ). Harry Sherman wanted to make more ambitious films and tried to cancel
8505-700: The box-office opening success of Creed III . In July 2024, Amazon MGM Studios announced the company's revival, entering a multi-year first look deal with film producer Scott Stuber , who will also be involved with all releases under the freshly revived banner. In 1918, Charlie Chaplin could not get his parent company First National Pictures to increase his production budget despite being one of their top producers. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks had their own contracts, with First National and Famous Players–Lasky respectively, but these were due to run out with no clear offers forthcoming. Sydney Chaplin, brother and business manager for Charlie, deduced something
8640-642: The byline "A Transamerica Company" be removed on the prints and in all advertising. At one point, the parent company expressed its desire to phase out the UA name and replace it with Transamerica Films. Krim tried to convince Transamerica to spin off United Artists, but he and Transamerica's chairman could not come to an agreement. Finally in 1978, following a dispute with Transamerica chief John R. Beckett over administrative expenses, UA's top executives, including chairman Krim, president Eric Pleskow , Benjamin and other key officers walked out. Within days they announced
8775-407: The cattle 24 hours a day, herding them in the proper direction in the daytime and watching them at night to prevent stampedes and deter theft. The crew also included a cook, who drove a chuck wagon , usually pulled by oxen , and a horse wrangler to take charge of the remuda , or herd of spare horses. The wrangler on a cattle drive was often a very young cowboy or one of lower social status, but
8910-538: The cattle trails of the Old West. Women performed considerable ranch work, and in some cases (especially when the men went to war or on embarked on long cattle drives) ran them. There is little doubt that women, particularly the wives and daughters of men who owned small ranches and could not afford to hire large numbers of outside laborers, worked side-by-side with men and thus needed to ride horses and perform related tasks. The largely undocumented contributions of women to
9045-459: The closest point that railroad tracks reached, which at that time was in Sedalia, Missouri. Farmers in eastern Kansas, afraid that Longhorns would transmit cattle fever to local animals as well as trample crops, formed groups that threatened to beat or shoot cattlemen found on their lands. Therefore, the 1866 drive failed to reach the railroad, and the cattle herds were sold for low prices. In 1867,
9180-415: The company was facing a crisis. Veteran producer Joseph Schenck was hired as president. He had produced pictures for a decade, and brought commitments for films starring his wife, Norma Talmadge , his sister-in-law, Constance Talmadge , and his brother-in-law, Buster Keaton . Contracts were signed with independent producers, including Samuel Goldwyn , and Howard Hughes . In 1933, Schenck organized
9315-408: The company. The company made Marty which won 1955's Palme d'Or and Best Picture Oscar. 12 Angry Men (1957) which according to Krim before home video, was being seen on TV 24 hours a day, 365 days a year some place in the world. By 1958, UA was making annual profits of $ 3 million a year. United Artists went public in 1957 with a $ 17 million stock and debenture offering. The company
9450-493: The constant hard work involved in maintaining a ranch. The history of women in the West, and women who worked on cattle ranches in particular, is not as well documented as is that of men. Institutions such as the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in modern years have attempted to gather and document the contributions of women. There are few records mentioning girls or women working to drive cattle up
9585-444: The cook was a particularly well-respected member of the crew, as not only was he in charge of the food, he also was in charge of medical supplies and had a working knowledge of practical medicine. Barbed wire , an innovation of the 1880s, allowed cattle to be confined to designated areas to prevent overgrazing of the range. In Texas and surrounding areas, increased population required ranchers to fence off their individual lands. In
9720-597: The country between the Nueces and the Rio Grande by General Valentin Canalizo ... the horses and cattle abandoned invited the raids the Texians made upon this territory." California, on the other hand, did not see a large influx of settlers from the United States until after the Mexican–American War . In slightly different ways, both areas contributed to the evolution of the iconic American cowboy. Particularly with
9855-434: The death of Bonnie McCarroll at the 1929 Pendleton Round-Up led to the elimination of women's bronc riding from rodeo competition. In today's rodeos, men and women compete equally together only in the event of team roping , although women could now enter other open events. In all-women rodeos, women compete in bronc riding , bull riding and all other traditional rodeo events. In open rodeos, cowgirls primarily compete in
9990-567: The early 1950s, he spawned enormous amounts of merchandise, as well as a comic strip, additional novels by Louis L'Amour (writing as Tex Burns), and even a short-lived amusement park, "Hoppyland", in Venice, Los Angeles . Clarence E. Mulford wrote the first Hopalong Cassidy short story in 1904 while living in Fryeburg, Maine . He wrote the first novel, Bar-20 (named after Cassidy's ranch) in 1906. He wrote 28 Hopalong Cassidy novels in all, with
10125-576: The end of the Civil War. By the 1880s, the expansion of the cattle industry resulted in a need for additional open range. Thus many ranchers expanded into the northwest, where there were still large tracts of unsettled grassland. Texas cattle were herded north, into the Rocky Mountain west and the Dakotas. The cowboy adapted much of his gear to the colder conditions, and westward movement of
10260-441: The entertainment industry, the growth of rodeo brought about the rodeo cowgirl. In the early Wild West shows and rodeos, women competed in all events, sometimes against other women, sometimes with the men. Cowgirls such as Fannie Sperry Steele rode the same "rough stock" and assumed the same risks as the men (and all while wearing a heavy split skirt that was more encumbering than men's trousers) and competed at major rodeos such as
10395-469: The expansion of the meat packing industry , the demand for beef increased significantly. By 1866, cattle could be sold to northern markets for as much as $ 40 per head, making it potentially profitable for cattle, particularly from Texas, to be herded long distances to market. The first large-scale effort to drive cattle from Texas to the nearest railhead for shipment to Chicago occurred in 1866, when many Texas ranchers banded together to drive their cattle to
10530-435: The film making business, and put United Artists on the market. Kirk Kerkorian 's Tracinda Corp. purchased the company in 1981. Tracinda also owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1981, United Artists Classics, which formerly re-released library titles, was turned into a first-run art film distributor by Nathaniel T. Kwit, Jr. Tom Bernard was hired as the division director, as well as handling theatrical sales, and Ira Deutchman
10665-528: The first studio without an actual "studio". Primarily acting as bankers, they offered money to independent producers. UA leased space at the Pickford/Fairbanks Studio but did not own a studio lot. Thus UA did not have the overhead, the maintenance, or the expensive production staff at other studios. Among their first clients were Sam Spiegel and John Huston , whose Horizon Productions gave UA one major hit, The African Queen (1951) and
10800-410: The formation of Orion Pictures , with backing from Warner Bros . The departures concerned several Hollywood figures enough that they took out an ad in a trade paper warning Transamerica that it had made a fatal mistake in letting them go. Later that year, it entered into a partnership with Lorimar Productions , whereas United Artists would distribute Lorimar's feature films theatrically, while Lorimar
10935-461: The group ceased operations. Needing a turnaround, Pickford and Chaplin hired Paul V. McNutt in 1950, a former governor of Indiana, as chairman and Frank L. McNamee as president. McNutt did not have the skill to solve UA's financial problems and the pair was replaced after only a few months. On February 15, 1951, lawyers-turned-producers Arthur B. Krim (of Eagle-Lion Films ), Robert Benjamin and Matty Fox approached Pickford and Chaplin with
11070-542: The group was consolidated into one entity as United Artists Records and in 1979, EMI acquired the division which included Blue Note Records . In 1959, after failing to sell several pilots, United Artists offered its first ever television series, The Troubleshooters , and later released its first sitcom, The Dennis O'Keefe Show . In the 1960s, mainstream studios fell into decline and some were acquired or diversified. UA prospered while winning 11 Academy Awards, including five for Best Picture, adding relationships with
11205-487: The herd required the highest level of skill and rode specially trained " cutting " horses, trained to follow the movements of cattle, capable of stopping and turning faster than other horses. Once cattle were sorted, most cowboys were required to rope young calves and restrain them to be branded and (in the case of most bull calves) castrated . Occasionally it was also necessary to restrain older cattle for branding or other treatment. A large number of horses were needed for
11340-463: The home-movie company Castle Films manufacturing condensed versions of the Paramount films for 16 mm and 8 mm film projectors; they were sold through 1966. Thanks to the earlier series which showed edited versions of his films, Boyd began work on a separate series of half-hour westerns made especially for television; Edgar Buchanan was his new sidekick, Red Connors (a character from
11475-473: The individuals who prodded cattle with long poles to load them onto railroad cars for shipping. Names for a cowboy in American English include buckaroo , cowpoke , cowhand , and cowpuncher . Another English word for a cowboy, buckaroo , is an anglicization of vaquero ( Spanish pronunciation: [baˈkeɾo] ). Today, "cowboy" is a term common throughout the west and particularly in
11610-414: The industry also led to intermingling of regional traditions from California to Texas, often with the cowboy taking the most useful elements of each. Mustang-runners or Mesteñeros were cowboys and vaqueros who caught, broke and drove mustangs to market in Mexico, and later American territories of what is now Northern Mexico , Texas , New Mexico and California . They caught the mustangs that roamed
11745-444: The instability in the film industry due to theater divestment, the business was considered risky. In 1955, movie attendance reached its lowest level since 1923. Chaplin sold his 25 percent share during this crisis to Krim and Benjamin for $ 1.1 million, followed a year later by Pickford who sold her share for $ 3 million. In the late 1950s, United Artists produced two modest films that became financial and critical successes for
11880-685: The label was briefly rechristened in 1984 as MGM/UA Classics before it ceased operating in the late 1980s. The merged studios became known as the MGM/UA Entertainment Company and in 1982 began launching new subsidiaries: the MGM/UA Home Entertainment Group , MGM/UA Classics and MGM/UA Television Group . Kerkorian also bid for the remaining, outstanding public stock, but dropped his bid, facing lawsuits and vocal opposition. In 1981, Fred Silverman and George Reeves via InterMedia Entertainment struck
12015-496: The largest of the cattle-shipping boom towns, Dodge City, Kansas, shipped out 500,000 head of cattle. Cattle drives had to strike a balance between speed and the weight of the cattle. While cattle could be driven as far as 25 miles (40 km) in a single day, they would lose so much weight that they would be hard to sell when they reached the end of the trail. Usually they were taken shorter distances each day, allowed periods to rest and graze both at midday and at night. On average,
12150-473: The last one, Hopalong Cassidy Serves a Writ , being published in 1941. Not all of these novels focused on the Cassidy character; some focused on other characters in and around Bar-20. In 1950, while the character was undergoing a surge in popularity, then-aspiring author Louis L'Amour was commissioned to write four additional Hopalong Cassidy novels, this time with a characterization matching William Boyd's portrayal, rather than Mulford's writings. L'Amour wrote
12285-534: The late 1860s, following the American Civil War and the expansion of the cattle industry, former soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy came west, seeking work, as did large numbers of restless white men in general. A significant number of African-American freedmen also were drawn to cowboy life, in part because there was not quite as much racial discrimination in the West as in other areas of American society at
12420-410: The late 19th century, had a less-well documented historical role, but in the modern world work at identical tasks and have obtained considerable respect for their achievements. Cattle handlers in many other parts of the world, particularly South America and Australia , perform work similar to the cowboy. The cowboy has deep historic roots tracing back to Spain and the earliest European settlers of
12555-460: The leg. Hopalong's "drink of choice" was the nonalcoholic sarsaparilla . Boyd thought Hopalong Cassidy might have a future in television, so he sold or mortgaged most of what he owned to buy the character rights from Mulford and the backlog of movies from Sherman, spending $ 350,000 to obtain the rights to his old films. He then approached the fledgling NBC network to air the films. The initial broadcasts were so successful that NBC could not wait for
12690-507: The life of both cowboys and Native Americans . Beginning in the 1920s and continuing to the present day, Western films popularized the cowboy lifestyle but also formed persistent stereotypes . In some cases, the cowboy and the violent gunslinger are often associated with one another. On the other hand, some actors who portrayed cowboys promoted other values, such as the "cowboy code" of Gene Autry , that encouraged honorable behavior, respect and patriotism. Historian Robert K. DeArment draws
12825-458: The most reckless class of outlaws in that wild country ... infinitely worse than the ordinary robber." It became an insult in the area to call someone a "cowboy", as it suggested he was a horse thief, robber, or outlaw. Cattlemen were generally called herders or ranchers. Other synonyms for cowboy were ranch hand, range hand or trail hand, although duties and pay were not entirely identical. The Cowboys' activities were ultimately curtailed by
12960-595: The next two years' Best Picture Oscar winners, Rocky and Annie Hall , becoming the first studio to win the award for three years running and also to become the studio with the most Best Picture winners at that time, with 11. However, Transamerica was not pleased with UA's releases such as Midnight Cowboy and Last Tango in Paris that were rated X by the Motion Picture Association of America . In these instances, Transamerica demanded
13095-570: The north, overgrazing stressed the open range, leading to insufficient winter forage for the cattle and starvation, particularly during the harsh winter of 1886–1887, when hundreds of thousands of cattle died across the Northwest, leading to collapse of the cattle industry. By the 1890s, barbed-wire fencing was also standard in the northern plains, railroads had expanded to cover most of the nation, and meat packing plants were built closer to major ranching areas, making long cattle drives from Texas to
13230-414: The novels under the pseudonym Tex Burns. Although they were his first published novels, he was unhappy with the assignment, since he preferred the original character, and publicly denied authorship of the novels for the rest of his life. In 2005, author Susie Coffman published Follow Your Stars , new stories starring the character. In three of these stories, Coffman wrote the wife of actor William Boyd into
13365-487: The old Confederacy, imagined the West as a land untouched by Republican politicians they hated. They developed an image of the cowboys as men who worked hard, played hard, lived by a code of honor, protected themselves, and asked nothing of the government. In the hands of Democratic newspaper editors, the realities of cowboy life -- the poverty, the danger, the debilitating hours -- became romantic. Cowboys embodied virtues Democrats believed Republicans were destroying by creating
13500-570: The original stories and a few of the early films). The theme music for the television show was written by Nacio Herb Brown (music) and L. Wolfe Gilbert (lyrics). The show ranked number 7 in the 1949 Nielsen ratings, number 9 in the 1950–1951 season and number 28 in 1951–1952. The success of the show and tie-ins inspired juvenile television westerns such as The Range Rider , Tales of the Texas Rangers , Annie Oakley , The Gene Autry Show , and The Roy Rogers Show . The success of
13635-496: The pay was poor. The average cowboy earned approximately a dollar a day, plus food, and, when near the home ranch, a bed in the bunkhouse , usually a barracks -like building with a single open room. Over time, the cowboys of the American West developed a personal culture of their own, a blend of frontier and Victorian values that even retained vestiges of chivalry . Such hazardous work in isolated conditions also bred
13770-594: The railheads in Kansas unnecessary. Hence, the age of the open range was gone and large cattle drives were over. Smaller cattle drives continued at least into the 1940s, as ranchers, prior to the development of the modern cattle truck , still needed to herd cattle to local railheads for transport to stockyards and packing plants . Meanwhile, ranches multiplied all over the developing West, keeping cowboy employment high, if still low-paid, but also somewhat more settled. American cowboys were drawn from multiple sources. By
13905-480: The ranch, they perform the same chores as cowboys and dress to suit the situation. Geography, climate and cultural traditions caused differences to develop in cattle-handling methods and equipment from one part of the United States to another. The period between 1840 and 1870 marked a mingling of cultures when English and French-descended people began to settle west of the Mississippi River and encountered
14040-517: The resignation of Albeck, who was replaced by Norbert Auerbach. United Artists recorded a major loss for the year due almost entirely to the box-office failure of Heaven's Gate . It destroyed UA's reputation with Transamerica and the greater Hollywood community. However, it may have saved the United Artists name; UA's final head before the sale, Steven Bach , wrote in his book Final Cut that there had been talk about renaming United Artists to Transamerica Pictures. In 1980, Transamerica decided to exit
14175-472: The same range. In order to determine the ownership of individual animals, they were marked with a distinctive brand , applied with a hot iron, usually while the cattle were still calves . In order to find young calves for branding, and to sort out mature animals intended for sale, ranchers would hold a roundup , usually in the spring. A roundup required a number of specialized skills on the part of both cowboys and horses. Individuals who separated cattle from
14310-410: The series because of a salary dispute with producer Harry Sherman , he was replaced by the comedian Britt Wood as Speedy McGinnis and finally by the veteran movie comedian Andy Clyde as California Carlson. Clyde, the most durable of the sidekicks, remained with the series until it ended. A few actors of future prominence appeared in Cassidy films, notably Robert Mitchum , who appeared in seven films at
14445-442: The show moved to CBS Radio , where it ran until 1952. Fawcett Comics published a Hopalong Cassidy comic book one-shot in 1943, followed by an ongoing series from 1946 to 1953 (numbered #1 through 85), when the company ceased publishing. DC Comics took over the title in 1954 with issue #86, publishing it until issue #135, in 1959. Mirror Enterprises Syndicate distributed a Hopalong Cassidy comic strip starting in 1949; it
14580-494: The stories. As portrayed on the screen, white-haired Bill "Hopalong" Cassidy was usually clad strikingly in black (including his hat, an exception to the Western film stereotype that only villains wore black hats ). He was reserved and well spoken, with a sense of fair play. He was often called upon to intercede when dishonest characters took advantage of honest citizens. "Hoppy" and his white horse, Topper, usually traveled through
14715-607: The studio system. SIMPP fought to end what were considered to be anti-competitive practices by the seven major film studios—Loew's (MGM), Columbia Pictures , Paramount Pictures , Universal Pictures , RKO Radio Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros./First National —that controlled the production, distribution, and exhibition of motion pictures. In 1942, SIMPP filed an antitrust suit against Paramount's United Detroit Theatres . The complaint accused Paramount of conspiracy to control first-and subsequent-run theaters in Detroit. This
14850-399: The television series made Boyd a star. The Mutual Broadcasting System began broadcasting a radio version , with Andy Clyde as the sidekick (except for episodes 28 to 53 of the 105 episode series, when, for reasons unknown, he was replaced by several different radio actors). The show was syndicated from 1948 to 1950, then began broadcast on Mutual on January 1, 1950. At the end of September,
14985-481: The time. A significant number of Mexicans and American Indians already living in the region also worked as cowboys. Later, particularly after 1890, when American policy promoted "assimilation" of Indian people, some Indian boarding schools also taught ranching skills. Today, some Native Americans in the western United States own cattle and small ranches, and many are still employed as cowboys, especially on ranches located near Indian reservations . The "Indian Cowboy"
15120-481: The timed riding events such as barrel racing , and most professional rodeos do not offer as many women's events as they do men's events. Boys and girls are more apt to compete against one another in all events in high-school rodeos as well as O-Mok-See competition, where boys can be seen in events traditionally associated with women riders, such as barrel racing. Outside of the rodeo world, women compete equally with men in nearly all other equestrian events, including
15255-416: The title character's father, Henry C. Gatz, explaining his son's early character, is described "...pull[ing] from his pocket a ragged old copy of a book called Hopalong Cassidy . 'Look here, this is a book he had when he was a boy. It just shows you.'" The 1951 song " It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas " includes a reference to "Hopalong boots" as a holiday gift desired by children. Hopalong Cassidy
15390-494: The trail drives out of Texas, to very few in the northwest. Similarly, cowboys of Mexican descent also averaged about 15% of the total, but were more common in Texas and the southwest. Some estimates suggest that in the late 19th century, one out of every three cowboys was a Mexican vaquero, and 20% may have been African-American. Other estimates place the number of African-American cowboys as high as 25 percent. Regardless of ethnicity, most cowboys came from lower social classes and
15525-472: The world. Women such as Annie Oakley became household names. By 1900, skirts split for riding astride became popular and allowed women to compete with men without scandalizing Victorian-era audiences by wearing men's clothing or bloomers . In the films that followed beginning in the early 20th century, the role of the cowgirl was expanded in popular culture and film set designers developed attractive clothing suitable for riding Western saddles. Independently of
15660-456: The years passed, and the dynamics of the business changed, these "producing partners" drifted away. Samuel Goldwyn Productions and Disney went to RKO and Wanger to Universal Pictures . In the late 1930s, UA turned a profit. Goldwyn was providing most of the output for distribution. He sued United several times for disputed compensation leading him to leave. MGM's 1939 hit Gone with the Wind
15795-531: Was acquired by media conglomerate Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1981 for a reported $ 350 million ($ 1.2 billion today). On September 22, 2014, MGM acquired a controlling interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media and merged them to revive the television production unit of United Artists as United Artists Media Group (UAMG). MGM itself acquired UAMG on December 14, 2015, and folded it into their own television division . MGM briefly revived
15930-480: Was also a limited market for hides, horns, hooves, and tallow in assorted manufacturing processes. While Texas contained vast herds of stray, free-ranging cattle available for free to anyone who could round them up, prior to 1865, there was little demand for beef. At the end of the American Civil War , Philip Danforth Armour opened a meat packing plant in Chicago , which became known as Armour and Company . With
16065-542: Was also listed among the "Top 10 Films of the Year" by the National Board of Review . On the basis of its film and television hits, in 1967, Transamerica Corporation purchased 98 percent of UA's stock. Transamerica selected David and Arnold Picker to lead its studio. UA debuted a new logo incorporating the parent company's striped T emblem and the tagline "Entertainment from Transamerica Corporation". This wording
16200-501: Was an expansion and retheming of Venice Lake Park (opened the previous year) as Boyd became an investor. Standing on 80 acres (320,000 m) it included a roller coaster , miniature railroads , pony rides, boat ride, Ferris wheel , carousel , and other thrill rides along with picnic grounds and recreational facilities. Despite Boyd's regular appearances as Hoppy at the park, it was not a success and shut down in 1954. There have been museum displays of Hopalong Cassidy. The major display
16335-436: Was and remains deeply homophobic. Though anti-sodomy laws were common in the Old West, they often were only selectively enforced. Heather Cox Richardson argues for a political dimension to the original cowboy image in the 1870s and 1880s: The timing of the cattle industry's growth meant that cowboy imagery grew to have extraordinary power. Entangled in the vicious politics of the postwar years, Democrats, especially those in
16470-481: Was averaging 50 films a year. In 1958, UA acquired Ilya Lopert 's Lopert Pictures Corporation , which released foreign films that attracted criticism or had censorship problems. In 1957, UA created United Artists Records Corporation and United Artists Music Corporation after an unsuccessful attempt to buy a record company. In 1968, UA Records merged with Liberty Records , along with its many subsidiary labels such as Imperial Records and Dolton Records . In 1972,
16605-417: Was bought out by King Features in 1951, running until 1955. The strip was drawn by Dan Spiegle , with scripts by Royal King Cole. Beginning in 1950, Capitol Records released a series of Hopalong Cassidy "record readers" featuring William Boyd and music by Billy May , produced by Alan W. Livingston . On May 26, 1951, an amusement park named Hoppyland opened in the Venice section of Los Angeles. This
16740-400: Was denied an ownership share in 1935, Schenck resigned. He set up 20th Century Pictures ' merger with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century Fox . Al Lichtman succeeded Schenck as company president. Other independent producers distributed through United Artists in the 1930s including Walt Disney Productions , Alexander Korda , Hal Roach , David O. Selznick , and Walter Wanger . As
16875-514: Was derived from vaquero , a Spanish word for an individual who managed cattle while mounted on horseback. Vaquero was derived from vaca , meaning "cow", which came from the Latin word vacca . "Cowboy" was first used in print by Jonathan Swift in 1725, and was used in the British Isles from 1820 to 1850 to describe young boys who tended the family or community cows. Originally though,
17010-618: Was featured on the first lunchbox to bear an image, causing sales of Aladdin Industries lunch boxes to jump from 50,000 units to 600,000 units per year. In 1950, more than 100 companies manufactured $ 70 million of Hopalong Cassidy products, including children's dinnerware, pillows, roller skates, soap, wristwatches (made by Timex), and jackknives. There was a new demand for Hopalong Cassidy features in movie theaters, and Boyd licensed reissue distributor Film Classics to make new film prints and advertising accessories. Another 1950 enterprise saw
17145-414: Was going wrong, and contacted Pickford and Fairbanks. Together they hired a private detective, who discovered a plan to merge all production companies and to lock in "exhibition companies" to a series of five-year contracts. Chaplin, Pickford, Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith incorporated United Artists as a joint venture company on February 5, 1919. Each held a 25 percent stake in the preferred shares and
17280-488: Was hired as head of marketing. Later the division added Michael Barker and Donna Gigliotti . Deutchman left to form Cinecom , and Barker and Bernard formed Orion Classics and Sony Pictures Classics . The label mostly released foreign and independent films such as Cutter's Way , Ticket to Heaven and The Grey Fox , and occasional first-run reissues from the UA library, such as director's cuts of Head Over Heels . When Barker and Bernard left to form Orion Classics,
17415-510: Was its first managing director, and the company established its headquarters at 729 Seventh Avenue in New York City. The original terms called for each star to produce five pictures a year. By the time the company was operational in 1921, feature films were becoming more expensive and polished, and running times had settled at around ninety minutes (eight reels). The original goal was thus abandoned. UA's first production, His Majesty,
17550-657: Was later shortened to "A Transamerica Company". The following year, in 1968, United Artists Associated was reincorporated as United Artists Television Distribution. In 1970, UA lost $ 35 million, and the Pickers were pushed aside for the return of Krim and Benjamin. UA released another Best Picture Oscar winner in 1967, In the Heat of the Night and a nominee for Best Picture, The Graduate , an Embassy production that UA distributed overseas. Other successful pictures included
17685-434: Was often the job of minors, and still is a task for young people in various Developing World cultures. Because of the time and physical ability needed to develop necessary skills, both historic and modern cowboys often began as an adolescent. Historically, cowboys earned wages as soon as they developed sufficient skill to be hired (often as young as 12 or 13). If not crippled by injury, cowboys may handle cattle or horses for
17820-455: Was planning to produce television series and miniseries adaptations from UA's feature film library. Transamerica inserted Andy Albeck as UA's president. United had its most successful year with four hits in 1979: Rocky II , Manhattan , Moonraker , and The Black Stallion . The new leadership agreed to back Heaven's Gate , a project of director Michael Cimino , which vastly overran its budget and cost $ 44 million. This led to
17955-548: Was released to mixed critical receptions. But it has since been acclaimed as a classic by audiences around the world for being admirably inspired in its attempt to be faithful to the four books of the New Testament in the Holy Bible as well as the book of the same name by Fulton Oursler and the radio program which ran from 1947 to 1956. The Greatest Story Ever Told received five Academy Award nominations in 1965 and
18090-593: Was supposed to be a UA release except that Selznick wanted Clark Gable , who was under contract to MGM, to play Rhett Butler . Also that year, Fairbanks died. UA became embroiled in lawsuits with Selznick over his distribution of some films through RKO. Selznick considered UA's operation sloppy, and left to start his own distribution arm. In the 1940s, United Artists was losing money because of poorly received pictures. Cinema attendance continued to decline as television became more popular. The company sold its Mexican releasing division to Crédito Cinematográfico Mexicano,
18225-410: Was the first antitrust suit brought by producers against exhibitors that alleged monopoly and restraint of trade. In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court Paramount Decision ordered the major Hollywood movie studios to sell their theater chains and to end certain anti-competitive practices. This court ruling ended the studio system. By 1958, SIMPP had achieved many of the goals that led to its creation, and
#650349