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77-618: William Castle (born William Schloss Jr. ; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attention of Columbia Pictures for his talent for promotion and was hired. He learned the trade of filmmaking and became a director, acquiring a reputation for being able to churn out competent B-movies quickly and on budget. He eventually struck out on his own, producing and directing thrillers , which, despite their low budgets, he effectively promoted using gimmicks ,

154-492: A Poverty Row studio on Hollywood's famously low-rent Gower Street . Among Hollywood's elite, the studio's small-time reputation led some to joke that "CBC" stood for "Corned Beef and Cabbage". CBC was reorganized as Columbia Pictures Corporation by brothers Harry and Jack Cohn and best friend Joe Brandt on January 10, 1924. Harry Cohn became president in 1932 and remained head of production as well, thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He would run Columbia for

231-401: A difficult pregnancy. Her husband keeps her isolated at their home, while he spends time with his mistress, the young widow Sylvia Stevenson. When Alice is about to give birth, Barrett is out drinking with Sylvia and does not answer a phone call for help. Alice dies in childbirth, while giving birth to their daughter Marge Barrett. Tyloe later meets with Barrett to inform him of both the birth and

308-576: A financial stake in Columbia Pictures Industries and Alan Hirschfield was appointed CEO, succeeding Leo Jaffe who became chairman. Stanley Schneider, son of Abe Schneider (who became honorary chairman before leaving the board in 1975) was replaced as head of the Columbia Pictures studio by David Begelman , who reported to Hirschfield. Some years later Begelman was involved in a check-forging scandal that badly hurt

385-413: A healthier balance-sheet (due in large part to box office hits like Kramer vs. Kramer , Stir Crazy , The Blue Lagoon , and Stripes ) Columbia was bought by beverage company The Coca-Cola Company on June 22, 1982, for $ 750 million. Studio head Frank Price mixed big hits like Tootsie , Gandhi , The Karate Kid , The Big Chill , and Ghostbusters with many costly flops. To share

462-538: A live-action feature. Columbia was the last major studio to employ the expensive color process. Columbia's first Technicolor feature was the western The Desperadoes , starring Randolph Scott and Glenn Ford . Cohn quickly used Technicolor again for Cover Girl , a Hayworth vehicle that instantly was a smash hit, released in 1944, and for the fanciful biography of Frédéric Chopin , A Song to Remember , with Cornel Wilde , released in 1945. Another biopic, 1946's The Jolson Story with Larry Parks and Evelyn Keyes ,

539-411: A method he called "barnstorming" which involved following the film to different markets and promoting it along the way. In addition to the ads touting the $ 1,000 insurance policy, methods used for Macabre included hiring fake nurses to stand by in the lobby and parking hearses outside theaters. Castle arrived at the premiere by emerging from a coffin; at a Minneapolis theater he also sealed himself in

616-520: A new management team was brought in. In 1972, Columbia and Warner Bros. formed a partnership called The Burbank Studios, in which both companies shared the Warner studio lot in Burbank . In 1971, Columbia Pictures established sheet music publisher Columbia Pictures Publications, with vice president and general manager Frank J. Hackinson , who later became the president. In 1973, Allen & Co took

693-685: A reorganization of the various Columbia Pictures legacy labels (Colpix, Colgems , and Bell), Davis introduced Columbia Pictures' new record division, Arista Records , in November 1974, with Davis himself owning 20% of the new venture. Columbia maintained control of the label until 1979, when it was sold to Ariola Records . In addition, Columbia sold its music publishing business (Columbia-Screen Gems) to EMI in August 1976 for $ 15 million. Both would later be reunited with Columbia Pictures under Sony ownership. In December 1976, Columbia Pictures acquired

770-885: A screening of Strait-Jacket while Jessica Lange (as Crawford) proceeded down the aisle, wincing and wielding an axe past hooting teenagers before pursuing Castle behind a backlit scrim to " decapitate " him in silhouette . He is Robert Zemeckis 's "favorite filmmaker." Zemeckis co-founded Dark Castle Entertainment , which was intended to remake Castle's films. They remade two of Castle's movies, House on Haunted Hill in 1999 and Thirteen Ghosts in 2001 together with his daughter Terry Ann Castle as co-producer. Dark Castle Entertainment went on to produce original material and remakes of non-Castle films. A documentary focusing on Castle's life, Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story , directed by Jeffrey Schwarz , premiered at AFI Fest 2007 in Los Angeles on November 8, 2007. It won

847-522: A total of 34 years, one of the longest tenures of any studio chief ( Warner Bros. ' Jack L. Warner was head of production or CEO longer but did not become CEO until 1956). Even in an industry rife with nepotism, Columbia was particularly notorious for having a number of Harry and Jack's relatives in high positions. Humorist Robert Benchley called it the Pine Tree Studio, "because it has so many Cohns". Brandt eventually tired of dealing with

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924-614: A trademark for which he is best known. He was also the producer for Rosemary's Baby . Castle was born in New York City, the son of Saidie (Snellenberg) and William Schloss. His family was Jewish . His mother died when he was nine. When his father followed a year later, he was left an orphan at the age of 11. He then lived with his older sister. "Schloss" is German for "castle", and Castle later translated his surname into English as his professional name . Castle married Ellen Falck, with whom he had two children. At 13, Castle saw

1001-563: A yellow card stating, "I am a bona fide coward." At the height of his popularity, Castle had a fan club with 250,000 members. According to Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story , he mortgaged his home (again) and obtained the movie rights to the Ira Levin novel before it was published, hoping to finally direct a prestigious A-movie himself. He made a deal with Paramount Pictures , then under Robert Evans , who insisted on hiring director Roman Polanski . Castle had to settle for producing

1078-608: Is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), under Sony Pictures Entertainment, and is currently one of six live-action labels of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, the others being TriStar Pictures , Affirm Films , Screen Gems , Sony Pictures Classics , and Stage 6 Films . Columbia's most commercially successful franchises include Spider-Man , Jumanji , Bad Boys , Men in Black , The Karate Kid , Robert Langdon , and Ghostbusters , and

1155-553: Is filmmaker John Waters , who wrote, "William Castle was my idol. His films made me want to make films... William Castle was God." Waters portrayed Castle in the episode "Hagsploitation" in the first season of the FX television anthology series Feud , depicting the notorious rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford through the production and aftermath of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Waters (playing Castle) appeared onstage at an Oklahoma theater in 1964, exuberantly introducing

1232-411: Is looking forward to marrying Sylvia. At some point, Marge disappears from home, where she was last seen playing with her teddy bear. Polly receives a mysterious phone call, where the caller claims that he has kidnapped Marge and buried her alive. The caller also implies that Marge is in the company of the dead. Barrett and Baron theorize that Marge has been buried in a used grave, and search for clues at

1309-583: The Matt Helm series with Dean Martin . Columbia also produced a James Bond spoof, Casino Royale (1967), in conjunction with Charles K. Feldman , which held the adaptation rights for that novel . By 1966, the studio was suffering from box-office failures, and takeover rumors began surfacing. Columbia was surviving solely on the profits made from Screen Gems, whose holdings also included radio and television stations. On December 23, 1968, Screen Gems merged with Columbia Pictures Corporation and became part of

1386-583: The United States Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Kerkorian to block him from holding a stake in Columbia while controlling MGM. On February 19, 1979, Columbia Pictures Television acquired TOY Productions; the production company founded by Bud Yorkin and writers Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein in 1976. In May, Kerkorian acquired an additional 214,000 shares in Columbia, raising his stake to 25%. On August 2,

1463-408: The film . He had a cameo, playing the grey-haired man standing outside the phone booth where Rosemary, played by Mia Farrow , is attempting to get in touch with the obstetrician. Castle was unable to build on the film's success. He suffered kidney failure soon after its release. By the time he recovered, all momentum had been lost, and he went back to making B-movies. His most significant acting role

1540-409: The promotional gimmicks that later made him famous. A certificate for a $ 1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd's of London was given to each customer in case they should die of fright during the film. The film is set in the small town of Thornton, California. The plot consists of a frame story set in the present (c. 1958), an extended flashback to 1955, and an extended flashback set months before

1617-484: The 1930s, Columbia signed Jean Arthur to a long-term contract, and after The Whole Town's Talking (1935), Arthur became a major comedy star. Ann Sothern 's career was launched when Columbia signed her to a contract in 1936. Cary Grant signed a contract in 1937 and soon after it was altered to a non-exclusive contract shared with RKO . Many theaters relied on westerns to attract big weekend audiences, and Columbia always recognized this market. Its first cowboy star

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1694-473: The 1930s, Columbia's major contract stars were Jean Arthur and Cary Grant . In the 1940s, Rita Hayworth became the studio's premier star and propelled their fortunes into the late 1950s. Rosalind Russell , Glenn Ford and William Holden also became major stars at the studio. It is one of the leading film studios in the world, and was one of the so-called " Little Three " among the eight major film studios of Hollywood 's Golden Age . Today, it has become

1771-487: The 1934 Oscars, put Columbia on the map. Until then, Columbia's business had depended on theater owners willing to take its films, since it did not have a theater network of its own. Other Capra-directed hits followed, including the original version of Lost Horizon (1937), with Ronald Colman , and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), which made James Stewart a major star. In 1933, Columbia hired Robert Kalloch to be its chief fashion and women's costume designer. He

1848-399: The 1955 French psychological thriller Les Diaboliques set the genre he would choose. He financed his first movie, Macabre (1958), by mortgaging his house. He came up with the idea to give every customer a certificate for a $ 1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd's of London in case they should die of fright during the film. He stationed nurses in the lobbies with hearses parked outside

1925-738: The 2007 documentary Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story , Castle's daughter states he had a dynamic, outgoing personality that attracted others. He was one of the few people Cohn liked. He learned the film business and graduated to directing inexpensive B-movies , the first being The Chance of a Lifetime , released in 1943. He directed four movies in The Whistler series, and gained a reputation for making films quickly and under budget. He also worked as an associate producer on Orson Welles' film noir The Lady from Shanghai (1947), doing much second unit location work. Ambitions unsatisfied, Castle began making films independently. The inspiration of

2002-574: The Audience Award for Best Documentary. The protagonist in the 1993 film Matinee , played by John Goodman , is based on Castle. Columbia Pictures On June 19, 1918, brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner Joe Brandt founded the studio as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation . It adopted the Columbia Pictures name on January 10, 1924 (operating as Columbia Pictures Corporation until December 23, 1968) went public two years later and eventually began to use

2079-539: The Cohn brothers, and in 1932 sold his one-third stake to Jack and Harry Cohn, who took over from him as president. Columbia's product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and short subjects including comedies, sports films, various serials, and cartoons. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, eventually joining the second tier of Hollywood studios along with United Artists and Universal . Like United Artists and Universal, Columbia

2156-527: The Family and The Jeffersons , for $ 485 million. On November 16, 1985, CBS dropped out of the Tri-Star venture. Macabre (1958 film) Macabre is a 1958 American horror film directed by William Castle , written by Robb White , and starring William Prince and Jim Backus . The film falls into both the horror and suspense genres. It involved one of Castle's first forays into using

2233-595: The Magician (1939), The Shadow (1940), Terry and the Pirates (1940), Captain Midnight (1942), The Phantom (1943), Batman (1943), and the especially successful Superman (1948), among many others. Columbia also produced musical shorts, sports reels (usually narrated by sportscaster Bill Stern ), and travelogues. Its " Screen Snapshots " series, showing behind-the-scenes footage of Hollywood stars,

2310-487: The President of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1959, until his death a year later. Columbia could not afford to keep a huge roster of contract stars, so Jack Cohn usually borrowed them from other studios. At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , the industry's most prestigious studio, Columbia was nicknamed "Siberia", as Louis B. Mayer would use the loan-out to Columbia as a way to punish his less-obedient signings. In

2387-515: The Stooges, Keaton, Charley Chase , Shemp Howard , Joe Besser , and Joe DeRita subjects have been released to home video. Columbia incorporated animation into its studio in 1929, distributing Krazy Kat cartoons, taking over from Paramount . The following year, Columbia took over distribution of the Mickey Mouse series from Celebrity Productions until 1932. In 1933, The Mintz studio

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2464-782: The UPA deal was terminated, Columbia distributed the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including Loopy De Loop from 1959 to 1965, which was Columbia's final theatrical cartoon series. In 1967, the Hanna-Barbera deal expired and was not renewed. According to Bob Thomas' book King Cohn , studio chief Harry Cohn always placed a high priority on serials. Beginning in 1937, Columbia entered the lucrative serial market and kept making these weekly episodic adventures until 1956, after other studios had discontinued them. The most famous Columbia serials are based on comic-strip or radio characters: Mandrake

2541-503: The aisle, bathed in a yellow light. Before you reached Coward's Corner, you crossed yellow lines with the stenciled message: "Cowards Keep Walking." You passed a nurse (in a yellow uniform?...I wonder), who would offer a blood-pressure test. All the while a recording was blaring, "Watch the chicken! Watch him shiver in Coward's Corner!" As the audience howled, you had to go through one final indignity – at Coward's Corner you were forced to sign

2618-551: The arcade game company D. Gottlieb & Co. for $ 50 million. In 1978, Begelman was suspended for having embezzled money from Columbia. Hirschfield was forced out for his refusal to reinstate him. Begelman later resigned and was replaced by Daniel Melnick in June 1978. Fay Vincent was hired to replace Hirschfield. Frank Price became president of production in 1978. In March 1979, he would become president of Columbia Pictures, succeeding Melnick. During Price's tenure he

2695-423: The budgets of his films, and the studio got the maximum use out of costly sets, costumes, and props by reusing them in other films. Many of Columbia's low-budget "B" pictures and short subjects have an expensive look, thanks to Columbia's efficient recycling policy. Cohn was reluctant to spend lavish sums on even his most important pictures, and it was not until 1943 that he agreed to use three-strip Technicolor in

2772-522: The child "corpse" is actually a mannequin. Barrett had set up a fake kidnapping plot, and paid Quigley to help him. But Quigley had regrets. The wounded Barrett is allowed to return to his office, where he explains to Polly the details of his scheme. He was after the Wetherby inheritance for years, and had allowed Alice and Nancy to die to eliminate the heiresses. He orchestrated the fake kidnapping to scare his father-in-law to death. The mysterious phone call

2849-550: The company as an office boy out of high school and become a director in 1929, rising through the financial side of the business. In 1963, Columbia acquired music publisher Aldon Music . By the late 1960s, Columbia had an ambiguous identity, offering old-fashioned fare such as A Man for All Seasons and Oliver! along with the more contemporary Easy Rider and The Monkees . After turning down releasing Albert R. Broccoli 's Eon Productions James Bond films, Columbia hired Broccoli's former partner Irving Allen to produce

2926-770: The company's shows until 1967, when Hanna-Barbera was sold to Taft Broadcasting . In 1960, the animation studio became a publicly traded company under the name Screen Gems, Inc., when Columbia spun off an 18% stake. By 1950, Columbia had discontinued most of its popular series films ( Boston Blackie , Blondie , The Lone Wolf , The Crime Doctor , Rusty , etc.) Only Jungle Jim , launched by producer Sam Katzman in 1949, kept going through 1955. Katzman contributed greatly to Columbia's success by producing dozens of topical feature films, including crime dramas , science-fiction stories, and rock'n'roll musicals. Columbia kept making serials until 1956 and two-reel comedies until 1957, after other studios had abandoned these mediums. As

3003-613: The company. Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. The studio's early productions were low-budget short subjects: Screen Snapshots , the Hallroom Boys (the vaudeville duo of Edward Flanagan and Neely Edwards ), and the Charlie Chaplin -imitator Billy West . The start-up CBC leased space in

3080-434: The death. He then beats up Barrett, swearing that he will pay for Alice's death. Months before the present, Nancy returns to town. She has a secret affair with her new chauffeur Nick, and a casual fling with Tyloe. She turns down a marriage proposal by Tyloe. Shortly after, Nancy learns that she is pregnant. She does not want to be a mother or a wife, and begs her brother-in-law Barrett for an abortion. He declines. Days before

3157-426: The early 1980s, Columbia and Tri-Star Pictures set up a film partnership with Delphi Film Associates and acquired an interest in various film releases. In 1984, Delphi Film Associates III acquired an interest in the Tri-Star and Columbia film slate of 1984, which would make a $ 60 million offering in the financing of film production. Also that year, Columbia Pictures had bought out the rights to Hardbodies , which

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3234-794: The film. He pitched his insurance policy gimmick to Howard Koch , and interested Koch and Aubrey Schenck enough to invest in the project as well. According to Macabre assistant director Paul Wurtzel, Koch helped Castle by letting him use Bel-Air Productions staff and its facilities at American National for cost plus a percentage. Sources differ as to how much the film cost to make, putting it anywhere from $ 80,000 to $ 150,000 with $ 90,000 often cited. Production occurred from 29 July through 12 August 1957. Exteriors were filmed in Chino, California and interior shooting took place at Ziv Studios. Castle marketed Macabre to several distributors before Allied Artists picked it up for $ 125,000. Castle employed

3311-481: The image of Columbia , the female personification of the United States, as its logo. In its early years, Columbia was a minor player in Hollywood, but began to grow in the late 1920s, spurred by a successful association with director Frank Capra . With Capra and others such as the most successful two reel comedy series, The Three Stooges , Columbia became one of the primary homes of the screwball comedy . In

3388-426: The increasing cost of film production, Coke brought in two outside investors whose earlier efforts in Hollywood had come to nothing. In 1982, Columbia, Time Inc. 's HBO and CBS announced, as a joint venture, "Nova Pictures"; this enterprise was to be renamed Tri-Star Pictures . In 1983, Price left Columbia Pictures after a dispute with Coca-Cola and went back to Universal. He was replaced by Guy McElwaine . In

3465-446: The larger studios declined in the 1950s, Columbia's position improved. This was largely because it did not suffer from the massive loss of income that the other major studios suffered from the loss of their theaters (well over 90 percent, in some cases). Columbia continued to produce 40-plus pictures a year, offering productions that often broke ground and kept audiences coming to theaters. Some of its significant films from this era include

3542-541: The largest studios. The studio soon replaced RKO on the list of the "Big Five" studios. In 1946, Columbia dropped the Screen Gems brand from its cartoon line, but retained the Screen Gems name for various ancillary activities, including a 16 mm film-rental agency and a TV-commercial production company. On November 8, 1948, Columbia adopted the Screen Gems name for its television production subsidiary when

3619-415: The local graveyard. They also search the funeral parlor of Ed Quigley, where a child's coffin was recently stolen. The Wetherby family has a midnight funeral for Nancy, and during the funeral the lost child's coffin is discovered. Within is the seemingly decayed corpse of Marge. Her grandfather Jode has a heart condition, and seeing Marge like this shocks him to death. Quigley shoots Barrett, and reveals that

3696-637: The newly formed Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. for $ 24.5 million. Schneider was chairman of the holding company and Leo Jaffe president. Following the merger, in March 1969, CPI purchased Bell Records for $ 3.5 million (mainly in CPI stock), retaining Larry Uttal as label president. Nearly bankrupt by the early 1970s, the studio was saved via a radical overhaul: the Gower Street Studios (now called " Sunset Gower Studios ") were sold and

3773-465: The nonexistent play Das ist nicht für Kinder ( Not for Children ), then spent the following weekend writing the play and having it translated into German. When Nazi Germany sent Schwanneke an invitation to a Munich performance, Castle seized the opportunity for an outrageous publicity stunt. He released to the newspapers what he claimed was a telegram he had sent turning down the request, portraying his star as "the girl who said no to Hitler." To add to

3850-474: The play Dracula , starring Bela Lugosi , and was entranced. He watched performance after performance, eventually managing to meet Lugosi himself. He wrote in his autobiography Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America: "I knew then what I wanted to do with my life—I wanted to scare the pants off audiences." Lugosi recommended him for the position of assistant stage manager for the road company tour of

3927-803: The play. The 15-year-old dropped out of high school to take the job. He spent his teenage years working on Broadway in jobs ranging from set-building to acting, which proved good training for the future filmmaker. He obtained Orson Welles ' telephone number and persuaded Welles to lease him the Stony Creek Theatre in Connecticut. (Welles was leaving to begin filming Citizen Kane .) He hired German actress Ellen Schwanneke ; upon learning that, under then-current theater guild regulations, German-born actors could appear only in plays originally performed in Germany, Castle claimed he had hired her for

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4004-492: The present story. Below the events are given in chronological order. Before 1955, Jode Wetherby is the wealthiest man in town. His two daughters, Alice and Nancy Wetherby, are the heiresses to his large fortune. Alice dates police chief Jim Tyloe, but fatefully marries Rodney Barrett. This starts an enmity between Tyloe and Barrett. Meanwhile Nancy, although blind, is enjoying a life consisting of casual sexual relationships, fast cars, and voyages abroad. In 1955, Alice Barrett has

4081-402: The present, Nancy dies in either a suicide or a botched abortion. Barrett is not available to get her proper medical treatment. Present. Barrett lives with his 3-year-old daughter Marge, and her nanny, Miss Kushins. The town has lost trust in him, and only a single patient remains loyal to him. His nurse assistant Polly Baron attempts to convince him that they should move out of town, but Barrett

4158-644: The productions of the English studio Warwick Films (by producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli ), as well as many films by producer Carl Foreman , who resided in England. Columbia distributed some films made by Hammer , which was also based in England. In December 1956, Jack Cohn, co-founder and executive vice-president, died. In 1958, Columbia established its own record label, Colpix Records , initially run by Jonie Taps, who headed Columbia's music department, and later Paul Wexler and Lester Sill . Colpix

4235-481: The reincarnation of Rastar Pictures, which was acquired by Columbia Pictures in February 1980. Columbia Pictures also reorganized its music and record divisions. Clive Davis was hired as a record and music consultant by Columbia Pictures in 1974 and later became temporary president of Bell Records . Davis's real goal was to revitalize Columbia Pictures' music division. With a $ 10 million investment by CPI, and

4312-600: The remaining 19% in 1985. Around this time, Columbia put Steven Spielberg 's proposed follow-up to Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Night Skies , into turnaround . The project eventually became the highest-grossing film of the time, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . Columbia received a share of the profits for its involvement in the development. On May 17, 1982, Columbia Pictures acquired Spelling-Goldberg Productions for over $ 40 million. With

4389-501: The sensationalism, he secretly vandalized the theatre and painted swastikas on the exterior. It worked—the resulting publicity ensured the play's success. He left for Hollywood at 23 to work for Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures . Beginning as a dialogue director for Music in My Heart (1940), he and several others, such as Fred Sears , Mel Ferrer , Henry Levin and Robert Gordon , were selected as feature film directors. In

4466-1086: The studio acquired Pioneer Telefilms, a television commercial company founded by Jack Cohn's son, Ralph. Pioneer had been founded in 1947, and was later reorganized as Screen Gems. The studio opened its doors for business in New York on April 15, 1949. By 1951, Screen Gems became a full-fledged television studio and became a major producer of sitcoms for TV, beginning with Father Knows Best and followed by The Donna Reed Show , The Partridge Family , Bewitched , I Dream of Jeannie , and The Monkees . On July 1, 1956, studio veteran Irving Briskin stepped down as manager of Columbia Pictures and formed his own production company Briskin Productions, Inc. to release series through Screen Gems and supervise all of its productions. On December 10, Screen Gems expanded into television syndication by acquiring Hygo Television Films (a.k.a. "Serials Inc.") and its affiliated company United Television Films, Inc. Hygo Television Films

4543-531: The studio signed the Three Stooges in 1934. Rejected by MGM (which kept straight-man Ted Healy but let the Stooges go), the Stooges made 190 shorts for Columbia between 1934 and 1957. Columbia's short-subject department employed many famous comedians, including Buster Keaton , Charley Chase , Harry Langdon , Andy Clyde , and Hugh Herbert . Almost 400 of Columbia's 529 two-reel comedies were released to television between 1958 and 1961; to date, all of

4620-442: The studio's highest-grossing film worldwide is Spider-Man: No Way Home with box-office of $ 1.92 billion. The studio was founded on June 19, 1918, as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Jack's best friend Joe Brandt , and released its first feature film More to Be Pitied Than Scorned on August 20, 1922. The film, with a budget of $ 20,000, was a success, bringing in $ 130,000 in revenue for

4697-604: The studio's adaptation of the controversial James Jones novel From Here to Eternity (1953), On the Waterfront (1954), and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) with William Holden and Alec Guinness , all of which won the Best Picture Oscar . Another significant film of the studio was the free adaptation of George Orwell 's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1956). Columbia also released

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4774-448: The studio's image. On May 6, 1974, Columbia retired the Screen Gems name from television, renaming its television division to the name of Columbia Pictures Television . The name was suggested by David Gerber , who was then president of Columbia's television division. The same year, Columbia Pictures acquired Rastar Pictures , which included Rastar Productions, Rastar Features, and Rastar Television. Ray Stark then founded Rastar Films,

4851-462: The theaters. Macabre was a hit. Other films (and gimmicks) followed: William Castle simply went nuts. He came up with "Coward's Corner," a yellow cardboard booth, manned by a bewildered theater employee in the lobby. When the Fright Break was announced, and you found that you couldn't take it anymore, you had to leave your seat and, in front of the entire audience, follow yellow footsteps up

4928-567: The trial began; on August 14, the court ruled in favor for Kerkorian. In 1979, Columbia agreed with Time-Life Video to release 20 titles on videocassette . On September 30, 1980, Kerkorian sued Columbia for ignoring shareholders' interest and violating an agreement with him. Columbia later accused him on October 2, of scheming with Nelson Bunker Hunt to gain control of Columbia. In 1981, Kerkorian sold his 25% stake in Columbia back to CPI. Columbia Pictures later acquired 81% of The Walter Reade Organization , which owned 11 theaters; it purchased

5005-702: The world's third largest major film studio. The company was also primarily responsible for distributing Disney 's Silly Symphony film series as well as the Mickey Mouse cartoon series from 1929 to 1932. The studio is presently headquartered at the Irving Thalberg Building on the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (currently known as the Sony Pictures Studios ) lot in Culver City, California since 1990. Columbia Pictures

5082-493: Was Buck Jones , who signed with Columbia in 1930 for a fraction of his former big-studio salary. Over the next two decades Columbia released scores of outdoor adventures with Jones, Tim McCoy , Ken Maynard , Jack Luden , Bob Allen ( Robert (Tex) Allen ), Russell Hayden , Tex Ritter , Ken Curtis , and Gene Autry . Columbia's most popular cowboy was Charles Starrett , who signed with Columbia in 1935 and starred in 131 western features over 17 years. At Harry Cohn's insistence,

5159-760: Was a Columbia perennial that the studio had been releasing since the silent-movie days; producer-director Ralph Staub kept this series going through 1958. In the 1940s, propelled in part by the surge in audiences for their films during World War II , the studio also benefited from the popularity of its biggest star, Rita Hayworth . Columbia maintained a long list of contractees well into the 1950s; Glenn Ford , Penny Singleton , William Holden , Judy Holliday , The Three Stooges , Ann Miller , Evelyn Keyes , Ann Doran , Jack Lemmon , Cleo Moore , Barbara Hale , Adele Jergens , Larry Parks , Arthur Lake , Lucille Ball , Kerwin Mathews and Kim Novak . Harry Cohn monitored

5236-451: Was a horizontally integrated company. It controlled production and distribution; it did not own any theaters. Helping Columbia's climb was the arrival of an ambitious director, Frank Capra . Between 1927 and 1939, Capra constantly pushed Cohn for better material and bigger budgets. A string of hits he directed in the early and mid 1930s solidified Columbia's status as a major studio. In particular, It Happened One Night , which nearly swept

5313-454: Was a prerecorded message to give him an alibi. Barrett dies before explaining where Marge is. Polly discovers the little girl sleeping safely in a secret room at the doctor's office. In July 1957, William Castle formed the production company Susina Associates with Robb White and announced their intention to make five films over the following sixteen months, the first of which would be Macabre . Castle mortgaged his Beverly Hills house to finance

5390-435: Was active until 1966 when Columbia entered into a joint agreement with RCA Victor and discontinued Colpix in favor of its new label, Colgems Records . Shortly after closing their short subjects department, Columbia president Harry Cohn died of a heart attack in February 1958. His nephew Ralph Cohn died in 1959, ending almost four decades of family management. The new management was headed by Abe Schneider, who had joined

5467-668: Was also his last—as the director of the doomed "Waterloo" epic in The Day of the Locust in 1975. Castle died on May 31, 1977, in Los Angeles, California, of a heart attack. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California . Alfred Hitchcock decided to make Psycho after noting the financial success of 1950s B-movies by Castle and Roger Corman . Among his admirers

5544-508: Was founded in 1951 by Jerome Hyams, who also acquired United Television Films in 1955 that was founded by Archie Mayers. In 1957, two years before its parent company Columbia dropped UPA, Screen Gems entered a distribution deal with Hanna-Barbera Productions , which produced classic animated series such as The Flintstones , The Quick Draw McGraw Show , The Huckleberry Hound Show , The Yogi Bear Show , Jonny Quest , The Jetsons and Top Cat among others. Screen Gems distributed

5621-634: Was once premiered on The Playboy Channel . Columbia Pictures expanded its music publishing operations in the 1980s, acquiring Big 3 Publishing (the former sheet music operations of Robbins, Feist , and Miller ) from MGM/UA Communications Co. in 1983, Belwin-Mills Publishing from Simon & Schuster in 1985, and Al Gallico Music in 1987. On June 18, 1985, Columbia's parent acquired Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio 's Embassy Communications, Inc. (including Embassy Pictures , Embassy Television, Tandem Productions , and Embassy Home Entertainment), mostly for its library of television series such as All in

5698-688: Was re-established under the Screen Gems brand; Columbia's leading cartoon series were Krazy Kat , Scrappy , The Fox and the Crow , and (very briefly) Li'l Abner . Screen Gems was the last major cartoon studio to produce black-and-white cartoons, producing them until 1946. That same year, Screen Gems shut down but had completed enough cartoons for the studio to release until 1949. In 1948, Columbia agreed to release animated shorts from United Productions of America ; these new shorts were more sophisticated than Columbia's older cartoons, and many won critical praise and industry awards. In 1957, two years before

5775-520: Was responsible for turning out 9 of the top 10 grossing films in Columbia's history. In the fall of 1978, Kirk Kerkorian , a Vegas casino mogul who also controlled Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , acquired a 5.5% stake in Columbia Pictures. He then announced on November 20, that he intended to launch a tender offer to acquire another 20% for the studio. On December 14, a standstill agreement was reached with Columbia by promising not to go beyond 25% or seeking control for at least three years. On January 15, 1979,

5852-528: Was started in black-and-white, but when Cohn saw how well the project was proceeding, he scrapped the footage and insisted on filming in Technicolor. In 1948, the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. anti-trust decision forced Hollywood motion picture companies to divest themselves of the theater chains that they owned. Since Columbia did not own any theaters, it was now on equal terms with

5929-538: Was the first contract costume designer hired by the studio, and he established the studio's wardrobe department. Kalloch's employment, in turn, convinced leading actresses that Columbia Pictures intended to invest in their careers. In 1938, the addition of B. B. Kahane as vice president would produce Charles Vidor 's Those High Grey Walls (1939), and The Lady in Question (1940), the first joint film of Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford . Kahane would later become

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