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72-463: Torpedo Squadron is a 1942 American short documentary film shot by John Ford while he was on the island of Midway . Notes Footnotes Bibliography This article about a documentary film on World War II is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Short film In the United States, short films were generally termed short subjects from the 1920s into

144-503: A TV special , a few films from the studio have added theatrical shorts as well. Warner Bros. often includes old shorts from its considerable library, connected only thematically, on the DVD releases of classic WB movies. From 2010–2012, Warner Bros. also released new Looney Tunes shorts before family films. Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures organize an annual release of Academy Award -nominated short films in theatres across

216-480: A low budget or no budget at all. They are usually funded by one or more film grants, nonprofit organizations , sponsors , or personal funds. Short films are generally used for industry experience and as a platform to showcase talent to secure funding for future projects from private investors, a production company , or film studios . They can also be released with feature films, and can also be included as bonus features on some home video releases. All films in

288-646: A Nation . By the 1920s, a ticket purchased a varied program including a feature and several supporting works from categories such as second feature , short comedy, 4–10 minute cartoon, travelogue , and newsreel. Short comedies were especially common, and typically came in a serial or series (such as the Our Gang movies, or the many outings of Charlie Chaplin 's Little Tramp character). Animated cartoons came principally as short subjects. Virtually all major film production companies had units assigned to develop and produce shorts, and many companies, especially in

360-471: A commercial category. The year 1938 proved to be a turning point in the history of film comedies. Hal Roach , for example, had discontinued all short-subject production except Our Gang , which he finally sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938. The Vitaphone studio, owned by Warner Bros. , discontinued its own line of two-reel comedies in 1938; Educational Pictures did as much that same year, owing to its president Earle W. Hammons unsuccessfully entering

432-576: 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

504-413: 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

576-538: 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 ,

648-520: 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

720-440: A regular series in 1946 and lasted until 1956. By and large, however, the movies' one-reel subject of choice was the animated cartoon, produced by Walt Disney , Warner Bros. , MGM, Paramount , Walter Lantz , Columbia, and Terrytoons . One of the movies' oldest short-subject formats was the adventure serial , first established in 1912. A serial generally ran for 12 to 15 chapters, 15 to 20 minutes each. Every episode ended with

792-685: 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

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864-453: A short along with each of its feature films during its initial theatrical run since 1995 (producing shorts permanently since 2001). Since Disney acquired Pixar in 2006, Disney has also produced animated shorts since 2007 with the Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and produced a series of live-action ones featuring The Muppets for viewing on YouTube as viral videos to promote

936-522: 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

1008-502: Is an American film production and distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group , a division of Sony Entertainment 's Sony Pictures , which is one of the "Big Five" film studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation . On June 19, 1918, brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner Joe Brandt founded

1080-785: 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 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

1152-798: 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 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,

1224-401: The 2011 movie of the same name . In 2009 the horror short film, No Through Road, that would go viral was released, creating analog horror. The short film would spark 3 sequels, creating No Through Road (web series) DreamWorks Animation often produces a short sequel to include in the special edition video releases of major features, and are typical of a sufficient length to be broadcast as

1296-583: 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

1368-583: 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,

1440-489: The silent and very early sound era, produced mostly or only short subjects. In the 1930s, the distribution system changed in many countries, owing to the Great Depression . Instead of the cinema owner assembling a program of their own choice, the studios sold a package centered on a main and supporting feature, a cartoon and little else. With the rise of the double feature , two- reel shorts went into decline as

1512-484: 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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1584-487: 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

1656-507: The 1960s before exiting the short film business in 1969 (by which point the shorts had been in televised reruns for years ). MGM continued Tom and Jerry (first with a series of poorly-received Eastern European shorts by Gene Deitch , then a better-received run by Warner Bros. alumnus Chuck Jones ) until 1967, and Woody Woodpecker lasted to 1972; the creative team behind MGM's 1940s and 1950s cartoons formed Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1957, mainly focusing on television. The Pink Panther

1728-450: The 1970s when confined to two 35 mm reels or less, and featurettes for a film of three or four reels. " Short " was an abbreviation for either term. The increasingly rare industry term "short subject" carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. Short films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals and made by independent filmmakers with either

1800-539: 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

1872-595: 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,

1944-487: 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

2016-515: 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

2088-782: 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

2160-540: The US, UK, Canada and Mexico throughout February and March. Shorts are occasionally broadcast as filler when a feature film or other work does not fit the standard broadcast schedule. ShortsTV was the first television channel dedicated to short films. However, short films generally rely on film festival exhibition to reach an audience. Such movies can also be distributed via the Internet . Certain websites which encourage

2232-551: 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

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2304-452: The beginning of cinema were very short , sometimes running only a minute or less. It was not until the 1910s when films started to get longer than about ten minutes. The first set of films were presented in 1894 and it was through Thomas Edison 's device called a kinetoscope . It was made for individual viewing only. Comedy short films were produced in large numbers compared to lengthy features such as D. W. Griffith 's 1915 The Birth of

2376-423: 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

2448-550: 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

2520-770: 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

2592-482: 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

2664-406: The feature-film field. With these major comedy producers out of the running, Columbia Pictures actually expanded its own operations and launched a second two-reel-comedy unit in 1938. Columbia and RKO Radio Pictures kept making two-reel comedies into the 1950s. Theater managers found it easier and more convenient to fit shorter, one-reel (10-minute) subjects into their double-feature programs. In

2736-519: The hero or heroine trapped in a life-threatening situation; audiences would have to return the following week to see the outcome. These "chapter plays" remained popular through the 1950s, although both Columbia and Republic Pictures were now making them as cheaply as possible, reusing action highlights from older serials and connecting them with a few new scenes showing identically dressed actors. Even after Republic quit making serials in 1955 and Columbia stopped in 1956, faithful audiences supported them and

2808-483: 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

2880-446: 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

2952-541: 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

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3024-423: 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 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

3096-456: 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 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

3168-448: The live-action field, humorist Robert Benchley had been making short comedies since the dawn of sound; his various series for Fox, Vitaphone, MGM, and Paramount ran from 1928 to 1944. MGM's Pete Smith Specialties had been a standard "added attraction" in moviehouse programming since 1935 and lasted through 1955. RKO's Flicker Flashbacks revivals of silent films ran from 1943 to 1956, and Warner Bros. ' Joe McDoakes comedies became

3240-637: 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

3312-455: The oldest film festivals dedicated to short films are Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival , France (since 1979), Tampere Film Festival , Finland (since 1969) and International Short Film Festival Oberhausen , Germany (since 1954). All of them are still considered the most important short film festival in the world to date. Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. , commonly known as Columbia Pictures ,

3384-477: 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 the studio's highest-grossing film worldwide is Spider-Man: No Way Home with box-office of $ 1.92 billion. The studio

3456-644: 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

3528-481: 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

3600-600: 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

3672-1086: 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

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3744-418: 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 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

3816-531: 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

3888-604: 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

3960-448: 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,

4032-421: The studios re-released older serials through the mid-1960s. The 1964 revival of Columbia's Batman serial resulted in a media frenzy, spurring a new Batman TV series and a wave of Batman merchandise. With the rise of television , the commercial live-action short was virtually dead; most studios canceled their live-action series in 1956. Only The Three Stooges continued making two-reel comedies; their last

4104-908: The submission of user-created short films, such as YouTube and Vimeo , have attracted large communities of artists and viewers. Sites like Omeleto, FILMSshort, Short of the Week, Short Films Matter, Short Central and some apps showcase curated shorts. Short films are a typical first stage for new filmmakers, but professional actors and crews often still choose to create short films as an alternative form of expression. Amateur filmmaking has grown in popularity as equipment has become more accessible. The lower production costs of short films often mean that short films can cover alternative subject matter as compared to higher budget feature films. Similarly, unconventional filmmaking techniques such as Pixilation or narratives that are told without dialogue, are more often seen in short films than features. Tropfest claims to be

4176-567: 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

4248-468: The world's largest short film festival. Tropfest now takes place in Australia (its birthplace), Arabia, the US and elsewhere. Originating in 1993, Tropfest is often credited as being at least partially responsible for the recent popularity of short films internationally. Also Couch Fest Films , part of Shnit Worldwide Filmfestival, claimed to be the world's largest single-day short film festival. Among

4320-493: 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,

4392-760: 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

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4464-451: 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

4536-435: 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

4608-508: 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

4680-581: 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 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 ,

4752-634: 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

4824-688: 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

4896-432: Was released in 1959. Short films had become a medium for student, independent, and specialty work. Cartoon shorts had a longer life, due in part to the implementation of lower-cost limited animation techniques and the rise of television animation , which allowed shorts to have both theatrical runs and a syndication afterlife. Warner Bros. , one of the most prolific of the golden era, underwent several reorganizations in

4968-520: 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,

5040-528: 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

5112-538: 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

5184-426: Was the last regular theatrical cartoon short series, having begun in 1964 (and thus having spent its entire existence in the limited animation era) and ended in 1980. By the 1960s, the market for animated shorts had largely shifted to television, with existing theatrical shorts being syndicated to television. A few animated shorts continue within the mainstream commercial distribution. For instance, Pixar has screened

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