United Artists

"This edited collection brings together leading film historians to examine key aspects of United Artists' centennial history from its origins to the sometimes chaotic developments of the last four decades. The focus is on several key executives - ranging from Joseph Schenck to Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise - and on many of the people making films for United Artists, including Gloria Swanson, David O. Selznick, Kirk Douglas, the Mirisch brothers and Woody Allen. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, individual case studies explore the mutually supportive but also in places highly contentious relationships between United Artists and its suppliers, the difficult balance between artistic and commercial objectives, and the resulting hits and misses (among them The General, the Pink Panther franchise, Heaven's Gate, Cruising and Hot Tub Time Machine). The second title of the Routledge Hollywood Centenary series, United Artists is a fascinating and comprehensive study of the firm's history and legacy, perfect for students and researchers of cinema and film history, media Industries, and Hollywood"--