Cosmopolitan Productions
Cosmopolitan Productions (later: Cosmopolitan Pictures Corporation ) was an American film production company . The company existed from 1918 to 1938 and was initially founded by media entrepreneur William Randolph Hearst solely for the purpose of producing Marion Davies ' films.
history
William Randolph Hearst founded Cosmopolitan in 1918 as part of the International Film Service Company, Inc. in New York to advance the film career of his lover, the actress Marion Davies . The films were distributed first through the distribution equipment of Select Picture Corporation and then through Famous Players-Lasky , the predecessor of Paramount . Hearst's original plans to join the newly formed United Artists had previously failed. In return for the cooperation, the Paramount films received preferential and generally positive coverage in the numerous print media of the Hearst Empire.
After a dispute over the rental terms, Hearst broke the connection with Paramount and finally switched to the newly founded MGM via Goldwyn Distribution Corporation . In 1934 this relationship also ended, mainly due to conflicts over the role offers for Marion Davies. In particular, the dispute over the casting of the films The Barretts of Wimpole Street and Marie-Antoinette ultimately led to the break after Irving Thalberg secured the roles for his wife Norma Shearer . Another change finally brought Cosmopolitan to Warner Brothers . In 1938 the company was liquidated by Hearst due to financial problems, and the last films were distributed via 20th Century Fox .
As far as Marion Davies' films were concerned, these were generally produced regardless of cost. The budget for When Knighthood Was in Flower by Robert G. Vignola (1922) was nearly $ 1,800,000. Compared to the sometimes extremely harsh working conditions in the studios, where films were shot within 15 days and the actors had to spend over 18 hours in the studio from Monday to Saturday, there was always a relaxed atmosphere on the set of the Davies films without time pressure. Bing Crosby , who worked with Marion Davies on Going Hollywood in 1933 , reported on working conditions decades later. Shooting started at 10 a.m. and work was interrupted at 12 p.m. for a two-hour lunch break. In the afternoon work ended again at 4 p.m. In the end, it took almost four months before the film was shot.
Films (selection)
(+) denotes Marion Davies productions
- 1922: When Knighthood Was in Flower (+)
- 1923: Little Old New York (+)
- 1926: Floods of Passion (The Torrent)
- 1926: Beverly of Graustark (+)
- 1926: Demon Woman (The Temptress)
- 1926: The Flaming Forest
- 1927: The Understanding Heart
- 1927: The Fair Co-Ed (+)
- 1928: The Patsy (+)
- 1928: Something's happening in Hollywood (Show People) (+)
- 1928: Our Dancing Daughters
- 1928: White Shadows on the South Seas
- 1929: Marianne (+)
- 1930: Not So Dumb (+)
- 1930: The Bachelor Father (+)
- 1930: The Floradora Girl (+)
- 1931: It's a Wise Child (+)
- 1931: Five and Ten (+)
- 1932: Polly of the Circus (+)
- 1932: Blondie of the Follies (+)
- 1933: Between Today and Tomorrow (Gabriel Over the White House)
- 1933: Going Hollywood (+)
- 1933: Peg o'My Heart (+)
- 1934: Men in White
- 1934: Manhattan Melodrama
- 1934: Operator 13 (+)
- 1935: Page Miss Glory (+)
- 1936: Cain and Mabel ( Cain and Mabel ) (+)
- 1936: Hearts Divided (+)
- 1936: Give Me Your Heart
- 1937: Ever Since Eve (+)
- 1938: White Banners
- 1939: Young Mr. Lincoln
- 1939: The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Web links
- extensive documentation about Hearst and his influence in Hollywood
- Cosmopolitan Production in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ pp. 279-280 f, David Nasaw - The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst 2001 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt