CinemaInternational Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 United Artists is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, having been founded on February 5, 1919. The company is still here, with all their films, although they have weathered a giant dip in fortunes from the early 80s onward (actually from a day in 1978 when many of its executives walked out to form the ill-fated Orion.... I'm thinking of folding in the Orion films from 1979-1999 into these scrapbooks to show the rise and fall of what was essentially United Artists 2.0) , and periods of inactivity (1991 and 1992, and 2011-2018, save being a copyright holder on Bond and Rocky films) But earlier this year the name was revived as an umbrella distributor. It's been a crazy journey, but in their time, they have created many fascinating films. This is their story. These are their films. Note: Some of these seem to be in the public domain, and thus can be seen for free online the first release of the studio founded by Griffith, Fairbanks, Pickford, and Chaplin came a few months after the founding with Griffith's Broken Blossoms. Its a fascinating film, and strongly realized. Despite some flaws, its well worth seeing and still packs a punch, and Lillian Gish shines. Douglas Fairbanks appeared in a romantic comedy called His Majesty, The American Fairbanks ran afoul of a crazed psychiatrist in When the Clouds Roll by. Mary Pickford had one of her most popular films with Pollyanna, the story of the girl with the glad game. Famously remade in 1960 with Hayley Mills at Disney. Mary played older in her next film, Suds, where she got to have a romance. Mack Sennett went Down on the Farm. I see that the movie actually premiered in an Indiana city not too far from where I live..... Romance is indeed a lost film. It starred Doris Keane. The remake, which does survive, was with Greta Garbo at MGM in 1930. Fairbanks played three different generations of family members in the Mollycoddle, where he fought against a villain played by Wallace Beery. The Love Flower was a romantic drama with Richard Barthelmess. Way Down East was indeed a sensation and has in the ice floe sequence one of the best known scenes in silent film history. Douglas Fairbanks turned to swashbucking in the popular The Mask of Zorro. Mary Pickford turned to a romantic drama set in wartime with The Love Light. Douglas Fairbanks turned to comedy in The Nut. DW Griffith's Dream Street came next, but went quickly. Mary Pickford returned to playing a child in Through the Back Door. George Arliss played Disraeli for the first time. This is lost aside from one reel. Douglas Fairbanks next starred in a new version of The Three Musketeers. Mary Pickford then pulled of a switch by playing Little Lord Fauntleroy. J'accuse was a long, praised French epic picked up by UA for US release. The Iron trail was an independent pickup. a copy survives in Moscow, of all places. Orphans of the Storm, a stirring drama, was one of the finest hours for Lillian and Dorothy Gish. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagebrush Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Those lobby cards are gorgeous. There's nothing quite like the lobby cards for silent films! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr6666 Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 thanks for the well-done & informative threads...... but any chance of moving them to FAVORITES or FILMS & FILMMAKERS sections? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 I'm just going to sit back and read these initial UA threads, since I am not well-versed on silent film and can learn more this way. But I will start chiming in again when we get to the 1930s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 I've seen very few of these, but I liked the ones that I've watched. Way Down East Broken Blossoms Orphans of the Storm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midwestan Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 I've seen some of J'accuse, but not all the way through. I've seen Broken Blossoms, Orphans of the Storm, and The Mark of Zorro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinemaInternational Posted June 29, 2019 Author Share Posted June 29, 2019 On 6/28/2019 at 7:26 PM, mr6666 said: thanks for the well-done & informative threads...... but any chance of moving them to FAVORITES or FILMS & FILMMAKERS sections? I have just set up a seperate blog site so that all the files will be seen together once they drop off page one. The good news here with United Artists is that there won't be as many posts in this series (due to thin years, or even decades) so there won't be as much clutter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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