Hello.
To answer this question, I've consulted the book, "The Movies: An
Illustrated History of the Silver Screen" (2000) by Don Shiach. This
book has detailed histories of all the major movie studios. I happpen
to own a copy of this book. Except where noted, the information below
is a summary, in my own words, of information that appears on pages
11-12 and 41-44 of Shiach's book. Certain facts, where noted, are from
the web page Seeing-Stars.com:
http://www.seeing-stars.com/Studios/ParamountStudios.shtml
Paramount Pictures was founded in 1914 as a distribution company for
films produced by several different companies. The Jesse Lasky Feature
Play Company and the Famous Players Film Company were two of the
companies that made the films that Paramount distributed. The Jesse
Lasky Feature Play Company had been formed in 1914 and had released a
film called "The Squaw Man." Lasky's brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish
(later Goldwyn) worked for the company. The Famous Players Film
Company had also been founded in 1914. The founder of that company was
Adolph Zukor, considered an early pioneer in the silent film era.
Zukor was one of the first movie producers to persuade prominent stage
actors to do films. In 1916, Paramount merged with the Jesse Lasky
Feature Play Company and the Famous Players Film Company to form a
combined production-distribution movie company. The new company
continued using the name Paramount Pictures. [From Shiach's book]
Following the merger, Adolph Zukor was firmly in charge of the new
company. To the new company, Zukor brought several of the actors who
had been with him at his earlier company. Two of the most famous of
these stars were Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.
Through the decades:
1920s
Paramount scored huge hits with several films featuring Rudolph
Valentino. The first of these hits was "The Shiek" (1921). The company
also scored a hit with Cecil B. DeMille's first version of "The Ten
Commandments" (1923). Two other notable films from the 1920s were
1923's "The Covered Wagon" (considered on the first epic westerns) and
"Wings" (1927) which was an "airplane" movie about World War I.
1930s
The 1930s featured many notable Paramount films. Comedies featuring
the Marx Brothers, WC Fields, and Mae West were released. Westerns
such "The Plainsman" (1936) starring Gary Cooper were big hits. The
company signed several major new stars during this decade, including
Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Betty Grable.
1940s
Light-hearted "road" movies featuring the team of Bob Hope and Bing
Crosby were major hits for Paramount in the 1940s. Crosby flourished
during this decade, playing a variety of roles not only in comedies
but also in religious-themed films such as "Going My Way" (1944).
1950s
Notable films included the "Shane" (1953), a western starring Alan
Ladd. Legendary director Alfred Hitchcock produced "Rear Window"
(featuring Jimmy Stewart and Gracy Kelly) for the studio in 1954.
Cecil B. DeMille made a second version of "The Ten Commandments" in
1956.
1960s
In 1960, Paramount scored a hit with Alfred Hitchcock's low-budget
masterpiece "Psycho." Audrey Hepburn's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961)
was another classic released by Paramount during this decade. In 1966,
a company called Gulf-Western bought Paramount. Paramount released the
cult-favorite "Rosemary's Baby" in 1968.
1970s
Paramount pioneered the mobster film by releasing Francis Coppola's
"The Godfather" (1972) and "The Godfather II" (1974). These film were
not only commercially successful but also critically acclaimed. John
Travolta's "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) and the musical "Grease"
(1978) were also big box office hits for the company.
1980s
Notable Paramount films of the 1980s were the action-packed "Raiders
of the Lost Ark" (1981) and its sequel "Indiana Jones and the Temple
of Doom" (1984). Eddie Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984) was a
standout among the many comedies released during the '80s. "Top Gun"
(1986) was a huge commercial success for the company.
1990s
Notable Paramount films of the '90s include the one-of-a-kind "Forrest
Gump" (1994). In 1994, Paramount merged with cable television company
Viacom. In 1997, as part of a joint venture with Fox, Paramount
released "Titanic," one of the biggest film blockbusters of all time.
In 1999, Viacom merged with television network CBS. [ see:
http://www.seeing-stars.com/Studios/ParamountStudios.shtml ]
Related links:
Adolph Zukor biography, on the web site of mr-moody.com
http://www.mr-moody.com/goldenboy/whoswho/zukor_a.htm
Paramount Pictures distribution company founder W.W. Hodkinson's
biography, on the web site of cobbles.com:
http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/hodkinson_system.htm
Jesse Lasky biography on Hollywood.com:
http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/bio/celeb/1676051
For in-depth information about the history of Paramount, you might
want to seek out a book called "Engulfed: The Death of Paramount
Pictures and the Birth of
Corporate Hollywood" (2001) by Bernard F. Dick. See this very
informative review on the Economic History web site:
http://www.eh.net/bookreviews/library/0407.shtml
various search terms used: paramount, zukor, lasky, gulf-western,
viacom
I hope this helps. |
Clarification of Answer by
juggler-ga
on
01 Nov 2002 09:16 PST
Hi emanonx,
Well, I tried to combine a description of the types of movies into the
history, but perhaps it would be useful if I gave a list of the types
of films that Paramount was making along with representative examples
of each type.
Silent films: "The Shiek" (1921)
Epic westerns (silent): "The Covered Wagon" (1923)
Comedies: Marx brothers films, WC Fields films (1930s)
Westerns: "The Plainsman" (1936)
"Road" Movies: Hope & Crosby films (1940s)
Suspense films: 1950s Hitchcock films such as "Rear Window" (1954).
Horror films: "Rosemary's Baby" (1968)
Crime/Mafia films: "The Godfather" (1972)
Musicals: "Grease" (1978)
Action movies: "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), "Top Gun" (1986)
Action-Comedies: "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984)
Epics: "Titanic" (1997)
Is this what you need? If you require additional information, let me
know.
Thanks.
juggler
|
