Tiffany Pictures
Encyclopedia
Tiffany Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio in operation from 1921 until 1932.
, her then-husband, director Robert Z. Leonard
, and Maurice H. Hoffman, who made eight films, all released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
. Murray and Leonard divorced in 1925.
Starting in 1925 with Souls for Sables, co-starring Claire Windsor
and Eugene O'Brien, Tiffany released a total of 70 features, both silent and sound, twenty of which were Westerns
.At one point, Tiffany was booking its films into nearly 2,500 theatres.
To produce their films, Tiffany acquired the former Reliance-Majestic Studios
lot at 4516 Sunset Boulevard
, Los Angeles
in 1927.
From 1927 to 1930, John M. Stahl
was the director of Tiffany and renamed the company Tiffany-Stahl Productions. Head of Tiffany was Phil Goldstone with his vice president Maurice H. Hoffman, who later was president of Liberty Films that merged into Republic Pictures
. Leonard A. Young who simultaneously ran the L. A. Young Spring and Wire Company bought into Tiffany from Hoffman in 1929.
Some of Tiffany's later movies, such as The Death Kiss
(1932), were released by Sono Art-World Wide Pictures
. Among the films produced by Tiffany were:
They were sued by Tiffany & Co.
for trademark infringement, using such slogans as "Another Gem from Tiffany".
The studio complex was later bought by Columbia Pictures
and given to Sam Katzman
and Irving Briskin as base of operations for their film units.
History
Tiffany Productions was a movie making venture originally founded in 1921 by star Mae MurrayMae Murray
Mae Murray was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen"....
, her then-husband, director Robert Z. Leonard
Robert Z. Leonard
Robert Zigler Leonard was an American film director, actor, producer and screenwriter.He was born in Chicago, Illinois...
, and Maurice H. Hoffman, who made eight films, all released through 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...
. Murray and Leonard divorced in 1925.
Starting in 1925 with Souls for Sables, co-starring Claire Windsor
Claire Windsor
Claire Windsor was a notable American film actress of the silent screen era.-Early life:Windsor was born Clara Viola Cronk in 1892 to George Edwin and Rosella R. Fearing Cronk in Marvin, Phillips County, Kansas of Scandinavian heritage. Her parents later moved to Cawker City, Kansas when she was...
and Eugene O'Brien, Tiffany released a total of 70 features, both silent and sound, twenty of which were Westerns
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
.At one point, Tiffany was booking its films into nearly 2,500 theatres.
To produce their films, Tiffany acquired the former Reliance-Majestic Studios
Reliance-Majestic Studios
Reliance-Majestic Studios was an early American movie studio in Hollywood, California, originally built around 1914 at 4516 Sunset Boulevard.Within a few years, it became the home of D. W. Griffith and Mutual Film Corporation. Later the studio's name was changed to Fine Arts Studios, and was...
lot at 4516 Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1927.
From 1927 to 1930, John M. Stahl
John M. Stahl
John Malcolm Stahl was an American film director and producer.Born in New York City, New York, he began working in the city's growing motion picture industry at a young age and directed his first silent film short in 1914. In the early 1920s Stahl signed on with Louis B...
was the director of Tiffany and renamed the company Tiffany-Stahl Productions. Head of Tiffany was Phil Goldstone with his vice president Maurice H. Hoffman, who later was president of Liberty Films that merged into Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
. Leonard A. Young who simultaneously ran the L. A. Young Spring and Wire Company bought into Tiffany from Hoffman in 1929.
Some of Tiffany's later movies, such as The Death Kiss
The Death Kiss
The Death Kiss is a mystery film starring David Manners as a crusading studio writer, Adrienne Ames as an actress, Bela Lugosi as a studio manager, and Edward Van Sloan as a film director. The comedy thriller features three leading players from the previous year's Dracula , and was the first film...
(1932), were released by Sono Art-World Wide Pictures
Sono Art-World Wide Pictures
Sono Art-World Wide Pictures was an American film distribution and production company that existed from 1927 to 1933. Among their feature films was The Great Gabbo starring Erich von Stroheim and directed by James Cruze for James Cruze Productions, Inc...
. Among the films produced by Tiffany were:
- A series of eight films featuring and produced by movie star Mae MurrayMae MurrayMae Murray was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen"....
- The CavalierThe Cavalier (film)The Cavalier is a Western directed by Irvin Willat for Tiffany Studios. It stars Richard Talmadge and Barbara Bedford and is a dramatic picture.-Plot:...
(1928) starring Richard TalmadgeRichard TalmadgeRichard Talmadge was a Swiss-born American actor, stuntman and film director.... - The Lost Zeppelin (1929) an early Arctic disaster filmDisaster filmA disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
- MambaMamba (film)Mamba was released by Tiffany Pictures. It was shot entirely in Technicolor and stars Jean Hersholt, Eleanor Boardman, Ralph Forbes, Josef Swickard, Claude Fleming, William Stanton and William von Brincken...
(1930) that claimed to be the first full-TechnicolorTechnicolorTechnicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
drama - The Medicine ManThe Medicine Man (1930 film)The Medicine Man is an American comedy film directed by Scott Pembroke, released by Tiffany Pictures, and starring Jack Benny, Betty Bronson and Eva Novak. The son and daughter of a shopkeeper fall in with a travelling medicine man. The film was adapted from a play by Elliot Lester.- Cast :*Jack...
(1930) starring Jack BennyJack BennyJack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film... - The Death KissThe Death KissThe Death Kiss is a mystery film starring David Manners as a crusading studio writer, Adrienne Ames as an actress, Bela Lugosi as a studio manager, and Edward Van Sloan as a film director. The comedy thriller features three leading players from the previous year's Dracula , and was the first film...
(1932) starring Bela LugosiBéla LugosiBéla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
, David MannersDavid MannersDavid Manners was a Canadian - American film actor.Born Rauff de Ryther Daun Acklom in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Manners came to Hollywood at the beginning of the talking films revolution after studying acting with Eva Le Gallienne, and acting on stage with Helen Hayes...
, and Edward Van SloanEdward Van SloanEdward Van Sloan was an American film character actor best remembered for his roles in Universal Studios horror films.-Career:...
, filmed on location at Tiffany Studios and one of the last films made at Tiffany - Eight Westerns starring Bob SteeleBob Steele (actor)Bob Steele was an American actor. He was born Robert Adrian Bradbury in Portland, Oregon, into a vaudeville family. After years of touring, the family settled down in Hollywood in the late 1910s, where his father, Robert N...
- Ten Westerns starring Ken MaynardKen MaynardKen Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor.-Biography:Born Kenneth Olin Maynard in Vevay, Indiana, he was one of five children. His younger brother, Kermit Maynard, also became a stuntman and actor....
- A series of short subjectShort subjectA short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
s called The Voice of Hollywood - A series of short subjectShort subjectA short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
comedies featuring voices dubbed over chimps chewing bubble gum produced by Jack WhiteJack White (film producer)Jack White was an American film producer, director and writer. His career with film began in the late 1910s and continued until the early 1960s. White produced over 300 films; directed more than 60 of these, and wrote more than 50...
They were sued by Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue , which is a registered trademark.- History :...
for trademark infringement, using such slogans as "Another Gem from Tiffany".
Closing of studio and legacy
One reason for Tiffany's failure was that it did not have a profitable distribution network.The studio complex was later bought by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
and given to Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
and Irving Briskin as base of operations for their film units.