Paramount Pictures: Difference between revisions
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===Background=== | ===Background=== | ||
'''Paramount Pictures''' is the second oldest-running movie studio in Hollywood (second only to [[Universal Pictures]], which was founded eight days earlier). Paramount traces its history back to May 8, 1912, when it was originally founded as '''Famous Players Film Company''' by Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor. He had been an early investor in nickelodeons (film theaters that cost 5 cents for admission), and saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman, he planned to offer motion pictures that would appeal to the middle class by featuring leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "famous players in famous plays"). By 1913, Famous Players had completed five films and Zukor was on his way to success. That same year, fellow aspiring producer Jesse L. Lasky opened the Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law | '''Paramount Pictures''' is the second oldest-running movie studio in Hollywood (second only to [[Universal Pictures]], which was founded eight days earlier). Paramount traces its history back to May 8, 1912, when it was originally founded as '''Famous Players Film Company''' by Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor. He had been an early investor in nickelodeons (film theaters that cost 5 cents for admission), and saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman, he planned to offer motion pictures that would appeal to the middle class by featuring leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "famous players in famous plays"). By 1913, Famous Players had completed five films and Zukor was on his way to success. That same year, fellow aspiring producer Jesse L. Lasky opened the Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish (later known as Samuel Goldwyn), founder of [[Goldwyn Pictures]] (later part of [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios]]). The Lasky company hired Cecil B. DeMille, a stage director with virtually no film experience, as their first employee; DeMille would find a suitable location site in Hollywood for his first film ''The Squaw Man'' (1914). | ||
In 1914, Famous Players was renamed '''Paramount Pictures Corporation'''. Lasky left Paramount in 1932, with Zukor blaming him for the studio's financial issues at the time. In 1948, Paramount was taken to the United States Supreme Court. This case, known as ''United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.'', resulted in studios being forced to divest themselves of their theater holdings and, in addition to the concurrent rise of television, would mark the beginning of the end for the old "studio system". In 1959, Adolph Zukor stepped down from running the studio and assumed the role of chairman, which he held until 1964. On March 24, 1966, Paramount was acquired by Gulf+Western Industries, which later became Paramount Communications on June 5, 1989. As part of the acquisition by Gulf+Western, Lucille Ball's Desilu Productions and the Desilu lot were brought under Paramount's control and, in 1967, Desilu was renamed to [[Paramount Television (1967-2006)|Paramount Television]]. | In 1914, Famous Players was renamed '''Paramount Pictures Corporation'''. Lasky left Paramount in 1932, with Zukor blaming him for the studio's financial issues at the time. In 1948, Paramount was taken to the United States Supreme Court. This case, known as ''United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.'', resulted in studios being forced to divest themselves of their theater holdings and, in addition to the concurrent rise of television, would mark the beginning of the end for the old "studio system". In 1959, Adolph Zukor stepped down from running the studio and assumed the role of chairman, which he held until 1964. On March 24, 1966, Paramount was acquired by Gulf+Western Industries, which later became Paramount Communications on June 5, 1989. As part of the acquisition by Gulf+Western, Lucille Ball's Desilu Productions and the Desilu lot were brought under Paramount's control and, in 1967, Desilu was renamed to [[Paramount Television (1967-2006)|Paramount Television]]. | ||