Samuel Goldwyn Productions

Samuel Goldwyn Productions was an American film production company founded by Samuel Goldwyn in 1923, and active through 1959. Personally controlled by Goldwyn and focused on production rather than distribution, the company developed into the most financially and critically successful independent production company in Hollywood's Golden Age.

Samuel Goldwyn Productions
TypeIndependent
IndustryFilm
Founded1923 (1923)
FounderSamuel Goldwyn
Defunct1959 (1959)
FateDefunct
SuccessorsLibrary:
Warner Bros.
(United States only)
Miramax
(internationally)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(The Hurricane only)
HeadquartersUnited States
ProductsMotion pictures
ServicesFilm production

History

from the trailer for The Hurricane (1937)

After the sale of his previous firm Goldwyn Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn organized his productions beginning in February 1923, initially in a partnership with director George Fitzmaurice. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, created by merger in April 1924, bears Goldwyn's name, but he did not produce films there.) Goldwyn Production's first release, Potash and Perlmutter, successfully opened in Baltimore on September 6, 1923.[1]

Some of the early productions bear the name "Howard Productions", named for Goldwyn's wife Frances Howard, who married Goldwyn in 1925. In the 1920s, Goldwyn released films through Associated First National. Throughout the 1930s, Goldwyn released most of his films through United Artists. Beginning in 1941, Goldwyn released most of his films through RKO Radio Pictures.

With consistently high production values and directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks, Goldwyn consistently received Academy Award for Best Picture nominations: Arrowsmith (1931), Dodsworth (1936), Dead End (1937), Wuthering Heights (1939), and The Little Foxes (1941). In 1946, he won best picture for The Best Years of Our Lives.

Through the 1940s and 1950s, many of Goldwyn's films starred Danny Kaye. Goldwyn's final production was the 1959 version of Porgy and Bess.

Elements for many films produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions between 1929 and 1955 are held by the Academy Film Archive as part of the Samuel Goldwyn Collection.[2]

Filmography

Lobby card for Roman Scandals (1933)
Poster for Nana (1934)
Lobby card for The Little Foxes (1941)
Poster for Spitfire (1943)
Release Date Title Distributor Notes
September 6, 1923Potash and PerlmutterFirst National
January 24, 1924The Eternal City
April 3, 1924Cytherea
September 29, 1924In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter
May 3, 1925His Supreme Moment
June 18, 1925A Thief in Paradise
September 27, 1925The Dark Angel
November 16, 1925Stella DallasUnited Artists
February 15, 1926Partners Again
October 14, 1926The Winning of Barbara Worth
January 27, 1927The Night of Love
September 18, 1927The Magic Flame
November 3, 1927The Devil Dancer
March 23, 1928Two Lovers
November 17, 1928The Awakening
January 12, 1929The Rescue
May 2, 1929Bulldog Drummond
June 22, 1929This Is Heaven
November 3, 1929Condemned
July 24, 1930Raffles
October 5, 1930Whoopee!
December 20, 1930The Devil to Pay!
January 14, 1931One Heavenly Night
September 5, 1931Street Scene
October 3, 1931Palmy Days
October 28, 1931The Unholy Garden
December 17, 1931Tonight or Never
December 26, 1931Arrowsmith
February 13, 1932The Greeks Had a Word for Them
November 17, 1932The Kid from Spain
December 24, 1932Cynara
September 3, 1933The Masquerader
December 29, 1933Roman Scandals
February 1, 1934Nana
November 1, 1934We Live Again
November 10, 1934Kid Millions
March 8, 1935The Wedding Night
September 8, 1935The Dark Angel
October 13, 1935Barbary Coast
November 22, 1935Splendor
January 24, 1936Strike Me Pink
March 18, 1936These Three
September 23, 1936Dodsworth
November 6, 1936Come and Get It
December 25, 1936Beloved Enemy
May 7, 1937Woman Chases Man
August 6, 1937Stella Dallas
August 27, 1937Dead End
November 9, 1937The Hurricane
February 4, 1938The Goldwyn Follies
April 15, 1938The Adventures of Marco Polo
November 17, 1938The Cowboy and the Lady
April 7, 1939Wuthering Heights
August 18, 1939They Shall Have Music
September 29, 1939The Real Glory
December 29, 1939Raffles
September 20, 1940The Westerner
August 29, 1941The Little FoxesRKO Radio Pictures
December 2, 1941Ball of Fire
July 14, 1942The Pride of the Yankees
January 27, 1943They Got Me Covered
June 12, 1943Spitfire[3]
November 4, 1943The North Star
February 17, 1944Up in Arms
November 17, 1944The Princess and the Pirate
June 8, 1945Wonder Man
March 21, 1946The Kid from Brooklyn
November 21, 1946The Best Years of Our Lives
August 4, 1947The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
December 9, 1947The Bishop's Wife
October 19, 1948A Song Is Born
December 11, 1948Enchantment
August 18, 1949Roseanna McCoy
December 25, 1949My Foolish Heart
July 27, 1950Our Very Own
August 2, 1950Edge of Doom
December 22, 1951I Want You
November 25, 1952Hans Christian Andersen
November 3, 1955Guys and DollsMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
June 24, 1959Porgy and BessColumbia Pictures

Distribution

As of 2012, the distribution rights of Samuel Goldwyn films from the library were transferred to Warner Bros.,[4] with Paramount Pictures (via Miramax) managing global licensing, with the exception of The Hurricane, which was back with its original distributor, United Artists.[5] Studio Distribution Services, LLC., a joint venture between Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, distributes the entire Samuel Goldwyn catalog on home video, including The Hurricane, via a distribution deal with MGM Home Entertainment.

See also

References

  1. Goldwyn: A Biography, A. Scott Berg
  2. "Samuel Goldwyn Collection". Academy Film Archive. 5 September 2014.
  3. "Of Local Origin". The New York Times. June 9, 1943. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  4. "Warner Brothers Acquires Rights to Films from the Samuel Goldwyn Library".
  5. "Miramax to Manage Films from Samuel Goldwyn's Library". 2 April 2012.
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