Motion Pictures

Art/ Entertainment Summaries

Here is a summary of the top 8 California film studios, historically. Some popular old stars are listed for each studio, and some top old movies are listed for each studio.





1. The TOP 5 Movie Studios
2. The TOP 3 Secondary Movie Studios
3. Movies That Have Been Made Twice or More
4. Evolution of Top Movie Studio Ownership
5. Best Early Movies
I hope that this Top Movie Studios Summary will entertain and enlighten you.

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Early
Company


Founder

-

D.W. Griffith
Triangle Studios 1915
Goldwyn Studio 1917
Ince Studios 1919

Famous Players Film Co.

Mutual Film Corp 1912

F.N. Exhibitors Circ. 1917
First National Pictures 1924

-

Harry and Roy Aitken
Samuel Goldwyn
Thomas H. Ince

Adolph Zukor

Hite, Freuler, Aitken

-

Early
Company

Founder

Fox Films 1915
20th Century Pictures 1933

Louie B. Mayer 1916
Metro Pictures 1920
1924 Sherlock, Jr.

Lasky Films 1913

Radio Pictures

-

William Fox

Louie B. Mayer
Marcus Lowe 1920

Jesse E. Lasky

David Sarnoff

Albert Warner
Harry Warner
Jack Warner
Sam Warner

Founded

Merger- 1935

Merger 1924

Merger 1916

1929

Merger 1925

Studio

Logo

Current Parent

News Corporation

MGM Mirage

Viacom

na

Time Warner

Location

10201 W. Pico Blvd.
Century City,
Los Angeles, CA

10202 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA

5555 Melrose Ave.
Hollywood, CA

Culver City (gone)
Encino (gone)

3400 W. Riverside Dr.
Burbank, CA

Mogul

Darryl F. Zanuck

Louie B. Mayer

Cecil B. DeMille

David O. Selznick
1948 Howard Hughes

Darryl F. Zanuck
Jack Warner

Stars 1920's

Janet Gaynor



George O'Brien

Lilian Gish
Eleanor Boardman
Greta Garbo
Norma Scherer

John Gilbert
Ramon Navarro

Clara Bow
Mary Pickford
Jobyna Ralston
Gloria Swanson

Douglas Fairbanks
Rudolph Valentino

na

Rin Tin Tin
John Barrymore

Stars 1930's

Sonja Henie
Shirley Temple
Loretta Young



Henry Fonda
Tyrone Power
Will Rogers

Ethyl Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner


Fred Astaire,
John Barrymore,
Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy

Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Miriam Hopkins, Dorothy Lamour, Carole Lombard, Mae West


Gary Cooper,
Bing Crosby,
W.C. Fields,
Cary Grant,
the Marx Brothers

Katherine Hepburn





Cary Grant
Robert Mitchum

Joan Crawford
Bette Davis
Jean Harlow
Olivia de Havilland
Jane Wyman

Errol Flynn
John Garfield
Paul Muni
Dick Powell
John Wayne

Stars 1940's

Betty Grable
Gene Tierney

Judy Garland
Kathryn Grayson


Van Johnson

Paulette Goddard
Betty Hutton
Veronica Lake

Bob Hope, Alan Ladd

Katherine Hepburn
Ginger Rogers


Fred Astaire

Humphrey Bogart
James Cagney
Edward G. Robinson

Stars 1950's

Marilyn Monroe

Leslie Caron

Gene Kelly

William Holden
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

-

Doris Day

James Dean

1920s
Top Films
(silent)

1924 The Iron Horse

1924 Greed
1924 The Red Lily

1920 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1923 The Ten Commandments
1924 Peter Pan

na

1921 Rin Tin Tin

1927 Seventh Heaven
1927 Sunrise
1928 Street Angel
1928 In Old Arizona
1929 The Broadway melody

1925 Ben-Hur
1925 The Big Parade
1926 Bardelys the Magnificent
1926 Flesh and the Devil
1927 The Student Prince

1927 It
1927 Wings
1929 The Cocoanuts

1929 Dance Hall

1926 Don Juan
1927 The Jazz Singer

1930 - The Motion Picture Production Code is enacted - AKA The Hays Code - none of this, none of that, etc., etc.
Full enforcement followed in 1934, after the 1933 release of a nude Hedy Lamarr in Ecstasy.

1930s
Top Films
(talkies)

1933 State Fair
1933 Cavalcade

1930 Up the River
1931 The Champ
1932 Grand Hotel
1932 Tarzan the Ape Man
1933 Queen Christina
1934 The Thin Man
1934 Babes in Toyland

1930 Animal Crackers
1931 Monkey Business
1932 Horse Feathers
1933 Duck Soup
1933 She Done Him Wrong
1933 I'm No Angel
1934 Cleopatra

1931 Cimarron
1933 King Kong
1933 Little Women
1934 Of Human Bondage

1931 Little Carsar
1931 The Public Enemy
1932 Fugitive from A C.
1933 Footlight Parade

1935 The Little Colonel
1936 Stowaway
1936 Captain January
1936 The Great Ziegfeld
1937 Heidi
1938 Rebecca of Sunnybrook

1935 A Night At the Opera
1935 David Copperfield
1935 Mutiny on the Bounty
1936 San Francisco
1938 Marie Antoinette
1938 Boy's Town

1935 The Lives of A Bengal Lancer
1935 A Night at the Opera
1937 A Day at the Races
1938 Room Service

1935 Top Hat
1936 Swing Time
1937 Snow White and the 7 D
1937 Stage Door
1938 Bringing Up Baby

1935 Captain Blood
1937 The Life of Emile Zola
1938 Jezebel

1939 Jesse James
1939 Young Mr. Lincoln

1939 Gone With the Wind
1939 Wizard of Oz
1939 Babes In Arms
1939 Ninotchka
1939 The Women
1939 Goodbye Mr. Chips

1939 Beau Geste
1939 Midnight

1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame
1939 Gunga Din
1939 Love Affair

1939 Dark Victory
1939 Dodge City
1939 Confess. of A Nazi Spy
1939 The Roaring 20s

1940s
Top Films

1940 The Grapes of Wrath
1941 Tobacco Road
1941 How Green Was My Valley
1943 The Ox-Bow Incident
1944 Laura

1940 Northwest Passage
1940 The Philadelphia Story
1942 Mrs. Miniver
1943 Lassie Come Home
1944 Gaslight
1944 National Velvet
1944 The Canterville Ghost

1940 Road to Singapore
1941 Road to Zanzibar
1942 Road to Morocco
1943 For Whom the Bell Toll
1944 Double Indemnity
1944 Going My Way

1940 Fantasia
1940 Kitty Foyle
1941 Citizen Kane
1942 The Magnificent Ambersons
1942 The Pride of the Yankees

1940 The Sea Hawk
1941 Maltese Falcon
1941 Sargeant York
1942 Casablanca
1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy
1942 King's Row
1944 To Have and Have Not

1945 State Fair
1945 Leave Her to Heaven
1946 Darling Clementine
1947 Miracle on 34th Street
1947 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
1947 Gentleman's Agreement
1948 The Snake Pit

1945 The Picture of Dorian G
1946 The Harvey Girls
1946 The Yearling
1946 The Postman Always R.

1945 Lost Weekend
1946 To Each His Own
1947 Road to Rio
1948 Sorry, Wrong Number

1945 Bells of Saint Marys
1946 Notorious
1946 It's A Wonderful Life
1946 The Best Years of Our Lives
1948 Fort Apache

1945 Mildred Pierce
1946 The Big Sleep
1948 Treasure of Sierra Madre

1948 - Block Booking - U.S vs Paramount Pictures decision - The Paramount Decision

1949 Twelve O'Clock High

1949 Adam's Rib
1949 On the Town
1949 Little Women
1949 The Secret Garden

1949 The Heiress

1949 She Wore A Yellow

1949 White Heat

1950s
Top Films

1950 All About Eve
1951 The Day the Earth Stood
1953 The Robe
1953 How to Marry A Million.
1953 Gentlemen Prefer Blond.
1954 River of No Return

1951 An American in Paris
1952 Singin' In the Rain
1953 The Band Wagon
1954 Seven Brides for 7 B.

1950 Sunset Boulevard
1951 A Place in the Sun
1952 The Greatest Show on Earth
1953 Roman Holiday
1953 Shane
1953 Stalag 17
1954 Rear Window

1951 The Thing
1952 Angel Face

1951 A Streetcar Named Desire
1953 House of Wax
1954 A Star Is Born
1954 Dial M for Murder

1954 - The end of the "Studio System"

-

1955 Blackboard Jungle
1956 Forbidden Planet
1958 Gigi
1959 Ben Hur
1958 Cat on A Hot Tin Roof
1959 North by Northwest

1955 To Catch A Thief
1956 The Ten Commandments
1957 Gunfight at the OK Corral
1958 Vertigo

-

1955 Rebel Without A Cause
1956 Giant
1956 The Searchers
1957 A Face In the Crowd
1958 Auntie Mame

Studio

Notes

Movies in Blue Bold won Best Picture Academy Awards (Oscars)
1939 has it's own row, because it was such a remarkable year for production.

1959 - Went belly-up

-

100

180-1000

180

180

180

180

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Early Company

1919 C.B.C. Film Sales

-

-

-

Founder

Harry Cohn 1920
Joe Brandt
Jack Cohn

D.W. Griffith
Mary Pickford
Douglas Fairbanks
Charlie Chaplin

Carl Laemmle 1912

Founded

Renamed Columbia in 1924

1919

1912

Studio

Logo

Pathe

MGM

United Artists

Current Parent

Sony Pictures

Transamerica - 1967-1981
MGM - 1981 to present

NBC - 2006-present

-

Location

10202 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA

New - Century City

100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA

Culver City

Mogul

Harry Cohn, Frank Capra

-

-

Hal Roach

Major Stars

Jean Arthur,
Rita Hayworth,
Rosalind Russell

Glenn Ford, Cary Grant, William Holden

Mary Pickford


Buster Keaton (early)
Charlie Chaplin
Douglas Fairbanks

Lon Chaney
W.C. Fields
Abbott and Costello

Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts,
Patsy Kelly

Will Rogers, Max Davidson, the Our Gang kids, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon, Laurel & Hardy

1920s
Top Films

-

1920 The Mark of Zorro
1920 Pollyanna
1921 The Kid
1921 The Three Musketeers
1924 The Thief of Bagdad

1923 The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1928 The Matinee Idol

1925 The Gold Rush
1927 The General
1928 Steamboat Bill Jr.
1929 The Iron Mask

1925 The Phantom of the Opera
1929 Show Boat

1930s
Top Films

The Three Stooges
1931 Platinum Blonde
1934 It Happened One Night

1930 Hell's Angels Harlow
1930 Puttin' on the Ritz
1931 City Lights
1932 Scarface

1930 All Quiet on the Western
1931 Frankenstein
1934 Imitation of Life

1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1937 Lost Horizon
1938 You Can't Take It with You

1936 Modern Times

1935 Magnificent Obsession
1936 Flash Gordon
1936 Three Smart Girls

1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939 Only Angels Have Wings

1939 Of Mice and Men
1939 Wuthering Heights
1939 Intermezzo
1939 Stagecoach

1939 Destry Rides Again
1939 You Can't Cheat An Hon
1939 Son of Frankenstein

1940s
Top Films

1940 His Girl Friday
1943 The More the Merrier
1944 Cover Girl

1940 The Great Dictator
1940 Rebecca

1940 The Bank Dick
1940 My Little Chickadee
1941 The Wolf Man
1941 Buck Privates
1943 Phantom of the Opera
1944 The Mummy's Curse

1945 A Song to Remember
1946 The Jolson Story
1949 All the King's Men

1948 Red River

1948 The Naked City
1948 Hamlet

1950s
Top Films

1953 From Here to Eternity
1953 The Wild One
1954 The Caine Mutiny
1954 On the Waterfront

1952 The African Queen
1952 High Noon

1950 Harvey
1953 The Glenn Miller Story
1954 Magnificent Obsession

1954 - The end of the "Studio System"

1955 Picnic
1957 Bridge on the River Kwai
1958 Bell, Book and Candle
1959 Anatomy of A Murder
1959 Suddenly, Last Summer

1955 Marty
1956 Around the World in 80
1957 12 Angry Men
1958 The Defiant Ones
1958 Witness for the Prosecut
1959 Some Like It Hot

1955 The Benny Goodman St.
1957 Tammy and the Bachelor
1958 Touch of Evil

Studio

100

180-1000

180

180

180

140

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2011 The Thing

1982 The Thing

1951 The Thing

-

4

2010 Robin Hood

1938 Robin Hood

1922 Robin Hood

1912

2010 The Wolfman

1941 The Wolfman

1924 The Wolfman

-

2009 Bluebeard

1972 Bluebeard

1944 Bluebeard

-

4

2006 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1941 Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde

1931 Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde

1920

18

2005 Dracula III: Legacy

1992 Dracula

1979 Dracula

1931

11

2005 Lassie

1994 Lassie

1949 Challenge to Lassie

1943

2005 House of Wax

1953 House of Wax

1933 Mystery of the Wax Museum

-

4

2004 Phantom of the Opera

1989 Phantom of the Opera

1943 Phantom of the Opera

1925

2

2003 Peter Pan

1954 Peter Pan

1924 Peter Pan

-

4

1994 Love Affair

1957 An Affair to Remember

1939 Love Affair

1932

1994 Frankenstein

1931 Frankenstein

1910 Frankenstein

-

4

1993 The Three Musketeers

1948 The Three Musketeers

1935 The Three Musketeers

1921

2

1992 Of Mice and Men

1939 Of Mice and Men

-

-

1984 The Bounty

1962 Mutiny on the Bounty

1935 Mutiny on the Bounty

-

1983 Scarface

1975 Capone

1932 Scarface

-

2

1981 The Postman Always Rings Twice

1946 The Postman Always Rings Twice

-

4

1979 The Prisoner of Zenda

1952 The Prisoner of Zenda

1937 The Prisoner of Zenda

1922

1978 Little Women

1949 Little Women

1933 Little Women

-

1976 A Star Is Born

1954 A Star Is Born

1937 A Star Is Born

-

1970 Wuthering Heights

1939 Wuthering Heights

1920 Wuthering Heights

-

4

1963 Cleopatra

1934 Cleopatra

1917 Cleopatra

1912

1962 State Fair

1945 State Fair

1933 State Fair

-

2

1961 The King of Kings

1927 The King of Kings

-

-

2

1960 Pollyanna

1920 Pollyanna

-

-

2

1959 Imitation of Life

1934 Imitation of Life

-

-

1959 Ben-Hur

1925 Ben-Hur

1907 Ben-Hur

-

1956 The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1939 The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1923 The Hunchback of Notre Dame

-

2

1956 The Ten Commandments

1923 The Ten Commandments

-

-

2

1956 The King and I

1946 Anna and the King of Siam

-

-

2

1954 Magnificent Obsession

1935 Magnificent Obsession

-

-

2

1952 Scaramouche

1923 Scaramouche

-

-

2

1951 Show Boat

1929 Show Boat

-

-

2

1948 Adventures of Don Juan

1926 Don Juan

-

-

2

1940 The Mark of Zorro

1920 The Mark of Zorro

-

-

2

1940 The Thief of Bagdad

1924 The Thief of Bagdad

-

-

2

1935 Captain Blood

1924 Captain Blood

-

-

-

In the author's humble opinion, the "Earlier" film was superior, in almost every case.
Just ask Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies.
Only the most significant versions are included above - there were others.
Made-for-TV movies are not included. Animation movies are not included.
Most foreign movies are not included.

30

300-980

300

300

50

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1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

60

120

120

120

120

120

120

120

120

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US

Year - Movie

.
Producer

1900s

1903 - The Great Train Robbery

Edwin S. Porter

1906 - San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

unknown

1910s

1914 - The Perils of Pauline

Louis J. Gasnier

1915 - The Birth of A Nation
1916 - Intolerance
1917 - Easy Street
1919 - Broken Blossoms

D.W. Griffith
D.W. Griffith
Charles Chaplin
D.W. Griffith

1920s

1927 - The General
1923 - Safety Last

Buster Keaton
Harold LLoyd (Hal Roach)

Foreign

Year - Movie

.
Producer

1900s

1902 - The Voyage to the Moon

Georges Melies (France)

1920s

1922 - Nosferatu
1923 - La Roue

Enrico Dieckmann (Germany)
Abel Gance (France)

80

340-680

260

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