Goldwyn Pictures - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

motion picture production company founded in 1916

1916 in film

The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....

by Samuel Goldfish in partnership with Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

producers Edgar

Edgar Selwyn

Edgar Selwyn was a prominent figure in American theater and film in the first half of the 20th Century.Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Selwyn flourished in the Broadway theater as an actor, playwright, director, and producer from 1899 to 1942...

and Archibald Selwyn using an amalgamation

Amalgamation (names)

An amalgamated name is a name that is formed by combining several previously existing names. These may take the form of an acronym or a blend ....

of both last names to create the name. Seeing an opportunity, Samuel Goldfish then had his name legally changed to Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...

.

At the beginning, Goldwyn Pictures rented production facilities from Solax Studios

Solax Studios

Solax Studios was an American motion picture studio founded in 1910 by executives from the Gaumont Film Company of France. Alice Guy-Blaché, her husband Herbert, and a third partner, George A. Magie established The Solax Company. Alice Guy-Blaché was artistic director and the director for many of...

when it and many other early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based in Fort Lee, New Jersey

Fort Lee, New Jersey

Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...

. The studio proved moderately successful, but became most famous due to the Leo the Lion

Leo the Lion (MGM)

Leo the Lion is the mascot for the Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and one of its predecessors, Goldwyn Pictures, featured in the studio's production logo, which was created by the Paramount Studios art director Lionel S. Reiss....

trademark.

Samuel Goldwyn was forced out by his partners who then brought in Lee Shubert

Lee Shubert

Levi "Lee" Shubert was a Polish-born American theatre owner/operator and producer and the oldest of seven siblings of the theatrical Shubert family....

, the head of The Shubert Organization

The Shubert Organization

The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of legitimate theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the Shubert brothers, Sam S. Shubert, Lee Shubert, and Jacob J. Shubert of Syracuse, New York in the late 19th century in upstate New York,...

that was the dominant live theatre operator in the United States. In 1924, Shubert sold Goldwyn Pictures to movie theater

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

magnate Marcus Loew

Marcus Loew

Marcus Loew was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loews Theatres and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .-Biography:...

, who was looking for a way to ensure a steady supply of movies for his growing chain. Loew then bought Louis B. Mayer

Louis B. Mayer

Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...

Pictures, and merged the three studios to form Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation. In 1925, Mayer added his name to the studio's name, changing it to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

.

Although Metro was the nominal survivor, the merged studio inherited Goldwyn's old facility in Culver City, California

Culver City, California

Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...

where it would remain until 1986. The merged studio also retained Goldwyn's Leo the Lion

Leo the Lion (MGM)

logo, which has become perhaps the most famous movie studio

Movie studio

A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...

logo in the world.

Goldwyn went on to form Samuel Goldwyn Productions in 1923. He would become one of the most respected producers in the industry, but never had any tangible connection to MGM.

See also